Can Cancer Be Cured with Diet?

Have you ever heard of Dr. Max Gerson, M.D.? I hadn’t either until recently. Dr. Albert Schweitzer called him “one of the most eminent geniuses in the history of medicine”. In 1946, Dr. Gerson demonstrated recovered patients before the Pepper-Neely Congressional Subcommittee. He claimed to have cured cancer – with diet.

Was his claim valid? Can cancer be cured with diet? If so, why haven’t I heard of it? Let’s examine the evidence.

Dr. Max Gerson, M.D.

Max Gerson was born October 18, 1881 in Germany. Gifted in mathematics, at age 19, he wrote a new approach to a problem his math teacher could not figure out. The idea was sent to experts at the University of Berlin. They wrote back that it was the work of a brilliant mathematician and said Gerson should be directed into higher mathematical studies. His family discussed what he could do to have the greatest impact on the world. They decided he should go into medicine.

Max attended the universities of Breslau, Wuerzburg, Berlin, and Freiburg and became a medical doctor.

Early in his career, young Dr. Gerson found himself suffering from severe migraines. He had read about a woman in Italy who had lessened her migraine headaches with a diet change. That gave him an idea! He began experimenting with his diet.

Each successful change of food brought quick improvement. Each unsuccessful change brought the headaches back. As a result, he was able to make rapid progress and his headaches went away. Naturally, he went on to try the therapy with patients, which also proved successful.

Dr. Gerson’s work that followed is well documented and could be tremendously important to all of us. Here are highlights:

Developed a dietary therapy, initially called the migraine diet, that cured 446 out of 450 patients of skin tuberculosis in a clinical trial under the careful supervision off thoracic surgeon, Ferdinand Sauerbruch, M.D..
Published articles in a dozen of the world’s leading medical journals, establishing the Gerson treatment as the first cure for skin tuberculosis.
Became friends with Nobel prize winner Dr. Albert Schweitzer, M.D., by curing Schweitzer’s wife of lung tuberculosis after all conventional treatments had failed.
Cured Dr. Albert Schweitzer, M.D. of his own type II diabetes.
Successfully applied his dietary therapy to patients with heart disease, kidney failure, and finally – cancer.
In 1938, passed his boards and was licensed to practice in the state of New York.
Treated hundreds of cancer patients who had been given up to die, after all conventional treatments had failed.
In 1946, demonstrated recovered patients before the Pepper-Neely Congressional Subcommittee, during hearings on a bill to fund research into cancer treatment. Only a few peer-reviewed journals were receptive. You can read his testimony here.
So stunning was Dr. Gerson’s testimony, that on July 3, 1946, renowned ABC News correspondent Raymond Gram Swing declared on his radio broadcast to the entire United States that for the first time in history, there had been discovered a cure for cancer. Two weeks later, Swing was fired after being with ABC for over thirty years.
In 1953, Dr. Gerson’s malpractice insurance was discontinued.
In 1958, after thirty years of clinical experimentation, Gerson published A Cancer Therapy: Results of 50 Cases, where he detailed the theories, treatment, and results he achieved. All of the 50 were cured. 48 had already been told there was nothing more that could be done for them.
Also in 1958, his medical license was revoked.
Died in 1959. Suffering violent stomach cramps after drinking coffee, he tested urine samples and found he was excreting arsenic. According to his daughter, “He did not die immediately; however this weakened him considerably and he subsequently contracted a viral lung infection that killed him. Then the doctors committed their ultimate insult: they claimed that he died of lung cancer!“

Dr. Gerson was eulogized by long-time friend, Dr. Albert Schweitzer:

“…I see in him one of the most eminent geniuses in the history of medicine. Many of his basic ideas have been adopted without having his name connected with them. Yet, he has achieved more than seemed possible under adverse conditions. He leaves a legacy which commands attention and which will assure him his due place. Those whom he has cured will now attest to the truth of his ideas.”

The Gerson Therapy is a non-toxic treatment for cancer and other chronic degenerative diseases. Click To Tweet

The Gerson Institute actively carries on the therapy

In 1977, The Gerson Institute was founded by Dr. Gerson’s daughter, Charlotte. It is a non-profit organization in San Diego, CA. dedicated to “providing education and training in the Gerson Therapy, an alternative, non-toxic treatment for cancer and other chronic degenerative diseases.” Patients are only treated in Tijuana, Mexico and Hungary because it is not legal for doctors to advise the treatment in the United States.

