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Siberia
SFN Addict
Brazil
2322 Posts |
 Posted - 12/17/2004 : 04:52:10
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Mmm, today my mother was watching some early morning culinary show, and there was this orthomolecular doctor giving diet tips on how to be healthy and living longer, prevent aging and that kind of stuff. Although most of those tips were logical, I can remember seeing in a magazine that the so-called orthomolecular medicine's a sham. So I ran a search in Altavista to check this out, but couldn't find anything conclusive... most sites list it as alternative medicine (that rings a red alarm to me).
So, my question is: what do you people think about it, if anything at all?
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"Why are you afraid of something you're not even sure exists?"
- The Kovenant, Via Negativa
"People who don't like their beliefs being laughed at shouldn't have such funny beliefs."
-- unknown
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Plyss
Skeptic Friend
Netherlands
231 Posts |
Posted - 12/17/2004 : 05:15:49 [Permalink]
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quote:
Originally posted by Siberia
So, my question is: what do you people think about it, if anything at all?
After studying chemistry for 5 years as an undergraduate i've never heard the term "orthomolecular". There's "ortho" indicating the position of sidechains on ring structures and there's of course the term "molecular" so "orthomolecular" might refer to certain specific compounds, however it doesn't seem to make much sense in the context of food.
I'll look into it though. |
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Siberia
SFN Addict
Brazil
2322 Posts |
Posted - 12/17/2004 : 05:29:42 [Permalink]
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I found it on Quackwatch.
Apparently, their idea is that vitamins are the cure for everything, that the food we eat is evil and that we should take absurd quantities of pills to prevent vitamin deficiency. Yep, it's a sham. |
"Why are you afraid of something you're not even sure exists?"
- The Kovenant, Via Negativa
"People who don't like their beliefs being laughed at shouldn't have such funny beliefs."
-- unknown
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Plyss
Skeptic Friend
Netherlands
231 Posts |
Posted - 12/17/2004 : 05:40:24 [Permalink]
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quote:
Originally posted by Siberia
I found it on Quackwatch.
Apparently, their idea is that vitamins are the cure for everything, that the food we eat is evil and that we should take absurd quantities of pills to prevent vitamin deficiency. Yep, it's a sham.
Yeah, i just found the same thing. This whole orthomolecular (apparently this is derived from the greek phrase for "the right molecule") thing looks somewhat unreliable, especially considering the fact that the proponents only seem to publish in an apparently privately owned journal. I'm uncertain though how common this is in the field of medicine, however my own experience is that publications in relatively unknown journals should be treated with more skepticism then the more high-ranking ones that are owned by renowned institutions like say, the National Acadamy of Sciences or the American Chemical Society. |
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Plyss
Skeptic Friend
Netherlands
231 Posts |
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Siberia
SFN Addict
Brazil
2322 Posts |
Posted - 12/17/2004 : 05:56:00 [Permalink]
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| That's what I think, too. But how to explain that to your easily swept-away-by-pseudoscientific-claims mom? She apparently bought it, though she agreed when I told her it's very unlikely sugar's such an enemy of mankind, and that what the so-called orthomolecular doctor said was pretty much common sense. |
"Why are you afraid of something you're not even sure exists?"
- The Kovenant, Via Negativa
"People who don't like their beliefs being laughed at shouldn't have such funny beliefs."
-- unknown
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Topic Locked
