B vitamins are a critical part of maintaining your health. Luckily, you can grab them from a variety of natural sources. Look to dark leafy greens, fish, cantaloupe, poultry, meat, eggs, dairy…getting the picture? Needles do not reside on this list. You needn’t seek out shots for your nutrient…shot.
I regularly weight train at a boutique gym in Malibu (the creatively dubbed Malibu Fitness). The seamless indoor/outdoor feel, ocean views and palm trees perpetually jigging in the breeze (dreamy, ain’t it?) enhance the facility’s small town charm. As you might expect from a mom and pop establishment just a stone’s throw from the Pacific, plenty of vendors come to display their wares. Usually I pay them little heed, but seeing folks dropping trou and taking a needle in the rump was enough to catch my attention.
Injections in public have become more common these days. Your local CVS will hook you up with the anti-flu juice and toss in a tetanus cocktail at the same time. Hell, my son even had his football physical in a drug store this season, complete with spectators. When I saw the same taking place at my gym, I might have thought “steroids,” but the 70-something lady with her panty line exposed steered my naturally curious mind elsewhere. I had to know more.
Turns out, this particular vendor was a naturopathic doctor hawking vitamin B shots. I approached Dr. Feelgood and peppered her with some questions. She warmly shared her secrets.
“When we inject them (the B vitamins), they bypass the digestive system, so they’re going to be a lot stronger. It goes straight into the bloodstream so you’re going to get 100% of that vitamin. My shot has B5, B6, B complex, MIC, which is methionine, choline, and inositol. It’s all in one.”
As she was explaining, her client chimed in.
“It’s a cocktail,” the parrot squawked while pulling her sweats back up.
The doc continued.
“In my office we can do an IV drip, we can run amino acids, magnesium, calcium, all sorts of things.”
Hmmm. I eat lots of those vitamins daily, but she’s a doctor, right? Might as well see if I’m missing something.
“Aren’t all of these things found in food?”
“They are and in an ideal world we’d get them through our food, but what I find is that people aren’t eating enough of them or if they are their digestive system is not strong enough to be absorbing enough of it, Even if that’s all working fine, a lot of people are stressed out and not sleeping enough and subsequently burning through their vitamins more quickly or working out really hard so that the shots and the IVs or supplements will be good on top of your nutrients.”
Oh. In that case, let me just pull out my wallet…wait, no. You’ve been my partners for a while now. There’s no way we can blindly accept this narrative. The minute we start to hear about a magic shortcut, our detectors better start sensing smoke. Time to search for the fire. From kevinmd.com:
Many adults are told that their vague symptoms of tiredness or fatigue are caused by B12 deficiency instead of actually trying to address genuine issues like insufficient sleep, sleep apnea, overreliance on caffeine and depression (to name a few of the genuine causes of fatigue).
It’s comforting to hear that there is a quick and easy fix to all of your problems. Real solutions require a much concentrated lifestyle change. I raised my hand on the caffeine reliance; I’m drinking far too much black coffee these days. Shot of espresso? I’ve been there. Shot in the ass? Nope. The real advice from my doctor should be to drink less joe. Unfortunately for our ND over here, that advice costs nothing. Injections are where the real profit is.
So why this fetish with injections? From the patient’s point of view, shots feel more like something important is going on. Placebos need rituals—with acupuncture, for instance, the elaborate ritual creates an illusion of effectiveness. And from the doctor’s point of view, injections reinforce dependence on the physician, creating visits and cash flow.
There, now I’ve saved you oodles of time and cash. Ready to celebrate? There’s good news. You can grab a shot cocktail after your night of…well…shots and cocktails. Hangover Heaven in Las Vegas will pump you full of vitamins after a long evening of partying. They’ll get you ready for round two, three and four. You’ve been on the party bus. Hop on the morning after express. From their website:
The Hangover Heaven Bus is a 45-foot rolling hangover treatment clinic that has been modified to provide first-class medical treatment while simultaneously offering resort-style comfort.
If you’re hungover after a long night of raging and the room is spinning, just stick your finger down your throat and get it over with, softie (okay, not really). I’m not saying that an IV bag filled with fluids and supplements won’t make you feel better, but do you really need to be resorting to hopping on a bus full of needles?
