Customer Reviews

Putting It All Together: The New Orthomolecular Nutrition

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
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This book is based on the science and art of healing with nutrition therapy. Yes, while it can be argued that if you eat properly you don't need supplements; very few people have a perfect diet. He believes that what we put in our mouth is what creates our health or lack of, including mental health.

His average anti-stress vitamin formula
B1 - between 100 and 300 mg.
Niacin B3 - between 3,000 mg.-6,000 people with high cholesterol should take the nicotinic acid form.
Pantothenic acid - 100 mg. to 300 mg.
Vitamin C - 3,000 mg. to 6,000 mg.
Vitamin E - 200 I.U. to 800 I.U.
Vitamin A & D - together in 3 to 9 cod liver oil capsules
Calcium & magnesium - together in 3 to 6 dolomite tablets
Zinc - 30 mg. to 60 mg.

He goes through the following vitamins A, B, C and D. For instance, Vitamin C - 8 grams a day is required to prevent colds. Every person suffers from a deficiency, sort of a subclinical scurvy, because the human body does not manufacture it. With scurvy, the blood vessels become weak, and fluid leaks from them into the skin and tissues. The body manufactures cholesterol to plug the leaks and it is deposited onto the walls of the vessels which initiates arteriosclerosis. This is one of the main factors contributing to cardiovascular disease including strokes and coronary disease.

He also talks a lot about zinc and manganese. For instance, in studies with rats and mice zinc insufficiency produced severe skin lesions similar to psoriasis; delayed wound healing; interrupted reproduction; and diminished learning capacity. Human skin holds about 20% of all the body's zinc. Zinc causes skin to be elastic, and without it there will be stretch marks all over the body. Hair and nails won't grow either, and nails will be brittle with white spots. The hair may loose pigment, and skin lesions may appear. Doctors often give zinc after burns, trauma and surgery as it increases the rate of healing.

This is a classic book on supplementing with megadoses of vitamin and minerals. It is backed up with good research and case studies. I recommend that anyone who is in the natural health field read it.

It is frustrating that the medical profession, in its ignorance, arrogance, and smugness, looks down on "megavitamin" therapy. Vitamins were placed here by the creator(s), to keep us healthy. The drugs "pushed" by MDs were created by Frankenstein in a lab, and frankly, Frankenstein barely understood one tenth of what he was doing, which explains all those side effects.

To give you a taste of this useful book, Vitamin B3 (niacin or niacinamide) is far more important and necessary than we thought it was. The author goes into detail explaining the things that B3 can do for us.

The section on pyroluriacs is new to me, and fascinating. If you don't know what a pyroluriac is, you may want to find out here. It is a condition verifiable by scientific testing, and the symptoms are correctable using various nutrients.

This book gives a very good explanation of so many vitamins and minerals. Read it, and you will be sure to get some ideas for yourself.

There are two kinds of books that deal with bio-medical issues: those that have reputable scientific references located within the book, and those that don't. This book does not. If this book had the hundreds of journal articles needed to back up Dr. Hoffer's claims, I would have given it a 4 or 5 star rating. The bottom line is that if a scientific book does not have any references, they may as well be telling you that the world is flat. Time and time again Dr. Hoffer says that he has evidence about the effectiveness of this vitamin or that. Put in the references, Dr. Hoffer!

Part of the book is good---it recommends a balanced diet with no processed foods. This mantra reminds of the conversation I once had with a German exchange student in my laboratory. I was walking by him and his German ladyfriend, who was smoking, and I joked "Hey, how come you Germans smoke and drink, but still live as long as us Americans do?" Well, the German student thought long and hard about my "joke", and came up with an answer. He said that in Europe, there are hardly any fast-food restaurants and no supermarkets. All food is much more fresh and has a much shorter shelf life, and since its located in small stores, the inventory is quickly rotated. So his conclusion is that the processed foods shortened the American life span to that of Germans, who smoke and drink much more than we do. In other words, if someone does not smoke, drink, or eat processed foods, they should live to at least 90 years old, not 75.

