Tuesday, March 28, 2017

The Forgotten Studies

I started a series last week called the forgotten studies.  Many studies regarding cancer have been dismissed and not applied in an effective clinical manner.  In this blog, we will look at recommendations made by Cancer Treatment Centers of America compared to The Gerson Diet. Gerson Therapy was developed by Dr. Max Gerson.  Initially, Dr. Gerson developed the diet for his chronic migraines. After successfully reversing his migraines, he started to use his dietary plan with tuberculosis with much success.  In fact, at the Munich University Hospital, 446 out of 450 skin tuberculosis patients treated with the Gerson diet completely recovered.  Dr. Gerson later brought his practice to New York City and began working with cancer patients, developing a comprehensive holistic plan for cancer.  

When searching for dietary recommendations for cancer, Cancer Treatment Centers of America recommend soy milk, tofu, soybean oil, bread, cereal, canned fruit in the juice, pasta, corn, coffee and other more normal recommendations.  In fact, here is a sample menu from Cancer Treatment Centers of America compared with Gerson Therapy:  

Breakfast:
1/2 cup cooked cereal
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup fruit or fruit juice
1 hard-boiled egg
Beverage (coffee, tea, or water)

Snack:
1/4 cup granola
1/2 cup low-fat yogurt

Lunch:
Sandwich:  2 slices whole-grain bread
4 ounces meat, fish, or poultry
1 tsp mayonnaise, lettuce, tomato slices
1 piece of fruit
1/2 cup carrot sticks
Beverage

Snack:
1/2 cup raw vegetables
2 Tbsp of peanut butter

Dinner:
4 oz lean meat, fish or poultry
1 cup steamed vegetables
1/2 cup grain product (pasta, brown rice)
1 tsp of butter
1 cup of milk
Beverage

Snack:
4 whole-wheat crackers
2 Tbsp of peanut butter
Beverage

Sample Menu of Gerson Therapy:

Breakfast:
Homemade juice:  either green juice or green apple and carrot juice with organic produce
Gluten-free, organic oats soaked in water and lemon juice to remove phytic acid served with no sweetener, soaked organic nuts and seeds and coconut oil/coconut milk

Coffee Enema

Snack:
Homemade juice:  either green juice (endives, kale, spinach, green apple, red cabbage, lemon, swiss chard, cucumber) or green apple and carrot juice with organic produce




Lunch:
Homemade juice:  either greens juice or apple/carrot juice
Organic vegetables stir fried in coconut oil 
Organic salad with veggies, olive oil and lemon juice, soaked nuts and seeds
Organic non-GMO baked potato 
Hippocrates soup: 
1 medium celery knob or 3-4 stalks of celery
1 medium parsley root-if available
Garlic
2 small leeks (if not available, replace with 2 medium onions)
1 1/2 pounds tomatoes or more
2 medium onions
1 pound of organic non-GMO potatoes
Organic Parsley   

Coffee enema

Dinner:
Same as lunch

Organic, fresh juices every hour, 13 times per day.  

The only coffee that is recommended in Gerson Therapy is coffee enemas. Coffee is a stimulant and adversely affects the nervous system, adrenal glands and causes the pH of the body to become more acidic than alkaline.  Soy milk, tofu and other American soy products can cause a major imbalance in hormones and congest the liver because of the toxicity and the need of the liver to process excess hormones.  Most cancer patients are unable to properly digest wheat and corn because of damage to the intestinal tract. Further, most peanut butter contains mold and contributes to the toxic, moldy environment that allowed the cancerous growth in the first place.  

Beyond comparing the diets, I want to look at a study that compared Gerson Therapy to traditional treatments for cancer.  In a 5-year survival study, 100% of Gerson Therapy patients with localized melanoma were alive after 5 years whereas only 79% of those with localized melanoma were alive after 5 years using traditional oncology treatment methods. Further, 17 patients with Stage IIIA, regionally metastasized melanoma, 82% were alive at 5 years in contrast with 39% using traditional oncology treatment methods only.  Of 18 with stage IVA melanoma, 39% were alive at 5 years with Gerson compared with 6% alive using traditional oncology treatment methods.  

As we can see from the literature, the details in the diet make a huge difference in survival outcomes. I use some treatment components from Gerson Therapy with my clients diagnosed with cancer and believe that a comprehensive, bio-individual holistic treatment plan greatly assists survival outcomes for cancer patients.  

References:

https://gerson.org/gerpress/dr-max-gerson/

http://www.cancercenter.com/community/nutritional-support/sample-menu/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9359807