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Times change – so does food
We are in a radically new situation nowadays. Numerous vital cell nutriment and cell defence substances are hardly or not sufficiently available anymore in much of our food. Moreover, every living organism is exposed to an increasing amount of pollutants in the environment and in food products.
Orthomolecular* substances are essential cell nutriment and cell defence substances - vitamins, minerals, trace elements, amino acids and other vital substances - and are absolutely required in order for all biochemical processes to function properly. Hence, these substances are able to prevent and/or remedy numerous adverse health conditions of the human body.
* Definition ‘orthomolecular’ (from Greek ortho = right, proper, adequate and Latin mole = mass or rather molecula = small mass or amount or molecule): the right molecules in the right concentration.
Prof. Dr. Linus Pauling defined orthomolecular medicine as follows: «Orthomolecular medicine is the preservation of good health and the treatment of disease by varying the concentrations in the human body of substances that are normally present in the body and are required for health.»
We distinguish different areas of activity of orthomolecular substances:
Formation, operation, maintenance and disposal
Many substances have various functions in the body. The mineral calcium, for example, is needed for the formation and maintenance of bones, is involved in the regulation of muscle contraction (from Latin contractio = contraction), the response of the eye to brightness and supports the maintenance of a healthy acid-base balance.
Orthomolecular substances serve the body as ‚tools‘. If these substances are not available in sufficient amounts, important processes cannot be carried out fast enough and/or only incompletely and/or not at all, e.g. all processes concerning the removal of waste products. If waste products get stuck somewhere, they can, in turn, inhibit other processes.
Harmful substances
Harmful substances are known as ‚radicals‘*, which are incomplete and thus highly chemically reactive molecules. Radicals are ruthlessly trying to make themselves complete by snatching what they lack from other molecules in a destructive, parasitic process.
* Definition ‘radical’: An atom, molecule or ion with at least one unpaired electron.
Radicals are, among other things, involved in reactions resulting in the decay of food. They are highly active, harmful intermediate catabolic products or chemicals which can attack and damage proteins and lipids produced naturally in the body (e.g. cell membranes) as well as the construction and operating instructions (chromosomes) in the cell nucleus.
The proportion or rather the concentration ratio of harmful substances (radicals) to protective substances is crucial for the body’s efficiency.
Protective substances
Vitamins, minerals and trace elements neutralize numerous harmful substances. Examples of important substances capable of neutralizing harmful substances are:
vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin E, ubiquinone (= coenzyme Q10), L-cysteine, glutathione, alpha-lipoic acid, beta-carotene, flavonoids and anthocyanid.
An adequate concentration of protective substances is the critical factor. The nowadays ‚common‘ disproportion between increased requirements and decreasing levels of protective substances in foods is aggravated in times of physical and mental exertion.
Prof. Dr. Linus Pauling summarises the benefits of an adequate concentration of protective substances as follows:
«Based on the results of epidemiologic studies and further observations, I estimate that an optimal intake of vitamins coupled with other health-promoting measures can elongate one’s lifespan and the time of well-being by 25 to 35 years.»