NUTRIENT DEPLETIONS
Vitamins, minerals, enzymes, amino acids, hormones, beneficial bacteria and anti-oxidants can be depleted by medications. These all play a vital role for your body to function properly, especially your metabolism, and need to be replenished for optimal health.
Patients taking prescription or over-the-counter drugs may be at risk of medication-induced nutrient depletion. Common medications like those used to treat
* high blood pressure
* osteoporosis
* ulcers
* inflammation
* cholesterol
* asthma
* diabetes
can strip essential nutrients out of the body, leaving your patient unable to perform at their peak.
NUTRIENT DEPLETIONS CAN CAUSE FOOD CRAVINGS
It is vital to know as you work with your patients on their weight loss goals that their food cravings may be due to nutrient depletions caused from their prescribed medications. Your patient may unknowingly overeat in an attempt to satisfy nutrient depletions they are unaware of. Food may never fulfill their body’s cries because even the healthiest foods may not have sufficient nutrients to meet the body’s nutritional needs due to poor nutrients in the soil and modern farming techniques. Therefore, it is unlikely that your patient will make up these deficiencies through food alone. Supplementation is required for balance within the body.
NUTRIENT DEPLETIONS CAN CAUSE DISEASE
Some drugs have the potential to change core physiology resulting in deficiencies which can create long term chronic health issues if undetected. It is not only beneficial but often necessary to support the body with extra supplementation to make up the possible loss of nutrients due to drugs. If these deficiencies are not stopped, a cascade effect is often created where disease treated with drugs can create additional diseases requiring more medication and this cycle cascades indefinitely. Also consider that many of the medications used to treat these declining health problems may also cause weight gain which takes a huge additional toll on the body, both physically and emotionally.
NUTRIENT DEPLETION EXAMPLE
A prime example of nutrient depletion-targeted supplementation involves statin drugs, which are commonly prescribed to treat high cholesterol and are known to deplete CoEnzyme Q10 (CoQ10). This depletion may cause muscle pain. Clinical trials have shown that increasing CoQ10 levels decrease the incidents and/or severity of statin-related muscle pain. In fact, a well known drug manufacturer of statins actually patented the use of CoQ10 in combination with their statin drugs years ago, yet many patients are unaware of their nutrient deficiency and need of CoQ10.
Keep in mind, muscle pain can be a major contributor to a sedentary lifestyle which is attributed to weight gain and many other health concerns.