In writing and lecturing, I recommend the optimal levels of nutrients people need to keep their bodies functioning at their best. Unfortunately, our food supply no longer provides adequate nutrients.

Over the last 60 years, the vitamin and mineral content of our food supply has been declining.1 For example, in 1950 the calcium in broccoli averaged 12.9 mg/gram.

By 2003, that number had fallen to 4.4 mg/gram — a 293 percent decline.

Researchers have also reported that protein concentrations in wheat and barley crops declined 30 to 50 percent between the years 1938 and 1990.

In medical school, I was taught that people don’t need to take nutritional supplements because they can get enough nutrients from food. I now know that the facts contradict that claim.

I have been checking nutrient levels in patients for nearly 20 years, and I can state with certainty that the levels have been declining.

Another reason that nutrient levels have fallen is that exposure to toxic substances has increased significantly. When the body is exposed to a toxin, it has to detoxify the substance and excrete it.

Nutrients are required to catalyze the reactions that neutralize toxins. Each step in this process results in nutrients being used up.

Therefore, the more toxins we encounter, the more nutrients we need.

The good news is that judicious use of IV nutrients can have a tremendously positive effect on many health problems.

Intravenous therapies can also help the body overcome gastrointestinal (GI) absorption problems.

There are many reasons a person could have difficulty absorbing nutrients taken orally, including low stomach acid production, use of antibiotics, food allergies, and inflammation of the GI tract.

Taking nutrients intravenously removes any worry about the gastrointestinal absorption.