Intravenous vitamin therapy offers quick hydration and nutrients, but few proven benefits. Photo / 123RF
Intravenous vitamin drips are predicted to enjoy a surge this festive season. But what are they – and are there real health benefits?
Forget simply turning down your third cocktail or drinking water after each whisky: this year’s favoured hangover cure is an intravenous vitamin drip. Already popular in the United States, vitamin IV drips are gaining popularity around the world – not only as a tonic to remedy the excesses of the night before, but also as a supposed cure for brain fog and exhaustion or as a quick boost to the immune system.
So does injecting a stream of vitamins directly into your arm once a fortnight really do much for your health – or, at least, help to keep the party alive? We asked the experts.
Vitamin drips are a way of delivering a vitamin to someone straight into their bloodstream by IV. The equipment involved is a bag of saline solution with added vitamins that’s inserted into your arm via a cannula, by a trained professional.
This is a much faster way of transporting the vitamins into your body than taking a supplement in pill form. The transfusion takes between 45 minutes and an hour to complete.
“The most common reason someone would seek an IV vitamin drip would either be for hangover recovery or general fatigue,” says Dr Semiya Aziz, an NHS and private GP at Say GP.
“Whether it is of true benefit is yet to be proven. However, many report that the sudden boost of fluids does help to combat symptoms such as dehydration, fatigue or a headache following a night of drinking.”
Vijay Murthy, the founder of the Harley Street Murthy Clinic, has recommended IV drips to patients suffering from “detoxification issues” and those who “suffer from migraines and brain fog the day after just half a glass” of wine.
“They can also be very helpful for someone who has a very damaged gut microbiome, as no matter which oral supplement someone with this problem takes, their body won’t absorb the nutrients as well,” he adds.
While an IV drip won’t contain dozens of different vitamins, like a multivitamin pill might, it is likely to include “a concoction of supplements that can help one to feel more energised,” says Dr Aziz.
It might contain vitamin C, different B and D vitamins, minerals, such as magnesium and calcium, and antioxidants like glutathione or curcumin. Some IV drips contain one vitamin while others contain many.
Vitamin IV therapy delivers a vitamin or mix of vitamins straight into a person’s bloodstream, typically in a much higher dose than you could obtain from a shop-bought supplement, delivering stronger and quicker effects.
How exactly these drips function in the body depends on which vitamins and minerals they contain. Some contain glutathione, a chemical naturally produced in the body by your liver. These drips are sold as hangover cures. “This is the most important chemical that your liver needs to detoxify itself, but when you’re hungover you’re unlikely to be producing enough,” Murthy explains.
“This is why these drips often help people to detoxify and feel better, whether they’re hungover or they have difficulty absorbing nutrients.”
However, the effect of intravenous glutathione is likely to wane over time. “No matter how much glutathione you’re given, your liver won’t respond in the way it first did,” Murthy adds.
Vitamin drip therapy has few proven effects.
“Your body naturally has a set point when it comes to vitamin and mineral requirements,” Aziz says. “If it is in excess and your body does not need it, vitamins are quickly excreted out in most cases. Fat-soluble vitamins, such as vitamins D and E, tend to stay in your system for much longer periods of time,” she adds, but using drips regularly cannot cure any underlying deficiencies someone might have.
Indeed, there is very little scientific research into the effects of vitamin IV drips – good or bad. But anecdotal reports suggest that they can deliver the following benefits:
An IV drip will, however, help to rehydrate your system by supplying it with more fluids. With glutathione, this is one of the main reasons that people report feeling benefits after a hangover – a key feature of which is dehydration.
Normal vitamin C supplements can help people to recover from colds and other winter bugs, as well as preventing them in the first place, according to one 2013 study. A dose of the vitamin (drip or no drip) may also increase energy, attention and focus temporarily, research from 2022 found.
Vitamin D tablets, meanwhile, have been shown to help your body absorb calcium, and deficiencies can cause low energy and low mood. It’s for this reason that the NHS suggests people take vitamin D supplements throughout winter.