The Prince of Wales, Prince Charles, said this in a letter to the Gerson Institute in 2004:

“I know of one patient who turned to the Gerson Therapy having been told that she was suffering from terminal cancer and would not survive another course of chemotherapy. Happily, seven years later she is alive and well. So therefore it is vital that, rather than dismissing such experiences, we should further investigate the beneficial nature of these treatments.”

The Prince of Whales says we should investigate the beneficial nature of the Gerson Therapy. Click To Tweet

How the Gerson Therapy works

The Gerson Institute has a web page called The Gerson Therapy that summarizes how it works. Here’s an excerpt:

The Gerson Therapy regenerates the body to health, supporting each important metabolic requirement 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. Raw and cooked solid foods are generously consumed. Oxygenation is usually more than doubled, as oxygen deficiency in the blood contributes to many degenerative diseases. The metabolism is also stimulated through the addition of thyroid, potassium and other supplements, and by avoiding heavy animal fats, excess protein, sodium and other toxins.

Degenerative diseases render the body increasingly unable to excrete waste materials adequately, commonly resulting in liver and kidney failure. The Gerson Therapy uses intensive detoxification to eliminate wastes, regenerate the liver, reactivate the immune system and restore the body’s essential defenses – enzyme, mineral and hormone systems. With generous, high-quality nutrition, increased oxygen availability, detoxification, and improved metabolism, the cells – and the body – can regenerate, become healthy and prevent future illness.

A handbook for the Gerson Therapy is available for Kindle.

The description jumped out at me as an aggressive version of the detoxification and gut healing we hear about all the time from functional medicine doctors. The doctors I follow routinely report patients see their diabetes, heart disease and autoimmune diseases go away after trying variations of what Gerson came up with in 1929.

My first question was probably the same as yours.

The Gerson Therapy involves flooding the body with nutrients from raw fruits and vegetables. Click To Tweet

If cancer can be prevented or reversed, why haven’t I heard of it?

I found full length documentaries from independent film makers, and also lectures that go over this in-depth with compelling arguments and data. Please view the videos on this page and decide for yourself.

I also learned that it is effectively illegal for your doctor to tell you about any cancer treatment that doesn’t involve an FDA approved drug. I use the phrase “effectively illegal” because doctors are most likely to be dissuaded by the Federal Trade Commission, Medicaid/Medicare, state laws or state boards. Others dive into legal aspects much more deeply and it is brought out in the documentaries.

I think the documentary, The Beautiful Truth (watch the trailer), does a great job of laying out the details with care. This would be my pick if you only have time to watch one of the documentaries. It appears to be available on Amazon Prime.

The following quote is from Linus Pauling, Ph.D. He’s a two time Nobel Prize winner in chemistry (1901-1994), and considered one of the most important scientists in history. As one of the founders of quantum chemistry and molecular biology, he was invited to be in charge of the Chemistry division of the Manhattan Project, but refused. Dr. Pauling stated:

“Despite the great amount of money and effort expended in the study of cancer, progress during the last twenty-five years has been slow. A significant increase in survival time after diagnosis was achieved about thirty years ago, largely through improvements in the techniques of surgery and anesthesia. During the last twenty-five years some improvement in treatment of certain kinds of cancer has been achieved, mainly through the use of high-energy radiation and chemotherapy, but for most kinds of cancer there has been essentially no decrease in either incidence or length of time of survival after diagnosis, and it has become evident that some new ideas are needed, if greater control over this scourge is to be achieved.” (source)

As you might expect, Dr. Pauling is heavily discredited.

Dr. Marcia Angell, a physician and fist woman to be the Editor in Chief of the New England Journal of Medicine and now a senior lecturer at at Harvard, said this:

“It is simply no longer possible to believe much of the clinical research that is published, or to rely on the judgment of trusted physicians or authoritative medical guidelines. I take no pleasure in this conclusion, which I reached slowly and reluctantly over my two decades as an editor of the New England Journal of Medicine” (source)

Your doctor can't tell you about any cancer treatment that doesn't involve an FDA approved drug. Click To Tweet

Videos and documentaries featuring the Gerson Therapy

Charlotte Gerson is the daughter of Dr. Max Gerson. While fleeing Nazi persecution at age 12, she contracted bone tuberculosis. It was considered a death sentence at that time. Her father cured her. She later did daily rounds with her father and participated in administering the therapy.

She was 80 when this video was recorded in 2003. It’s 3 hours long but kept me riveted.

Lecture: The Gerson Therapy – Charlotte Gerson on Curing Cancer

She is still just as sharp at 91 in this hour long interview if you care to see it.