The answers here don’t require a questionable medical degree and a vial of healing fluid. They’re pretty simple. If you’re dehydrated and nutrient starved after slurping martinis, drink water and ingest the vitamins in their naturally occurring form. Too nauseous? Drink less booze. Tired? Get some rest. Stressed? Take a walk and grab some deep breaths.
I’ve been looking for the right words to describe this latest “self-help” idea. Western, Eastern, Alternative medicine? Maybe I’m looking in the wrong place. From Pediatric Insider:
If it works, it’s medicine. If it’s not known whether it works because good studies haven’t been done, a good term for it is “unproven medicine.” If good studies have shown that the treatment is ineffective, the best term I can think of would be “quackery.”
Still not convinced? Come on down to Malibu Fitness on a Wednesday. After I finish my set of squats, I’ll take your hand and introduce you to the doc. Just don’t blame me for your sore ass.
Kap
Great read. You can always just ask any naturopathic doctor for any scientific evidence of any of their treatments.Quackery applies to it all. Nothing wrong with the placebo effect, as long as you sell it as that. “We’re not really sure why it works, and science hasn’t proven it yet, but lots of people say it does”. Nothing wrong with saying that at all. Let the person decide for themselves.
Good call, Justin. That’s a fair take.
So what if these injections were cheap? Would it be beneficial for elite athletes? Why not be sure as an elite athlete you are getting enough nutrients? Obviously diet must be considered on an individual basis but perhaps a B12 shot can help with recovery by producing more red blood cells.
And btw…Acupuncture is NOT a placebo. Adenosine gets released during acupuncture.
#MassUp
You might want to check this link out, Steve: http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/bait-and-switch-acupuncture-studies/
Solid read.
Oops, Steph came by dropping links. Don’t feel bad, Steve, it happens to the best of us.
Periodically I get a trainer or a dietician at my gym trying to get me to use supplements to help with my workouts. Personally I think that’s crap. (Honestly, I think they are just trying to get sales. It’s part of their job.). I’ve never taken supplements, like you said, we should ideally get that from our food. On top of it the research on the effectiveness of supplements is a crap shoot. (A more recent study ties high mortality rates in older women to supplement use and yet others show positive results with varying doses). We can thank Linus Pauling for the supplement craze.
Another great post! Thanks!
Thanks so much, Michelle. Really appreciate your thoughts.
Great post Kap. Just saw this exact same thing a few weeks ago at my Golds in Scottsdale. I definitely got a shady vibe from the “Dr.” that was there, so I stayed away from the crowd that was quickly gathering. I know how you feel about supplements and protein powders, do you have a recommended amount of protein one should consume on a daily basis? 1g per lb? 2g per lb? Is this all just nonsense? I’m 6’8 about 260, and the idea of consuming 260g of protein from food seems kind of insane. What say you?
Christian, how old are you? What type of training are you doing? Are you an athlete? Blanket statements simply don’t work, dig?
I dig. In fact that in part is the answer… figure out what MY body needs. Just not sure the best way to go about doing that. I’m 32, play very competitive sand vball, and been doing Stronglifts 5×5 for about 10 months. My diet has definitely held me back and I’m looking to get some help and gain some knowledge. So thank you for all your insight, reading your blog each day has provided tons of motivation and knowledge. Thank you.
Got it. I’m 39 and my body is different now than it was at 32. Yes, you definitely need to figure out what works well for you. However, on days you perform your 5×5 in particular, you’ll need ample fuel for tissue repair. There isn’t an exact number of grams of protein for this purpose, in my opinion. I’ll write about this. Stay tuned. Thank you, as well, for bringing good stuff to the comments.
Kap
If someone is stickin’ me with a needle, I better have some sweet ink to show off afterwards. If I’m takin’ a shot of something, it better be tequila. If it’s a cocktail I’m consuming, it better be Bourbon, neat.
Damn..doin’ the turn and cough hernia check right in the middle of the store? Wacky and quaky! Not as weird as the granny panty thing, tho!
I just listen to my inner fat kid and pork out on some real vittles, thank you very much.
