Gerson Therapy
The Gerson Therapy is a nutritional therapy developed by the late Dr. Gerson and kept in the eye of the public by his daughter, Charlotte Gerson. Charlotte is 95 years old now and still involved in bringing this therapy as an alternative to people suffering from cancer and many other diseases.
Dr. Gerson was plagued with Migraine headaches as a young man. As a student of medicine and as a young doctor, he was told by his colleagues that there was no cure. But not to worry - the headaches will go away when he reaches 50 years of age.
That was not a satisfactory answer for Dr. Gerson and he set out to try to help himself. During his studies, he had read one paper that claimed that food intake and health had something to do with each other. And he decided to see if there was something to that theory.
He did what we today call an elimination diet. There are many write-ups on the how-tos of such a diet. A very simple explanation of this method is the following: Fast for a few days and then add one food at a time.
The fast is supposed to eliminate traces of all food which might cause a reaction in the body. When a food is added which causes a reaction - a headache, hives, an upset stomach - one knows to avoid that food in the future.
Using this elimination method, Dr. Gerson came up with a diet protocol that worked for him. Then, when a patient complained about issues with migraine headaches, he prescribed that diet. To his surprise, his patients did not only get rid of the headaches, they also saw improvements to other unrelated health issues.
That enticed Dr. Gerson to deepen his research and experimentation and he came up with a protocol to heal many ailments, including cancer.
The Gerson Family had to flee Nazi Germany and finally settled in the USA. Dr. Gerson kept developing what we now know as the Gerson Therapy.
At the same time, much research was done into many drugs, including Chemo Therapy. The more natural and nutritional therapies were not valued much and certainly not adopted by mainstream doctors and medical institutions. They more or less were pushed to the fringe.
Then, in more recent times, we see a resurgence of the popularity of nutritional and other therapies usually called Alternative Therapies
Charlotte Gerson, who is now 95 years old, founded the Gerson Institute and was involved in establishing a Gerson Clinic in Mexico.
The Gerson Institute is located in San Diego and has grown from a small endeavor, run by Charlotte from her living room, to an organization with over 30 employees. They are dedicated to more research into the therapy and to educating the general public.
Our Experience with the Therapy and a Podcast
My husband was diagnosed with prostate cancer about 5 years ago. If you have read any of my other blogs, you might know that I had colon cancer in my past. So, his diagnosis took me right back to my miserable time during chemo treatment.
His cancer was in an early stage and one of the options given to us was: "Wait and see."
The others were radiation or removal of the prostate. Both have a good chance of some pretty severe side effects. Having vivid memories of my "side-effects" of the treatment made me suggest alternative methods to my husband.
We settled on the Gerson Therapy. My friend and fellow podcaster Diego decided to interview me on my experience with Gerson and I hope you will listen to the podcast. Click here to listen
The basics of the therapy are as follows:
- 13 fresh juices a day. 1 orange, several apple-carrot, carrot, and green juices.
- 3 meal a day made with fresh organic vegetables, baked potatoes and a special soup
- fresh fruit and vegetables for snacking.
- an array of supplements
- several coffee enemas per day.
About 20 lbs of fresh fruit and vegetables are consumed per day.
This therapy is extremely time consuming and work intensive.
During the therapy, both my husband and I were able to come to what is considered an ideal weight.
I went through an intense chemo cleanse a few weeks into the therapy - which was surprising. Ten years had past since I had had my last chemo treatment. While it was not much fun to go through that cleansing of the residual chemo my body had stored, I am glad it is done.
My husband had more energy than at any other time. He didn't need any blood pressure medication, his PSA test results went to the normal range, and a weird swelling disease called angioedema almost disappeared. He took a daily dose of Zyrtec and during the therapy, he only needed to take one every three weeks or so.
Those were great results. Sadly, after a few years, he went back to his old eating habits and daily blood pressure medication and Zyrtec are back.
Personally, I would not choose Chemo again but would do Gerson only if I have the means to hire enough help.
What to Do When Faced with a Cancer Diagnosis
Diego asked me during our interview what I would do when faced with cancer again or what I would recommend.
My first recommendation is to take a deep breath and find a good counselor. The big C word, the cancer diagnosis is still a word which invokes fear. Lots of fear. And dealing with that diagnosis is not easy.
Fear is not a good space for decision making. And the person who got that diagnosis must make a decision. In fact, in my opinion, it is imperative that it is the person who has cancer who decides what they feel the most comfortable with.
There are many treatment options and ways of thinking. In this article, in the podcast and in the video linked to this post, we are talking about the Gerson Therapy. Many will say that it is the best therapy and there are many stories of happy survivors. However, there are equally as many stories of people who have passed on.
To be fair, this holds true for treatment with chemo, radiation, surgery and other means as well.
Here is an article speaking out against the Gerson Therapy
I think it is imperative for any health care decision to educate oneself. And to have an impartial support person to use as a sounding board. Family members are often not the best person to do that since they usually have a deep emotional investment in the outcome.
