Taking only one vitamin, supplement, or prescription drug is becoming more and more uncommon. According to the CDC, nearly 50% of the US population takes at least 1 prescription medication regularly, with 11% of the population taking 5 or more prescription medications regularly.
As more people take medications, doctors and pharmacists are looking at the effects these medications can have on overall health. Nutrient depletion is a topic that is gaining more and more traction as people are taking more supplements and medications.
Let’s take a look at nutrient depletion and how specific supplements from Ortho Molecular are formulated to help.
What is Nutrient Depletion?
Nutrient depletion occurs when a medication blocks or interferes with the absorption of important nutrients in our bodies.
Nutrient depletion as a condition takes a while to develop—sometimes years. Taking medication for a few days or weeks will usually not cause nutrient depletion. Maintenance medications used to manage chronic conditions like diabetes, heart conditions, hormone replacement, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, antidepressants, and others have a much higher chance of causing nutrient depletion.
What Medications Cause Nutrient Depletion?
This is a question to ask your doctor or pharmacist. Ortho Molecular offers comprehensive information on all nutrient depletion supplements. A comprehensive list wouldn’t be helpful because there would be too many medications to remember.
Medication categories commonly associated with nutrient depletion include statins, diuretics, PPIs, corticosteroids, and many diabetes medications. If you are taking any drugs in these categories, you may want to ask your doctor or pharmacist about possible nutrient depletion.
What Nutrients are Commonly Depleted?
Essential vitamins commonly depleted by medications include B1, B2, B3, B6, B9, B12, D, and K. Nutrients associated with depletion include Coenzyme Q10, Beta-Carotene, Calcium, Chromium, Folic Acid, Iron, Magnesium, Potassium, and Zinc.
If this list reminds you of the vitamin aisle at your local pharmacy… good! The above lists contain vitamins and nutrients that are essential to a healthy life.
Low levels of any of the vitamins and nutrients listed above can lead to some noticeable health issues. It is important to note that many people have adequate levels of the above vitamins if they have a standard healthy diet.
What Does Nutrient Depletion Do?
The effects of nutrient depletion depend on which vitamin or nutrient is depleted. Certain symptoms can point to specific nutrient depletion*
| Symptom | Possible Nutrient Depletion |
| Muscle cramps, irregular heartbeat, mood changes | Low magnesium |
| Feeling weak or tired, regular constipation | Low potassium |
| Regular numbness or tingling in the hands & feet | Low vitamin B6 |
| General numbness, confusion | Low vitamin B12 |
| Chronic fatigue, pale skin, oral pain | Low vitamin B9 |
| Weakened bones, bone loss | Low vitamin D or calcium |
| Weakened immune system, loss of taste or smell, rashes | Low zinc |
*Please talk to your doctor or pharmacist before taking any actions or starting any new medications regarding nutrient depletion.
What Cures Nutrient Depletion?
Overcoming nutrient depletion can take time. Your body needs to build up enough nutrients to climb back to normal levels. Taking specific supplements built to combat nutrient depletion may be your best option. You can also take specific supplements to prevent the depletion of key nutrients before it occurs.
Supplements built to fight nutrient depletion differ from everyday multivitamins in several ways. Nutrient depletion supplements are formulated with blends of vitamins and nutrients to help the body redevelop optimal levels of specific nutrients.
Vitamin complexes (multiple types of letter vitamins), refined vitamin supplements (vitamins derived from a specific source), and nutrient probiotic blends are common types of supplements built specifically to help with nutrient depletion. Many products in these categories will be labeled as a supplement to help with a certain type of health. Cardiovascular, digestive, essential vitamins, immune health, endocrine—targeted labels like these are used to inform people what associated nutrient depletion may be helped.
What Nutrient Depletion Supplement Should I Take?
Before making any decision on what type of supplement to take, please talk to your doctor or pharmacist. Any type of nutrient depletion therapy should be handled with the oversight of a pharmacist or doctor.
There are several broad nutrient depletion supplements that can help with low levels of multiple vitamins & nutrients. Many CoQ-10 supplements contain servings of CoQ-10 and vitamin E that can help with cardiovascular, cholesterol, blood sugar, and neurological medication-related nutrient depletions.
Another broad option is vitamin complexes. Vitamin complexes contain many different versions of a letter vitamin, all of which come from different nutrients, along with other nutrients. For example; a B complex may have vitamin B1 (listed as thiamin), vitamin B2 (listed as riboflavin), and vitamin B12 (listed as methylcobalamin). The values of these vitamins depend on what the supplement is intended to help with.
Ortho Molecular Nutrient Depletion Therapy
Earlier this year we decided to increase our offerings from Ortho Molecular. Ortho Molecular manufactures high-quality vitamins and supplements at great prices. They also only allow their products to be sold by clinical professionals (pharmacists or doctors). This means Ortho Molecular products can’t be found on Amazon or Walmart. This professional integrity allows Ortho Molecular products to have the biggest possible impact on customers.
The founders of Ortho Molecular wanted to make sure their products were only sold by informed professionals in order to have the biggest impact on the health of their customers.
The supplements and vitamins offered by Ortho Molecular are designed through extensive clinical trials and are manufactured using the best sources of vitamins on the market. Ortho Molecular’s website has a virtual library on all their products. Each supplement is broken down into component parts, followed by why each part was chosen for a specific supplement.
The care taken to put together materials on supplements manufactured by Ortho Molecular shows how much hard work and research they put into their products. The FAQs on all their vitamins and supplements is written in an easy to follow format, making the database useable by anyone.
We have been expanding our online Ortho Molecular offerings over the past few months. Click here to see the products and view related documentation directly from Ortho Molecular on how and why a specific supplement works.
Ortho Molecular at Oswald’s Pharmacy
Our pharmacists helped select Ortho Molecular as a line that stands out among multivitamin and nutrient depletion options. The research Ortho Molecular technicians conduct before manufacturing any of their supplements helps support the case of the nutrient and vitamin depletions they are trying to help with.
We have a great selection of Ortho Molecular vitamins and supplements in our store, right in front of the pharmacy counter. There are other multivitamins as well, but if you are looking to restore specific nutrients to your body, you may want to take a look and talk to one of our pharmacists.
If you have any questions regarding nutrient depletion, vitamins & supplements, or Ortho Molecular products, please give us a call or send us an email. Our team will be happy to help you!
Sources & Further Reading
