Orthomolecular Vitamin Information Centre Inc.

Irwin Stone first used the word megavitamin to describe the large doses of vitamin C that had been reported in the medical literature as effective. It is not an appropriate term because it has never been defined, and contrary to what many think there is no “megavitamin”. But it is clear that some individuals do need enormous amounts of some of the vitamins. The term vitamin dependency was coined. It was first used to describe the use of large doses of pyridoxine, vitamin B-6. I have extended the term to include all the vitamins which have been shown to be effective in larger than the usual vitamin doses. A vitamin deficiency classically is present when the amount normally present in food is much less than needed to prevent the deficiency disease for most people. For example, when Japanese sailors were fed polished rice they got beriberi. The polished rice did not contain enough thiamin to prevent beriberi. When people lived on subsistence diets high in corn and very low in animal foods they got pellagra. Just adding milk and meat to these diets cured their pellagra. Thus, a deficiency is present when normal needs for nutrients are not met by the diet. However, there are many reasons why individuals need more of some of the vitamins than they can get in their food. These are called dependencies, meaning that they have become dependent or need much large amounts of these nutrients. Heaney1 considers these conditions a long-latency deficiency disease.

Using these vitamins in optimal or large doses was called orthomolecular medicine and orthomolecular psychiatry by Linus Pauling in his famous Science report in 1968. Orthomolecular theory and practise emphasizes the use of optimum doses of substances that are normally present and needed by the body including vitamins, minerals, amino acids, essential fatty acids and probably many other substances, but excludes herbs and their constituents.

1 RP Heaney: Long-latency deficiency disease: insights from calcium and vitamin D. Am J Clin Nutr. 2003;78:912-919

Disclaimer: The information presented here is for educational purposes only.

ORTHOMOLECULAR VITAMIN INFORMATION CENTRE Inc.
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Dependencies