A little known, but potentially life-saving fact is that common medications deplete your body of vital nutrients that are essential to your health.  The truth is that every medication, including over-the-counter drugs, depletes your body of specific, vital nutrients. Drug-induced nutrient depletion is far more common than has been acknowledged. In evaluating patients’ symptoms, we assess whether symptoms are due to the illness, to the side effects of the drugs, or to drug-induced nutrient depletion.  For example anti-hypertensive medications are known to deplete minerals, such as magnesium, sodium, potassium and zinc, which are seldom specifically supplemented.