Here at Superhuman, we don’t offer IV hydration, despite many people asking for it. Why? Well, if you don’t consume or drink plants, and are eating enough fatty, red meat with salt and drinking enough water, you won’t get any of the supposed benefits. Why? Because you won’t have any nutritional deficiencies. People who are nutritionally deficient are the ones who need, and will feel better, after supplementing, missing nutrients in any form. JAMA recently published titled “IV Hydration Spas Are Gaining Popularity, but Are They Safe?” In it, the author states that, “It may seem difficult to imagine signing up to receive an intravenous (IV) injection of a fluid that has no proven benefit…”
In her role as a medical toxicologist at MedStar Georgetown University Hospital, Kelly Krisna Johnson-Arbor, MD, occasionally gets calls from individuals who’ve had medical complications following visits to IV hydration spas. “For many people, it’s innocuous, but for some, it can be harmful,” she said, adding that insufficient evidence exists to substantiate the purported benefits of nonmedical IV therapy.
“Just because glutathione or magnesium or NAD may have been shown to have benefits in a basic science study, that doesn’t translate into a human clinical benefit,” Johnson-Arbor said. “It’s also very common for people to think that if some is good, then a lot is better, but having a vitamin deficiency doesn’t mean you need it in excess.”
She compared IV treatments focused on wellness with dietary supplements, another industry that is largely unregulated. “Could there be a benefit?” Johnson-Arbor said. “Possibly, but there are also undisputed, significant risks.”
Those risks, at their most common, include issues with IV placement, including bruising, bleeding, or infection at the injection site.
If there are issues with the fluid itself, the “hazards go up from there,” Lurie said.
Johnson-Arbor noted that the “actual ingredients in these cocktails can vary from facility to facility, so individuals may not know what they’re getting.” They could have an allergic reaction, or those with underlying medical conditions may have interactions that could “possibly be fatal.”