Fine-tuning your vital nutrient balance
There are many reasons why nutrient levels can become imbalanced, including age, lifestyle and diet, environmental factors, or illness. A deficiency usually goes unnoticed for a long time. The first signs are often only nonspecific symptoms, such as fatigue, susceptibility to infection, and general malaise. This is where orthomolecular medicine comes in, its goal being to restore the individual’s nutrient balance both preventively and therapeutically.
Areas of application
The targeted intake of micronutrients can be used both preventively and supportively in a variety of applications, for example:
- General nutrient deficiency or increased need for nutrients
- Longevity, metabolic tuning, and prevention
- arteriosclerosis
- Diseases of the digestive system
- Skin diseases
- Cardiovascular diseases
- Infections, e.g. flu infections
- Rheumatism
- Heavy metal contamination
- Strengthening the immune system
- Metabolic diseases
What is orthomolecular medicine?
Orthomolecular medicine (from the Greek word ‘ortho’ = correct and the Latin ‘molecular’ = particle) can be understood as the science of the right molecules, or macro- and micronutrients. It deals with the optimal balance of vitamins, minerals, trace elements, amino acids, fatty acids, and enzymes in the human body.
Orthomolecular medicine is “the maintenance of good health and treatment of disease by altering the concentrations in the human body of substances normally present in the body and required for health.”
It thus also has a preventative and optimizing focus. A basic assumption is that people usually do not adequately consume the vital nutrients they need daily. Furthermore, in certain diseases, the requirement can be so increased that it cannot be met even with a healthy diet.
Through proper balance, the human body is supposed to regulate itself and thus be able to maintain or restore a healthy equilibrium. Therapies include vitamin supplementation and nutritional supplements, either orally or intravenously.
In some cases, not only the correct amount but also the correct ratio of individual components to one another is important. It is also considered essential that only those substances are used medicinally that are physiologically present in the body in the same chemical form or that can be readily converted by the body into the biologically active forms.
In both prevention and treatment, it is important to provide people with the appropriate nutrients individually and according to their needs. A holistic approach.
This view is not shared by many in evidence-based medicine, also known as conventional medicine, and nutrition science. Orthomolecular medicine is polarizing. It is therefore considered a branch of alternative medicine.
A deficiency usually remains unnoticed for a long time...
The earliest manifestations of underlying health issues are often subtle and non-specific, making them easy to overlook. Individuals may begin to experience persistent fatigue that doesn’t improve with rest, leaving them drained and low on energy. There’s often a noticeable drop in immune resilience, leading to an increased tendency to catch colds or infections more frequently than usual. Beyond the physical, there’s a general malaise—a vague sense of not feeling well—that can affect both body and mood, presenting as foggy thinking, emotional flatness, or simply a loss of vitality. These symptoms may appear mild in isolation but, together, they signal that something deeper may be out of balance within the body’s cellular or immune systems.