FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Orthomolecular Medicine News Service, May 22, 2013

Orthomolecular Medicine: A Teenager's Viewpoint

(OMNS May 22, 2013) Even the most casual observation of today's teenagers confirms that they exercise less, weigh more, and take far more medication than their predecessors. Here is something new for the Orthomolecular Medicine News Service: an orthomolecular-raised teenager speaks out. We welcome reader feedback, and may publish responses and similar essays in the future. - Andrew W. Saul, Editor

My name is Michael Joe Gonzalez. I am 17 years old from Ponce, Puerto Rico. I attended the 42nd OMT conference in Toronto, Canada, April 26-28, 2013. I was given a scholarship to attend this great conference. I would like to thank Steven Carter for this unique opportunity. I had the honor to accompany my father Dr. Michael J. Gonzalez who was presenting a talk on Vitamin C and Cancer at the conference.

My view of orthomolecular medicine is that its natural approach to treatment makes perfect sense. From what I've learned, I believe it is the best way to treat all kinds of diseases and is the best preventive approach to follow for general well-being. Many diseases start from inadequate intake of essential nutrients. The deficiencies come from the over-processed food that most people eat. The idea of using natural substances that are normally present and needed in our bodies to cure illness is very logical. Orthomolecular medicine (the right molecule at the right time) is fascinating! I didn't understand everything presented at the meeting but I understood a good portion of it. I have spent some time reading on the orthomolecular concepts, but nothing beats the chance of hearing the words spoken by these great minds. I also had the honor to interact with two of the three scientists that were inducted into the Orthomolecular Hall of Fame at that conference, Drs. Ron Hunninghake and Andrew Saul.

I will now have a better understanding of many aspects of orthomolecular medicine, and I want to keep learning, to know what's best for everyone and every disease. I'm always speaking with my dad about nutrients, vitamins, minerals, etc. For as long as I can remember, I've been taking supplements, especially vitamin C, and it's pretty weird because at school or any other place kids look at me like "are you sick or something?" or "that's too many vitamins you're going to die." And that's funny because I'm the only one that never gets sick!

Here is what I take every day:

Even my way of eating is different since I try to eat as healthfully as possible. The other kids don't really care about the choices they make, and let me tell you, there are some pretty bad choices (high fat, high sugar, low fiber). I try to educate them about nutrition and supplementation but it's not easy!

So my perspective on orthomolecular medicine is that it is so impressive what you can achieve healthwise with vitamins, minerals, good nutrition and exercise that I want to be part of the new generation of orthomolecular professionals. Ortho is the way to go! Attending this conference was a great experience, I learned a whole lot of great stuff and I hope to have the chance to attend another in the near future.

Yours in health,

Michael Joe Gonzalez

For more information on past and upcoming orthomolecular medicine conferences: http://www.orthomed.org/omt/omt.html

Orthomolecular Medicine Hall of Fame biographies archive: http://orthomolecular.org/hof/index.shtml

Nutritional Medicine is Orthomolecular Medicine

Orthomolecular medicine uses safe, effective nutritional therapy to fight illness. For more information: http://www.orthomolecular.org

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Editorial Review Board:

Ian Brighthope, M.D. (Australia)
Ralph K. Campbell, M.D. (USA)
Carolyn Dean, M.D., N.D. (USA)
Damien Downing, M.D. (United Kingdom)
Dean Elledge, D.D.S., M.S. (USA)
Michael Ellis, M.D. (Australia)
Martin P. Gallagher, M.D., D.C. (USA)
Michael Gonzalez, D.Sc., Ph.D. (Puerto Rico)
William B. Grant, Ph.D. (USA)
Steve Hickey, Ph.D. (United Kingdom)
Michael Janson, M.D. (USA)
Robert E. Jenkins, D.C. (USA)
Bo H. Jonsson, M.D., Ph.D. (Sweden)
Peter H. Lauda, M.D. (Austria)
Thomas Levy, M.D., J.D. (USA)
Stuart Lindsey, Pharm.D. (USA)
Jorge R. Miranda-Massari, Pharm.D. (Puerto Rico)
Karin Munsterhjelm-Ahumada, M.D. (Finland)
Erik Paterson, M.D. (Canada)
W. Todd Penberthy, Ph.D. (USA)
Gert E. Schuitemaker, Ph.D. (Netherlands)
Robert G. Smith, Ph.D. (USA)
Jagan Nathan Vamanan, M.D. (India)
Atsuo Yanagisawa, M.D., Ph.D. (Japan)

Andrew W. Saul, Ph.D. (USA), Editor and contact person. Email: omns@orthomolecular.org This is a comments-only address; OMNS is unable to respond to individual reader emails. However, readers are encouraged to write in with their viewpoints. Reader comments become the property of OMNS and may or may not be used for publication.

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