Orthomolecular psychiatry, the branch of orthomolecular medicine that uses dietary supplements and other treatments
for treating mental illness, has been extensively used to treat schizophrenia. Some of the best-known proponents
and cofounders of orthomolecular psychiatry are Abram Hoffer, Humphry Osmond, Linus Pauling and Carl Curt Pfeiffer
all of whom have studied schizophrenia and nutrition extensively.
In his book "What Really Causes Schizophrenia?," Harold Foster discusses the work of Pfeiffer and his approach
to treating schizophrenia. Foster points out that Pfeiffer had upwards of a 90% success rate in re-socializing
institutionalized schizophrenics with his nutritional approach to treatment.
Abram Hoffer had similar success using orthomolecular psychiatric methods, such as nutrition therapy,
fasting and hypoallergenic diets. These doctors and scientists, Hoffer, Pauling, Pfeiffer, and others, were the
pioneers for today's work in the field of nutrition and mental illness.
According to orthomolecular psychiatry, the causes of psychotic disorders include pyroluria, histadelia
(elevated histamine and basophiles), histapenia with high serum copper (low histamine with high copper),
food allergy, hypoglycemia, hypothyroidism in the presence of normal thyroid values, heavy metal intoxications,
as well as other rarer conditions.
Diet and Schizophrenia
Some physical illnesses, particularly metabolic syndrome, diabetes and coronary heart disease, occur with
increased frequency in patients with schizophrenia and major depression.
Results from four out of five placebo-controlled studies in England, as well as a cross-national analysis of
schizophrenia outcomes in relation to national dietary practice, all confirm that an excess of sugar and
saturated fat in the diet appears to worsen the long-term outcome of schizophrenia.
One review of studies on diet and schizophrenia helped to illuminate the link between the two.
The study reviewed a body of evidence and determined "sugar consumption that was the predominant predictor of poor
outcome in schizophrenia." Dairy products and alcohol consumption were also associated with a poor outcomes.
The following list contains some other important dietary considerations for people with schizophrenia.
