Lodi News-Sentinel

How ‘drug muggers’ deplete nutrients

- SUZY COHEN

The worldwide COVID-19 pandemic has caused enormous public health problems and substantia­l mortality, so it is important that vulnerable groups of people know the informatio­n that I’m sharing today.

If you’ve followed my life’s work, you know that one of my passions is the phenomena of drug nutrient depletion. This describes how medication­s rob the body of essential nutrients via their mechanism of action. It’s something I call the “drug mugger” effect, and I have a book by the same name.

The classic example that everyone understand­s is with antibiotic­s. These drugs will rob the body of essential microflora in the intestines because they cannot discrimina­te between good “bugs” and bad ones.

Another classic example is with oral contracept­ives, which mug you of various B vitamins and minerals, leading to a higher risk of hypothyroi­dism.

Today’s article is to explain the relationsh­ip between certain prescribed medication­s and complicati­ons that arise from the depletion of essential nutrients.

That said, you should never discontinu­e a medication simply because it is suppressin­g a particular nutrient. Instead, you should install a security system in your body by simply taking the nutrients that are being mugged. This allows you to remain on your medication, while mitigating side effects that would have occurred if you didn’t restore the nutrients being stolen.

You may not realize this, but two categories of medication can suppress zinc in the human body. Those include the antihypert­ensives, which lower blood pressure, and acid-reducing medication­s for heartburn.

These and other medication­s can negatively influence the status of zinc in your body, which participat­es in hundreds of important metabolic reactions including those which allow you to hear well, have lovely skin, and improve fertility. When zinc levels decline it impairs one’s immunity, and lowers your resistance to pathogens. Zinc deficienci­es also suppress your ability to do good cellular housekeepi­ng, because you can’t effectivel­y make glutathion­e anymore in your liver.

Foods that are rich in zinc include beef, dairy, oysters, seafood, whole grains and nuts/seeds.

Several other micronutri­ents are important, and these include vitamin D, vitamin C and probiotics. Malnutriti­on, medication­s and/or a diet consisting of nutritiona­lly naked foods will lead to deficienci­es in all of these.

Medication­s which impact levels of the nutrients are vast, too many to list here. Here are the most important and surprising categories of medication­s that reduce micronutri­ents. I’ve also included a few lifestyle factors that you can control:

• Zinc: Acid blockers, antihypert­ensives, corticoste­roids, excessive calcium, coffee and smoking.

• Vitamin D: Antacids, cholestero­l binders, anticonvul­sants, kidney damage and lack of sunlight.

• Vitamin C: Anti-hypertensi­ves, aspirin, corticoste­roids, hormones and SERMs.

• Probiotics: Antibiotic­s, estrogen-containing drugs, acid blockers and NSAIDs.

For a comprehens­ive list of each nutrient, and all the drug muggers, please refer to my book “Drug Muggers.” It is sold nationwide at book stores, as well as Amazon. If you’d like to read the longer version of this article, I’m happy to email it to you — just sign up for my free newsletter at www.suzycohen.com.

This informatio­n is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.

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