Most people have no idea of what orthomolecular/nutritional therapy means. But it is really very simple. “Ortho-” comes from the Greek word that means “to correct”. “Molecular” refers to molecules. The term orthomolecular/nutritional therapy was coined in 1968 by Dr. Linus Pauling. He defined orthomolecular medicine as "the preservation of good health and the treatment of disease by varying the concentrations in the human body of nutritional and hormonal substances that are normally present in the body and are required for health."
Would you like to buy a car that fixed itself? The tires would never wear out. Spark plugs would be continuously renewed. If someone crashed into it, the car would automatically repair the dent. And as soon as the engine started getting out of tune, it would immediately tune itself so that decades later it would still be running perfectly well. Here’s an absolutely amazing fact. God designed our bodies to be just like that - to heal themselves. And in general, that’s exactly what they do hundreds of times a day.
You receive an injury – your body fixes it. You get a cold or a flu – your immune system cures it. You’re exposed to a toxin – your liver eliminates it. The only time you really need to see a doctor is when it doesn’t do what it is supposed to do. One of the reasons that happens is because your body is not getting enough of the vitamins, minerals, fats, and hormones that it needs to heal itself. And here’s how this can happen.
We are all so different. And we all have different needs. For some of us a given amount of a particular vitamin, mineral, or hormone would be all we needed. But for others the exact same amount would be insufficient. Some people can get all the vitamin B6 that they need in their diet just by eating nutritiously. But others may need to take B6 supplements to get enough. It is not unusual that some of us need to take hundreds of times more of a particular nutrient than most everyone else because of our genetic uniqueness. And that’s where orthomolecular/nutritional therapy comes in.
Orthomolecular/nutritional therapy focuses on finding out if there are any special nutrients that your body needs that it isn’t getting enough of. That can be done by examination, taking a detailed history of your symptoms and the things that make you unique, and testing.
Many people have symptoms or conditions for no apparent reason. In most of these cases it is because their body has a special need for a nutrient that they can’t get enough of even from a good diet. Orthomolecular/nutritional therapy is the art and science of finding out what each body needs, and providing it in the correct dose.
