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The Orthomolecular Idea

Linus Pauling, the pioneers who came before and after him, why every body needs different amounts, and how nutrients compare with drugs for safety.

By Mayim Vega

Before the entries, the idea behind them: what "orthomolecular" means, who built the field, and why the right amount differs from person to person.

Dr. Linus Pauling, founder of orthomolecular medicine

Linus Pauling (1901–1994) was one of the most honored scientists of the twentieth century, and he gave orthomolecular medicine its name. His standing as a scientist is a big reason the field is taken seriously.

  • Early life. He was born in Portland, Oregon, in 1901. He studied chemical engineering at Oregon Agricultural College (now Oregon State University) and earned his PhD in chemistry at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) in 1925, where he taught and did research for decades.
  • The chemical bond. His 1939 book The Nature of the Chemical Bond explained how atoms join to form molecules, and it became one of the most influential science books of the century.
  • The molecules of life. In 1949 he and his colleagues showed that sickle-cell anemia comes from a faulty hemoglobin molecule, the first "molecular disease." In 1951 he described the alpha helix, one of the basic shapes of proteins.
  • Two Nobel Prizes. He received the 1954 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his research into the nature of the chemical bond, and the 1962 Nobel Peace Prize for his campaign against nuclear weapons testing. He is the only person ever to receive two unshared Nobel Prizes.
  • Other honors. Among many others, the U.S. National Medal of Science (1974).

From chemistry to nutrition. In the 1960s Pauling read Dr. Abram Hoffer's reports on niacin for schizophrenia, and biochemist Irwin Stone wrote to him about vitamin C. In 1968 he published "Orthomolecular Psychiatry" in the journal Science and coined the word "orthomolecular" (What "orthomolecular" means). He went on to write Vitamin C and the Common Cold (1970), Cancer and Vitamin C with Dr. Ewan Cameron (1979) and How to Live Longer and Feel Better (1986), and he took about 18,000 mg of vitamin C a day himself (see Vitamin C). In 1973 he co-founded the Institute of Orthomolecular Medicine, later renamed the Linus Pauling Institute of Science and Medicine; today's Linus Pauling Institute is at Oregon State University. He died in 1994 at age 93.

Why this matters for you as a coach. The orthomolecular idea came from one of the world's leading chemists, not from the fringe. Many of his specific claims, especially about vitamin C and cancer, are still debated (Vitamin C: Pauling, the Mayo trials and intravenous vitamin C). Share his story accurately, and let it open a conversation rather than settle one.

What "orthomolecular" means

In 1968, Linus Pauling coined the word in the journal Science. "Ortho" is Greek for "right" or "correct", so orthomolecular means "the right molecule." Pauling defined orthomolecular medicine as the preservation of good health and the treatment of disease by varying the concentrations in the body of substances that are normally present in the body and required for health.

Three ideas sit inside that definition:

  • Natural molecules. Vitamins, minerals, amino acids and essential fats already belong in the body. Drugs are foreign molecules; Pauling called that approach "toximolecular."
  • Optimal, not minimal. The goal is the amount that gives the best health, not the least amount that prevents a deficiency disease such as scurvy.
  • Dose matters. Cardiologist Thomas Levy sums it up: "It's about dose, dose and dose." A nutrient that does little at 50 mg can act very differently at 5,000 mg.

Orthomolecular nutrition does not replace a good diet. Food comes first , and supplements fill the gap between what food supplies and what an individual body needs. Dr. Saul's Doctor Yourself teaches both together.

The pioneers

The field was built by doctors and scientists who reported results with nutrients long before the word existed. You will meet each of them again in the entries.

