Did you know that there are many pharmaceutical drugs that deplete the body of nutrients?

If you take or intend to take prescription drugs you may find it's a good idea to check out which nutrients you may need to supplement while taking the medication.

My first encounter with this sort of nutrient depletion was when I was taking isoniazid for TB when I was a teenager. I suffered greatly from insomnia but did not know why. It was not until many years later that I discovered that it was because of vitamin B6 depletion. B6 is also known as pyridoxine. If I had known at the time, and if I had been able to take supplements of pyridoxine at the time, I would have been saved from those dreadful sleepless years and from the anaemia that is also caused by lack of this vitamin.

Statins, so widely and notoriously over-prescribed, cause the body to be depleted of coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10), so if you are taking them you may like to consider taking tablets of CoQ10 so as to reduce some of the harm the statins may be causing you.

Steroid drugs such as prednisone have been shown to deplete the body of calcium, magnesium, folic acid, potassium, selenium, vitamin C, and vitamin D.

Antibiotics deplete the body of several nutrients as well as adversely affecting the balance of the gut flora. Thiazide diuretics (water tablets) such as Bendrofluazide (aka Bendroflumethiazide or lots of other names) remove some potassium and magnesium from the body. The resultant shortage of potassium and magnesium may well cause you night cramps. Often all you need to do about the shortage of potassium is to make sure you eat plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables and your doctor will usually tell you about this and suggest eating bananas for extra potassium.

Depletion of nutrients could affect you in many ways and may well result in lower energy levels and lowered immunity to infection. So check it out. You may find it's a case for nutritional supplements to the rescue!

High levels of Vitamin B6 and the amino acid methionine appear to cut the risk of lung cancer by half

BBC News reports. "People with plenty of a B-vitamin in their blood appear to be at a reduced risk of lung cancer, even if they smoke." "High levels of Vitamin B6 and the amino acid methionine cut the risk by half, a study of 400,000 people suggested."

Methionine is found in protein like meat, fish and nuts, and vitamin B6 is found in meat, nuts, vegetables and bananas. Obviously, giving up smoking (or never starting to smoke) is the best way to reduce risk of lung cancer, but these two featured nutrients are associated with lowered risk for both smokers and non-smokers.

Certain prescription drugs deplete the body of vitamin B6. I experienced this when I was a teenager, taking drugs to treat pulmonary TB. It became totally impossible for me to sleep. I could not sleep AT ALL. The drug called isoniazid had depleted my body of vitamin B6. No-one told me that my intractable insomnia was the consequence of severe lack of vitamin B6 (aka pyridoxine). The doctors probably did not know at that time, when the drugs were pretty new, that there was this side-effect. If I had been prescribed pyridoxine tablets to make up for the deficiency I would not have suffered those terrible years of insomnia, which brought in its train many other problems.