WHY CELEBRITIES ARE HOOKED ON IV DRIPS

What began life as a revolutionary lunch-hour hangover cure – the vitamin IV drip – has since become a celebrity essential. Just a few short months ago, Gwyneth Paltrow was interviewed casually hooked up to her IV drip. During the podcast, the host remarked to Paltrow, “As you’re recording this right now, you have a little IV, which is so on-brand for both of us. We pod and IV at the same time!” To that, Gwyn responded, “I’m really embarrassing myself right here. I love an IV! I’m an early IV adopter. Glutathione, I love to have in an IV. Kind of a random, more fringy one, phosphatidylcholine… That’s my favourite IV when I can find them. They’re quite hard to find. And those make me feel so good.”

This time, though, Paltrow just had an IV drip of “good old-fashioned vitamins”. But what’s all the hype about? And is there any science to back it up?

IV drips offer a direct infusion of vitamins and minerals into the bloodstream, bypassing the traditional route of oral consumption, which tracks via the digestive system and thus takes longer to be absorbed into the body. The industry is set to reach $16 billion by 2027. Whether it’s vitamin C for bad skin and immuneboosting pre-flu season; vitamin D to promote better sleep or a cocktail for energy boosting or detoxing, there’s a drip. Celeb endorsement is high and yet the scientific evidence is still scarce. “The fact you’ve had the volume of fluid quickly will make you feel a little bit better temporarily,” says Dr Chelsie McMullin. “But that’s an expensive [cure], and you’ll likely have the same result if you drink a few electrolytes.” The short answer is that you can’t stockpile a surplus of vitamins in the body, so anything you don’t need will be filtered and flushed out.