orthomolecular

[awr-thoh-muh-lek-yuh-ler]

adjective

1. being or pertaining to the treatment of disease by increasing, decreasing, or otherwise controlling the intake of natural substances, especially vitamins.

Word History and Origins

Origin of orthomolecular¹

1965–70; ortho- + molecular, referring to “the provision of the optimum molecular environment for the mind,” according to term's originator, Linus Pauling

Example Sentences

This theory, called “orthomolecular psychiatry,” has been discredited.

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The professors on my doctoral committee had never heard of the word orthomolecular, and all of them were certain it wasn't an accepted, traditional area of research.

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My ambition was to establish the orthomolecular approach on the west coast.

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