11 May Are Your Medications Depleting Nutrients?
When I was going through the syllabus of my post-graduate program of what I’d be learning, I came across this lesson and it got me excited. Mainly, I got excited because the health nerd in me, BUT it was another piece of the puzzle that I felt was necessary to properly guide people to have optimal nutrition. Obviously, what food we put into our mouth plays a huge role in optimal nutrition. But, I also felt the need to educate others on what could be depleting them of certain nutrients. Are your medications depleting nutrients? You don’t want to take two steps forward and then one step back, right?
We have rebranded to Nuvitru!
In previous blogs + social media posts, I’ve talked about why it’s not a great idea to jump off of birth control and right away want to get pregnant. Why? Birth control depletes you of nutrients that are necessary for growing a healthy baby, especially folate! Folate deficiency can cause birth defects, anemia, elevated homocysteine, increased risk of depression + cancer.
Birth control depletes you of Folate, B6, B1, B2, B3, B12, C, Magnesium, Selenium, Zinc, CoQ10, and Tyrosine.
As you can see, birth control also depletes magnesium (hint: this is a common nutrient deficiency). Many women supplement with calcium (which I don’t recommend unless tested for a deficiency, but that’s another story for another day) and since calcium NEEDS magnesium to be absorbed, it will leach MORE magnesium out of the bones leaving you REALLY deficient in magnesium.
Before I start listing off various medications + what they deplete, you might be asking how do drugs affect nutrients? Drugs inhibit the absorption, synthesis, transportation, storage, metabolism, AND excretion of a nutrient. And it’s not JUST prescription medication that is the culprit of nutrient deficiencies. It’s this big equation…..
Prescription Drugs + Low Nutrient Food + Stress = MASSIVE DEPLETION
Basically if you check all those things off in the equation, you are setting yourself up for failure in thriving. These are some of the most common prescription drugs + some of their nutrient depletions…
- Anticonvulsants – D, K, Folate, Calcium
- Anti-Diabetic – CoQ10, B12
- Antihypertensives – B6, CoQ10, Calcium, Magnesium, K, Zinc
- Anti-Inflammatory- Calcium, K, Zinc, Iron, B6, C, D, Folate, K
- Cholesterol Medications – CoQ10
- Beta-Blockers – CoQ10, Melatonin
- Phenothiazines / Tricyclics – B2, CoQ10, Melatonin, B6, E
- Benzodiazepines – Melatonin
- Anti-Ulcer / Antiacids – B12, Folate, D, Calcium, Iron, Zinc, Protein
- Antibiotics – B vitamins, K
- Antiviral – Carnitine, Copper, Zinc, B12
- Laxatives – A, D, E, K, Beta-Carotene, Calcium, Phosphorus
While glutathione isn’t technically a “nutrient”, it’s a major antioxidant in the body that protects us from the damage of free radicals ultimately protecting us from chronic disease. A common anti-inflammatory drug, acetaminophen, depletes our glutathione.
If you ever need any 1:1 help with your health + want to take a holistic approach, I would love to help you! Check out our WORK WITH ME page for more information on what I do + book your free 15-minute phone call! We want to figure out which medications are depleting nutrients.