Besides a counselor, it is good to have a wider support circle as well. For example, if one chooses the hospital/chemo route an almost steady stream of bills and statement will arrive in the mail. And it is almost impossible to keep track of all of that when not feeling too good. Mistakes are being made all the time with billing and it is best to have one person assigned to that task, for example.
Let's say the choice is the Gerson Therapy. The amount of work this therapy requires can be overwhelming. The best gift I received during that time was from my friend Jennifer Telford. She came once a week to help me with anything I needed - including scrubbing floors! She kept me sane.
In conclusion, if faced with a diagnosis of cancer or another severe disease.
- Educate yourself.
- Find support.
- Make a decision about the treatment you feel good about.
- Then, make a plan on how to handle the day to day reality.
- Get as much help as possible.
Many people tend to isolate themselves when they get sick. And often people shy away from a sick person because they can't handle either the idea of losing that person or their own fear of death.
When I was sick, I did isolate myself - not wanting the pity and unsolicited advice from the people around me. Now, in hindsight, I think it would have been better to allow more people into my life.
This is an interview during the time we were on the Gerson Therapy.
Awesome. Alternative treatments are way better than anything offered by mainstream doctors. Have you heard of the series by Ty Bollinger called The Truth About Cancer? If not, I would suggest you check his work out.
Yes, I have heard about it. And I find it so important that people at least know that there is an alternative to chemo.
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If I had a bigger steempower, I'd upvote this with all my power. This is such a great post and I wish I had come across something similar when my uncle who lost a battle to pancreatic cancer was still alive. You are absolutely right on the name of cancer evoking fear. I remember, we did not used to say the word itself when my uncle was alive because it was just so frightening.
Thank you so much!! You will have bigger steempower some day. Little by little - we get there :) And the C word was and still is a scary thing...
It certainly is. Also, I'd like to donate whatever share I earn from the freewrite to it so the prize pool grows. :)
Thank you so much. For right now, I am doing upvotes. It took me almost 2 hours to get it all organized and do the transfers. When the delegation is over and if I can't get a new one, we figure something out again. But really, I want people to do this because they see the value of writing on a regular basis, posting on a regular basis and to build community.... Not write because there might be a payout....
Yes yes yes I exactly. Honestly, I think you need not share the total earnings of the posts with us because this isn't why we were doing it at least I am in it for the pure joy a freewrite brings me.
I am happy to hear that. I really feel we have been building community and also successes. A couple of curie votes have been given to some of the freewriters and one might have a story to flesh out and publish. so cool!! And for you - you can write crazy stuff if you want to instead the factual writing you need to do for your job LOL
Yeah curie has been generous on the freewriters. I got a small curie upvote too. I don't think I qualify for big ones now since my reputation is past 52.
What a trial that was to go through! I've heard others talk of the huge produce issues with Gerson, but I didn't know exactly how much they were talking about.
I have not researched cancer, but if it came into my life, I'd be all about the alt treatments and joining fb groups for them to see what people think.
I've had umpteen zillion medical tests since childhood and the first time I detoxed with Dry Skin Brushing it was 10 days of horrific symptoms. All kinds of stuff was draining out of everywhere it could!
I later found out how much of that medical chemical stew can stay in your body. If there was a crazy test they were doing in the 70's - 2010 - they tried it on me. No wonder I was having trouble functioning.
I am so happy for you that you found ways to live healthily. I think many of us have been experimented on :(
This is such a great post. There is a lot to consider - and making the decision is hard. I wish I had a magic ball to see what the right path is. It’s frustrating. It’s even more difficult when you don’t feel sick. The thought that the treatment you choose will make you feel bad is scary. Yet choosing an alternative treatment that isn’t supported by my physician makes me feel like I’d be on my own with no guidance. The whole experience is stressful. Thank you for an informative article!
It is so very stressful!!And when we were on Gerson that was a stress point for me. Luckily there are more physicians now who are educated about alternative treatments. My friend went through breastcancer treatment and agreed to a surgery for removal, but then turned down other options to do Budwig instead. She ended up firing one doctor and found one who was willing to work with her and not be dismissive and arrogant and down putting. Hugs to you. Take your time and don't allow anyone to pressure you. Deep down you will know what you feel comfortable trying. In the end - we never know what is the right decision - with everything in life.... hoping for the best.
Only today I was saying to a family member that food intake is responsible for so many health issues. I have believed that for many years from observation. What an interesting and encouraging article you have written!
I hope people read this article and follow the advice.
Thank you so much!! Food really is so important but it seems it is so hard to get that into people's heads....
This is such a good post about an alternative therapy for cancer. It does look to be time intensive. If it works then it is totally worth it. Thanks
You are welcome. And it is time-intensive. it is much easier if a person can afford to hire help. I guess that is true for many things :)
What a magnificent post. Congratulations, and thank you for sharing.
thank you so much
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It pains me to hear what you and your husband had to go through. A friend of my daughter's had brain cancer and his regime of the foods to eat and not eat, had him in the best shape of his life. The doctors were amazed. It added 3 more quality years to his life. This post will help many. Sending blessings your way. Tip!