Dr. Hoffer's ABC of Natural Nutrition for Children

Arlene Gryfe is a Toronto-based professional nutritionist and home
economist.

Dr. Abram Hoffer, a physician-biochemist and psychiatrist, has long been
an advocate of megadoses of vitamin and mineral supplements for
psychiatric disorders. His private practice concentrates on chronic
illnesses of children, with special attention paid to learning and
behavioral disorders. He rejects pharmaceutical, psychotherapeutic, and
surgical intervention in favor of orthomolecular or nutritional therapy.
His theory that vitamins can help schizophrenics has met with general
rejection in the medical community. As an attempt to validate his
theories, this book provides little more than anecdotal examples of
successful outcomes of patient problems (Hoffer believes that
double-blind studies are not ethical). In some cases, he makes unfounded
assumptions.

It’s not clear for whom this book is intended. Medical doctors gain
most of their information from professional journals (which Hoffer feels
are biased). Most lay readers, however, will be put off by the chemical
jargon, the discussions of enzyme reactions, and the terminology for
which no definitions are provided.

Although Hoffer believes that the vast majority of children treated as
he describes will recover without the need for medication, both he and
the publisher “urge the reader to consult with a qualified health
professional before using any procedure where there is a question as to
its appropriateness.” Readers should proceed with caution.