~Al~
Who doesn’t love their own inner fat kid, Al? I know I do. Nice job.
I prefer my ass being sore from squats and lunges so I’ll pass on the shots…though an injection cocktail of sand. sun and ocean breezes can cure a plethora of ailments
Oops, I think you retold my joke here, although less subtly. Finally, I win.
Oh, you told a joke? Must’ve missed it. I’m undefeated
The mind may be the strongest drug. People “buy into” stuff. For instance, you go see your favorite band in concert. They are a little off, maybe off key, maybe forgot some words, but you adore this band and all they do and you are a fan before anybody else was a fan, so you hear what you want to hear and the show is great!
The same can be said for self-administered Rx. You know, “to each their own” and all that rot. I personally try not to put too much “stuff” in my body that is not in my opinion viably digestible; I try to avoid anything with a list of chemicals on the side of the box. Heck, I spent a coupla years as a vegetarian. During that time I felt stronger, lighter and quicker. Was I? Sure, I tell myself.
Kap, I agree with your view on the locker room shot in the ass, however looking at it another way, if people feel a shot in the ass is right for them & makes them feel good, well then — who are we to say no?
Thank you for the thought-provoking post.
Love the band analogy, Chester. Well done.
Want profits? Sell your sole. It can be a sad world we live in.
I’d challenge sad and instead call it entertaining, Ed.
By sole I meant soul and not your shoes 🙂 . I can agree watching people sell their souls is entertaining and even entertaining watching fools buy in. It’s sad too…
Educational post as always. I couldn’t see myself getting vitamin shots but to each their own. I did stop taking all vitamins about 18 month’s ago. I did a rough estimate of the vitamins and minerals I get from my food and I felt we were wasting money buying vitamins and supplements when we were getting it from food.
Since we reduced the amount I feel damn good and saving a bit of cash. My mind set now is get as much from whole foods as possible and trying new foods. Thanks for the post Kap!
Adjustments, Duane. Love it.
I have to confess I’ve frequently been curious about supplements and vitamins to help. The advice that I adhere to now that was given (albeit, quietly) was that food is the best source for vitamins, proteins, and nutrients, and to listen to your body. They are designed assuming you have a major deficiency from your diet, and the effectiveness of the delivery system is widely debated. It often seems a lot more effort was put into the marketing as opposed to the science. Another concern I have that is rarely discussed, is if there are any collateral side effects-is the hand-grenade impact of a particular supplement going to have any impact on the existing balance in your body? Balanced meal, sensible portions, and stop sitting around the house. God bless you Mom!
She knows best.
Nice post Kap. A nurse i know recently offered to give me one of these.
I convinced her to take me out to coffee instead.
Dual purpose resolution.
See you tomorrow.
Hope the coffee and the nurse were both good company.
“If I’ve told you once, I’ve told you a thousand times, there is no shortcut!” …summary quote from GK 🙂
Boo. Ya.
Pedialyte drink for days when your under the weather
Thanks, Darby.
I had a science teacher long ago who said things that stuck with me over the years more than any other teacher. He was an odd dude but I loved the guy and still keep in touch with him today.
Anyway, he always preached, 20 years ago, to get your vitamins and minerals from food intake not through supplemental ways. He thought it was all a waste. He talked food/diet can cure and prevent a lot of things. Dude was a smart cookie.
Only “strange” thing I thought about him was he was do tuned into his diet he didn’t wear deodorant or antiperspirant because he believed that his body would take care of any odors through the food he ate. No idea if that’s true at all. I don’t practice that myself, but I never doubt the guy.
Heh, heh — I have known people like this — those who believe in their own odors or self-perceived lack thereof. Not so sure about the body taking care of its own odors. Although I like curry, it follows me around for a coupla days emitting and wafting through my skin. Just my body saying to the curry “get the heck outta heahhh.”
Isn’t it cool, though when you remember teachers from when you were a kid, and certain things that stuck with you? Teachers are certainly not in it for the $$, but don’t get me started.
This is a good topic for a post. I’ll think it through. Thanks for bringing solid takes, you two.
Everyone is looking for the quick fix. Hard work and dedication gets the best results.
Simple, accurate take, Roger. Thanks.