Nutritional Medicine for Cancer – Gerson Protocol
There are new concepts and visions, even in the mainstream, about how cancer can be treated and you can find them on NIH governmental sites where they do say that most of the chemical substances used in cancer chemoprevention studies are natural phytochemicals found in food.[1] The term “chemoprevention” was first coined by Dr. Michael Sporn in 1976, when he referred to the prevention of malignancy development with vitamin A and its synthetic analogs.[2]
Scientists have affirmed that all three stages of cancer development can be interrupted by treatment with natural or synthetic chemicals.[3] Epidemiological and population studies have also established a close relationship between incidence of cancer and consumption of certain types of food. Chemo-prevention, hence by definition, is the use of natural agents to inhibit the development of invasive cancer.
Dr. Max Gerson’s protocol shines in the world of medicine for the very reason that it concentrates the intake of all the best anticancer foods into juices that one drinks practically around the clock. The Gerson Therapy is a natural treatment that activates the body’s extraordinary ability to heal itself through an organic, vegetarian diet, raw juices, coffee enemas and natural supplement treatments that boosts the body’s own immune system to heal cancer, arthritis, heart disease, allergies, and many other degenerative diseases.
The Gerson Therapy treats the causes of most degenerative diseases, toxicity and nutritional deficiency by flooding the body with nutrients from about 15-20 pounds of organically grown fruits and vegetables daily. Most is used to make fresh raw juice, up to one glass every hour, up to 13 times per day mostly from raw carrot, apple and green-leaf juices. Raw and cooked solid foods are generously consumed. Oxygenation is usually more than doubled.
Coffee enemas are the primary method of detoxification of the tissues and blood in the Gerson Therapy. Cancer patients on the Gerson Therapy may take up to five coffee enemas per day and these are deemed necessary to prevent the liver from becoming overburdened by the detoxification process that occurs.[4] There is also a modified Gerson protocol advised for people with no cancer who wish to maintain a good level of health.[5]
The Budwig protocol is an anti-cancer diet rich in flaxseed oil, mixed with cottage cheese and milk, and meals high in fruits, vegetables, and fiber. The diet also avoided sugar, animal fats, salad oil, meats, butter, and especially margarine.
Dr. William Donald Kelley’s cancer treatment (still being implemented today by Dr. Nicholas Gonzales) is based mainly on a metabolic program emphasizing nutrition, detoxification, and supplements of pancreatic enzymes. Dr. Kelley and his practitioners treated more than 33,000 cancer patients claiming a 93% success rate for those came to him first (before chemo, radiation, surgery). He believed that at least 86% of all cancer conditions could be adequately treated and/or prevented by diet and pancreatic enzymes. Compare these cure rates of 90% to the overall 5-year cure rate of less than 3% of orthodox medicine[6]. Whether these numbers are accurate or not, the reputations of these brilliant doctors are not in question with a lot of trust in alternative circles given to methods of Gerson, Budwig and Kelley. (And of course there are many others equally respected.)
The Natural Allopathic Medicine protocol offers another option, which cuts down entirely on the need for juice presses, extra refrigerators and high-cost organic produce. I recommended Dr. Hank Liers’ Rejuvenate formulas as medicines and now an even more powerful formula has appeared Super Green Juice, which concentrates 44 organic super-foods.
The Rejuvenate formulas are nutrient-dense, high-protein and high-RNA super-foods made with freeze-dried organic berries and achieving a very high ORAC value (antioxidants) while delivering superb taste. The best part of this product, though, is the tastes! You know how high-density green super-foods often have a taste that just makes you cringe? The Super Green Juice is one of the best tasting of the green juice formulas and one can always add a banana or other fruit to augment the taste.
These super-foods replace much of the need and cost for regular foods when on the protocol. Costs can range from $250 to $450 a month and if you consume double and even triple doses with fruit and vegetable juices and or even with just water, then you don’t need to eat anything else.
Wheat grass and barley grass juices made naturally at home are wonderful and less expensive in this regard, though tastes are not palatable for anyone not acclimated to these natural juices.
The Rejuvenate formulas are based upon the research of Dr. Benjamin S. Frank who showed in extensive clinical trials and research studies that nucleic acids are essential nutrients with benefits in terms of increased growth (especially muscle growth), greater endurance, positive effects on the cardiovascular system, greater lung capacity and easier breathing (i.e., better oxygen utilization), and even greater resistance to viruses.
Dosage: Spirulina or combination products like Rejuvenate can be taken in very high dosages though the recommendation is to start slowly and build up. Use for detoxification and healing from sugar, GERD, diabetes, heart disease and cancer.
In severe medical conditions much more can and should be taken because there is nothing that will give one’s body a great assist in healing than applying super nutrition in concentrated form. One can double and even easily triple the recommended dosages or go even higher with super-foods.
A dose of 2-3 gm/day of Spirulina in tablet or powder form is adequate for most people. A standard dosage of Spirulina is 4 to 6 tablets (500 mg each) per day. For those with more serious illnesses a dose of at least 10-20 grams/day is considered to be a medical dose.
[1] New strategies in cancer chemoprevention by phytochemicals; Singh M et al; Front Biosci (Elite Ed). 2012 Jan 1;4:426-52; http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22201884
[2] Approaches to prevention of epithelial cancer during the preneoplastic period;Sporn MB; Cancer Res. 1976 Jul;36(7 PT 2):2699-702: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1277177
[3] Regulation of NF-E2-Related Factor 2 Signaling for Cancer Chemoprevention: Antioxidant Coupled with Anti-inflammatory; Rong Hu et al; Antioxid Redox Signal. 2010 December 1; 13(11): 1679-1698; http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2966483/
[4] “The moment a patient is put on the full therapy, the combined effect of the food, the juices and the medication causes the immune system to attack and kill tumor tissue, besides working to flush out accumulated toxins from the body tissues. This great clearing-out procedure carries the risk of overburdening and poisoning the liver—the all-important organ of detoxification, which, in a cancer patient, is bound to be already damaged and debilitated.” Coffee enemas accomplish this essential task, assisting the liver in eliminating toxic residues from the body for good.
[5] http://gerson.org/gerpress/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Gerson-Guidelines-for-General-Nutrition.pdf
[6] Journal of Oncology, 2004, volume 16, pp. 449-560.