However, as this vitamin is actually produced by your skin in response to sunlight, it can be difficult for your body to absorb it in supplement form. Taking it in an IV drip may help your body to absorb more but, as the vitamins are delivered in water, “I wouldn’t say that they have any long-term effects,” Murthy warns.
“Even vitamins administered by IV will be excreted once the body is done using them, so frequent sessions are needed for a longer-lasting effect.”
Ultimately, when it comes to hangovers, Murphy is sceptical of their impact. “I doubt they do much more good than a coffee or a full English breakfast,” he says. “But if you have access to drips and you can afford to try them, they won’t cause any harm if they’re delivered by a professional.”
Vitamin drips on the whole pose no danger to most people and rarely have downsides, aside from the expense. Some, however, should exercise caution before trying them for the following reasons:
“Using vitamin drips may lead to a condition called hypernatremia, whereby the amount of sodium in your bloodstream is too high – a consequence of the salt content in the saline solution being administered in the drip,” Dr Aziz warns.
“This may lead to swelling in the body and can put pressure on the heart and lungs. If you do have any underlying health condition, such as heart failure, then it is imperative to seek medical advice before considering using IV drips.”
Even people without these underlying health problems could see some temporary negative effects. “Every individual reacts differently to any given procedure,” Aziz explains.
“For some, simply inserting a cannula may be enough to cause inflammation, swelling or an infection at the site of insertion – factors which should be taken into consideration before deciding whether or not to try an IV drip.”
It’s also important that people don’t come to rely on IV drips to remedy a hangover or replace a healthy, varied diet, says Dr Murthy.
“If you’re eating good-quality food as part of a broad diet and don’t have any digestive issues, IV drips won’t supply you with any benefits in the long term,” he says.
“It’s important that people don’t come to see these drips as an alternative to a healthy lifestyle. For some people, they can be a helpful addition to one, but they shouldn’t be looked at as essential.”
The benefits of IV therapy over traditional supplements all depend on each individual who takes them.
A major upside of vitamin IV therapy is that these drips should contain none of the fillers that can come in high-street supplement pills, says Dr Murthy.
“Shops tend to use a lot of additives, like stabilisers, preservatives and synthetic binders, in these products to keep costs down,” he explains. What’s more, “you have to take supplements on a daily basis to get the benefit, whereas having an IV drip may cover you for a fortnight or so”.
Compared with oral supplements, vitamins delivered via IV may also be easier for the body to absorb. People who use IV drips should not be taking supplements in pill form at the same time, though, says Aziz.
“This would result in double dosing and an overload of certain vitamins and minerals,” she says.
If you don’t have any ongoing health issues, then trying vitamin IV therapy out of curiosity is fine.
“Almost anyone can try these out of curiosity,” Murthy says, “but if you want to incorporate these drips into your wellness regimen long-term, it’s important to consult a doctor who has your full medical history and also has an understanding of nutrition to advise you.”
In reality, “it can be difficult to know whether you will stand to benefit from long-term vitamin therapies,” Aziz says.
“In general practice, patients will only be tested for B12, folate, iron, or vitamin D deficiencies. If you are receiving IV vitamin infusions, which often contain a combination of substances, it can then become challenging to know if the components in the drip are addressing the issue that they were meant to be used for in the first place,” she adds.
What’s more, you “should absolutely not use IV drips without speaking to a healthcare professional first, especially if you suffer from any medical condition,” Aziz adds.
“As with any health trend, jumping on the bandwagon without speaking to a professional first could do more harm than good.”
How often should you get a vitamin drip?
There is no specific frequency at which you should get a vitamin drip. Having one too often could worsen any potential side effects, but each person has a different tolerance to the drips. Those who have vitamin drips in lieu of taking supplements in pill form “would be covered by having a drip once every 15 days or so,” Murthy says.
How long does a vitamin drip last in your system?
“You would only experience the benefits for a week or two at most, as all the vitamins will eventually be excreted out,” Murthy says.
Is there anything you shouldn’t do after a vitamin drip?
According to the NHS, it is safe to drive after a vitamin drip. However your body needs time to absorb the nutrients, so it may be worth avoiding heavy lifting, strenuous exercise and drinking alcohol.
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