What Is IV Nutritional Therapy, and Should You Try It?

When Mara Landis came down with the flu in 2017, no remedy seemed to work. The founder of the wellness website Nutmeg Aspirin says she tried vitamin C supplements as well as a few natural options, such as elderberry and manuka honey. After about 10 days of sticking out a fever, headaches, and sore throat, she turned to an IV drip, which is an intravenous infusion of medicine, vitamins, electrolytes, and amino acids that promises to fix whatever’s ailing you.

Some people rely on these treatments when they’re in a pinch — say, when they’re feeling under the weather, battling jet lag, or fighting off illness. Others frequent IV clinics as part of their wellness routine, and choose options purportedly designed to combat aging, boost brainpower, control stress, or even treat medical conditions such as fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue, and chronic pain. Landis tried the IV drip as a last-ditch effort to bounce back from the flu. She visited an integrative ear, nose, and throat (ENT) specialist, and received a Myers’ cocktail, which is a mix of water-soluble vitamins and minerals, including vitamin C, B vitamins, and magnesium. It did the trick. “Literally I was fine the next day,” Landis says. “It was unbelievable how much it shifted what was going on in my body.” She sent her then 16-year-old son to receive a treatment a few weeks later, and he felt good enough to return to school the next day.

What Is IV Nutritional Therapy? And Why Is It Trendy Now?

These IV treatments aren’t exactly new — they’ve traditionally been used in hospitals to help patients rehydrate or restore nutrient deficiencies — but they’re popular now because they’re a quick fix that’s been made available to the masses. Companies have set up brick-and-mortar clinics in many cities, and others offer concierge-style services where they bring needles and infusions straight to a client’s home or office.

IV drips have also seen a boost in popularity thanks to a celebrity following. Chrissy Teigen posted a shot of herself receiving a drip on Instagram, Ariana Grande cited them as part of her treatment plan when she had to cancel a concert in November 2019, and Adele reportedly receives a $220 concoction meant to keep her vocal chords healthy. Other celebrities who’ve also reportedly jumped on the trend include Rihanna, Kim Kardashian, John Legend, Jane Fonda, Cindy Crawford, Simon Cowell, and Real Housewife Lisa Rinna.

The Proposed Benefits of Nutritional IV Therapy

These celebs and others who swear by IV therapy turn to it as a way to deliver nutrients to the body. Natalya Fazylova, a New York–based holistic health and wellness specialist at ReBalance NYC, has been administering IV treatments since 2014. She says that when we take vitamins orally, they travel to the stomach and intestines, but they don’t get absorbed entirely. With IV drips, on the other hand, Fazylova says, the vitamins go directly to the bloodstream, leading to “better results.” Most IV sessions cost between $150 and $400 and take about 20 minutes to complete, though some of the more intensive ones can take up to three hours, Fazylova says.

Some popular options include vitamin C, B12, and, increasingly, vitamin D, with Onus iV in the Denver area, Vive IV Therapy in Dubuque, Iowa, and IV Vitamin Therapy in Los Angeles among those offering vitamin D3 drips. Vitamin D, sometimes called the “sunshine vitamin” because it can be obtained through sun exposure, helps the body absorb calcium, according to the National Institutes of Health. Some people may be turning to drips of the vitamin because they aren’t getting their share of sunshine this time of year and because COVID-19 lockdowns have people spending more time indoors than usual.

“It’s an essential vitamin we’ve always needed, and it’s grown in popularity since it’s been linked to helping to build a strong immune system,” says Bonnie Taub-Dix, RDN, a registered dietitian nutritionist based in New York City and author of Read It Before You Eat It: Taking You From Label to Table. There’s even some preliminary research that shows having adequate levels of vitamin D may help people who’ve been diagnosed with COVID-19. According to an article published January 2021 in The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), the research so far is mixed — with one study linking a vitamin D deficiency with a greater risk of testing positive for COVID-19 and others finding no connection at all. More studies are needed.

Vitamin D3 is the version to go for since the body absorbs it better than vitamin D2, Taub-Dix says. But she advises against getting your vitamin D from an IV and instead shop for an oral supplement, since it’s readily available on pharmacy and grocery store shelves and is easy to take by mouth. It’s safe to take at dosages of up to 4,000 international units (IU).