Pioneer Era What they contributed
Claus Jungeblut, MD 1930s At Columbia University, reported that vitamin C inactivated the polio virus and bacterial toxins in laboratory studies.
Frederick R. Klenner, MD 1940s–1970s North Carolina physician who reported treating polio, viral pneumonia and other infections with very large doses of vitamin C, often by injection.
Wilfrid and Evan Shute, MDs 1940s–1970s Canadian brothers who used vitamin E with heart patients for decades.
William Kaufman, MD, PhD 1940s Used niacinamide (vitamin B3) for joint stiffness; wrote The Common Form of Joint Dysfunction (1949).
Abram Hoffer, MD, PhD, and Humphry Osmond, MD 1950s–2000s Ran some of the first double-blind trials in psychiatry, using niacin for schizophrenia in Saskatchewan. Hoffer became the father of orthomolecular psychiatry and Dr. Saul's mentor.
Roger J. Williams, PhD 1930s–1980s Biochemist who discovered pantothenic acid (vitamin B5) and wrote Biochemical Individuality (1956).
Irwin Stone, PhD 1960s–1980s Explained why humans cannot make vitamin C, and introduced Pauling to vitamin C; wrote The Healing Factor (1972).
Linus Pauling, PhD 1960s–1990s Two-time unshared Nobel laureate (Chemistry 1954, Peace 1962) who named the field and championed vitamin C.
Carl C. Pfeiffer, MD, PhD 1970s–1980s Founded the Brain Bio Center in Princeton; studied zinc, B6, copper and histamine in mental health.
Ruth Flinn Harrell, PhD 1940s–1980s Reported that high-dose vitamins and minerals helped children with learning disabilities, including Down syndrome.
Robert F. Cathcart III, MD 1970s–2000s Developed the "bowel tolerance" method for finding a person's vitamin C need.
Hugh Riordan, MD 1970s–2000s Founded the Riordan Clinic in Wichita, Kansas, and studied intravenous vitamin C.
Andrew W. Saul, PhD 1970s–today Author of Doctor Yourself, founder of DoctorYourself.com and founding editor of the Orthomolecular Medicine News Service (OMNS).
Thomas E. Levy, MD, JD 1990s–today Cardiologist and attorney who writes on vitamin C, magnesium and toxins.

Why is this history so little known? Many of these reports were published in smaller journals, were never repeated at the same doses, or were dismissed as anecdotes. Mainstream medicine still treats most of these claims as unproven. A good coach knows both sides and can explain the orthomolecular view without overstating it.

Biochemical individuality and the RDA

Roger Williams showed that no two people are built alike. Stomach size, enzyme levels and nutrient needs can vary several-fold between healthy people. His conclusion: an "average" requirement fits almost no one exactly.

The Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) is set to meet the needs of nearly all healthy people and prevent deficiency disease. For vitamin C it is 90 mg a day for men and 75 mg for women. In orthomolecular nutrition the RDA is a floor, not a goal, for three reasons:

  1. Individual need. Some people need far more than average. Dr. Saul calls this a dependency rather than a deficiency: "It's not that they're deficient—it's that they're unique."
  2. Nutrient demand. Illness, injury, surgery, stress, toxins, pregnancy, aging and many medications raise the body's need for nutrients.
  3. Healthy, not sick. The RDA was designed for healthy people, not for people who are ill.

This is why the orthomolecular question is never "What is the RDA?" but "How much does this person need now?" The Vitamin C entry shows the classic answer for vitamin C: bowel tolerance.

Safety, forms and how to take nutrients

America's poison control centers publish an annual report of every reported poisoning. OMNS reviews these reports each year and has repeatedly found no deaths attributed to vitamins, against many deaths each year from properly prescribed drugs. Vitamins are not risk-free, but their safety margin is very wide.

The two families of vitamins behave differently:

Group Members How the body handles them What it means for coaching
Water-soluble Vitamin C and the B vitamins Excess leaves in the urine within hours (B12 is the exception: the liver stores it for years). Very wide safety margin; take in divided doses through the day.
Fat-soluble Vitamins A, D, E and K Stored in fat and the liver; builds up over time. Higher doses call for testing (vitamin D) or caution (vitamin A, especially in pregnancy).

Forms matter. Natural vitamin E (d-alpha tocopherol, ideally with mixed tocopherols) differs from synthetic dl-alpha tocopherol. Magnesium citrate is absorbed far better than magnesium oxide. Ascorbic acid, by contrast, is the same molecule whether it comes from an orange or a factory, as Dr. Saul stresses. Each entry names the forms that matter.

Divide the dose. Water-soluble vitamins work best taken several times a day. In Dr. Saul's words, "How often matters more than how much."

Safety notes

ContentsChapter 1: Vitamins

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