Objectives of the Foundation for Orthomolecular Education SOE   

The Dutch Orthomolecular Education Foundation SOE (Stichting Orthomoleculaire Educatie) was founded in 1987 with the objective of distributing the expert knowledge and the application possibilities of orthomolecular science by supplying information and advice.
The word 'orthomolecular', introduced in 1968 by the late Professor Linus Pauling, twice winner of the Nobel prize, is compounded of the words 'ortho', meaning "good" or "proper", and 'molecular', meaning "composition of molecules".

'Orthomolecular' means therefore: the right molecular surroundings or optimal biochemical environment. Which means that all substances normally resident in a body, such as vitamins and minerals, are present in optimal quantities.

The orthomolecular science includes the orthomolecular nutritional science as well as the orthomolecular medical science.

The orthomolecular nutritional science specializes in stimulating good health by providing the body cells that are the fundamental building blocks of the organism, with optimal quantities of all the vitamins, minerals and other vital nutrients.

In orthomolecular medicine vitamins, minerals and a variety of other substances normally resident in the body, are applied in order to restore pathological processes. By using safe intrinsic body substances, orthomolecular medicine contrasts with other disciplines of medical science, where molecules developed in the laboratory are used, which, because of their alien nature, often cause unpleasant or even serious side effects.