Some other parts of the book are not very good. Dr. Hoffer claims that all vitamins are safe---they are not!!! He recommends megadosing with vitamins B3, B6, and vitamin C. Of these three vitamins, only C is safe to megadose with. B3 megadosing can cause liver damage and panic attacks, and if someone is also on psychiatric medication, they could die from the serotonin syndrome, the same syndrome that kills some users of the illegal drug Extasy. B6 may also cause the serotonin syndrome if mixed with psychiatric medication, and even by itself, megadosing with B6 can produce permanent peripheral nerve damage. For a more detailed analysis of vitamin side effects, the book The Failures of American Medicine is an excellent reference.

i have never seen a book on general nutrition that is so interesting and fulfiling.this book also deals with the principles of orthomolecular nutrition, as well as some diseases that including in the case histories.this book will also gives you the reader a guidence to the families of natural foods, as well as for the contents of thenutrients (vitamins, minerals).highly recommanded book,for the general public, and for anybody who wish to acomplish good nutrition, and knoledge in the principles of orthomolecular nutrition.

This is a great book. I would recommend that people read Linus Pauling's book "How to live longer and feel better" first. The Pauling book will give you more statistical information and support his arguments with clinical trials and double blind studies. This will give you a good foundation for reading this book which relies more on the author's own personal clinical experience. It's not scientifically oriented, but that does not mean that information is not of value. As a matter of fact, the information in this book helped my marriage. After reading the book, which talks quite a bit about food allergies and their symptoms (not just hives), I started to notice that my wife and I had arguments after she ate white processed flour. It could be a sandwich, a hamburger, some toast, but invariably, within an hour or two, she would start an argument about some minor insignificant thing (some of you might be able to relate to that). Since we have been watching our diet and cutting out "bad" food, our marriage has improved. But "cheat" days that were usually on weekends were days when we would argue. This book helped me figure out the "why" behind my wife's sudden irrationality and irritability.

No promises that it will save your marriage, but it does help open your eyes to different things to look at that could be the root cause of behavioral issues.

With regards to megavitamin dosing...anything taken in excess can be toxic, even water. But the levels of needed to reach toxicity are very very large and it is fairly difficult to reach. For example, B3 can cause liver TESTS to show abnormal. But stopping the B3 for 5 days will show the liver as normal again. Restarting will generally not reproduce poor test results again...and this with the niacinamide form of the vitamin, not the other forms. In addition, they just call it "mega" vitamin dosing because the amounts suggested are larger than the RDA, which is a suggested amount to avoid illness. The RDA is not an amount that promotes health. It's like saying that it's recommended that you drink 2 glasses of water a day. You'll probably live on 2 glasses a day, but 8 glasses a day is much better for your body and your health. Just keep everything in perspective and get the book...

I have to echo some of the other comments made -- the book is definitely worth a read, but has some flaws as well (lack of references, dubious statistical claims, etc). Also, a significant amount of the book is devoted to discussion of orthmolecular treatments for disease.

I think for a majority of consumers, Linus Pauling's "How to Live Longer and Feel Better" is a better first choice since has a more thorough review of how the "orthomolecular lifestyle" might help healthy individuals.

This is not to take away from dr. Hoffer's work, however, and if you are either done with Pauling's book or interested in psychiatry then this is for you.

a complete nutrition book on nutrition, vitamins, minerals, as well as where in the foods you can find them,and also the amounts in each food.a very much recommanded book for the public and for the students of nutrition and naturopathy.

This book is one of my class requirements. I have really enjoyed the information shared in this book. A lot of information about the B vitamins, and how vitamin deficiencies can create a myriad of symptoms. Muscle testing for food allergies is also explained in this book, and how important this fundamental procedure is to determining symptoms/weaknesses in our bodies. A very well written book. My only negative comment is that the author(s) seem to think meat and milk are somewhat important in our diets! Our intestines and teeth show the reasoning for us not consuming animal products, and the ill health of America today vs other countries with no or minimal meat consumption can certainly back up that statement!

This book is one of the best books on why you benefit from Vitamin C, E, the B's and niacin (which is one of the B's) that I have read. I keep it on my desk, and refer to it frequently. If you have high cholesterol you need to read this book.

It can be really deep and a little to blaming but it is really good!