There are quite a few documentaries if you go looking for them.

Documentary: Cancer The Forbidden Cures!

Documentary: Cancer ‘Dying to Have Known’ – Independent Feature Documentary About the Gerson Cure for Cancer

I’ve found this video sometimes doesn’t have a preview image and appears to be a bad link. Yet it plays anyway.

How effective is the Gerson Therapy compared to chemotherapy?

In 2004, a study was done to determine the cost effectiveness of chemotherapy. The study concluded, “The overall contribution of curative and adjuvant cytotoxic chemotherapy to 5-year survival in adults was estimated to be 2.3% in Australia and 2.1% in the USA.” Here are links.

The Susan G Komen website, published the analysis of 60 randomized clinical trials. The study analysis found chemotherapy to offer a 3-9% improvement to 15 year survival rates, depending on age and the type of cancer.

Not surprisingly, the pharmaceutical companies that usually fund cancer studies have not fronted the millions of dollars needed to document the effectiveness of alternative medicine options. But there was one clinical study in 1995 that showed nutrition based therapies to produce better results than chemo, in patients with localized melanoma. Across the board, diet based therapy performed anywhere from 21-43% better than chemotherapy.

“Of 14 patients with stages I and II (localized) melanoma, 100% survived for 5 years, compared with 79% of 15,798 reported by Balch. Of 17 with stage IIIA (regionally metastasized) melanoma, 82% were alive at 5 years, in contrast to 39% of 103 from Fachklinik Hornheide. Of 33 with combined stages IIIA + IIIB (regionally metastasized) melanoma, 70% lived 5 years, compared with 41% of 134 from Fachklinik Hornheide. We propose a new stage division: IVA (distant lymph, skin, and subcutaneous tissue metastases), and IVB (visceral metastases). Of 18 with stage IVA melanoma, 39% were alive at 5 years, compared with only 6% of 194 from the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group.”

I don’t love the small sample sizes, but that doesn’t make the observations irrelevant. To me, it begs the question, why aren’t cancer-cure organizations falling all over themselves to fund more studies of diet based therapies?

The Gerson Institute maintains a list of diseases and situations that don’t respond well to the therapy.

Chemo ups survival by 2-9%. The Gerson Therapy improves survival by 21-43% over chemo. Click To Tweet

The Gerson Therapy is only one alternative cancer treatment- There are many others

I found many more alternative, natural treatments described on a website called CancerTutor.com.

Docu-series called The Truth About Cancer – A Global Quest

One of the most recent resources is a web site called The Truth About Cancer. They have released a 9 part docu-series that interviews over 130 doctors and scientists who are helping patients beat cancer every day in clinical practice. I watched all 9 episodes and it’s powerful.

Suzanne Somers says she was falsely diagnosed with cancer – BY SIX DOCTORS. After getting a correct diagnosis by a doctor that claimed to be able to cure cancer, she wrote a book called Knockout.

What I would do if I was diagnosed with cancer

This is my plan for me and should not be considered medical advice. I would:

First thing, I would re-watch the docu-series called The Truth About Cancer – A Global Quest. And I would take notes on every natural treatment they discuss.
In The Truth About Cancer – A Global Quest, I learned that cancer takes years to develop to the point where it is detectable. The doctors in that series advised not caving in to the typical massive pressure to begin chemo and radiation immediately. However, if the size of the tumor has advanced to the point of endangering life, I might consider surgery. I am personally not persuaded that chemo offers enough statistical benefit to offset the risks and likely damage to my immune system. On the contrary, I believe my immune system is the very ticket to reversing most diseases (including cancer), so it needs every advantage and protection I can provide. I would try available nutrition and lifestyle treatments first.
I would follow the Gerson Therapy. I already follow a nutrition plan close to the Gerson Therapy. My eating plan is detailed here, and it’s designed for disease prevention. If I wound up with cancer anyway, it would likely be caused by some kind of environmental exposure. In that case, the Gerson Therapy is designed for drastic, emergency detox and I would follow it to the letter.
Based on the advice of Dr. Josh Axe, I would rub frankincense essential oil on my neck three times daily. Also, I would drink three drops in 8 ounces of water three times daily. Dr. Axe used this along with the Gerson Therapy and others to help his mother reverse her cancer. You can buy frankincense essential oil on Amazon.
I would get plenty of sunshine and vitamin D.
I would read the book Outside the Box Cancer Therapies: Alternative Therapies That Treat and Prevent Cancer by by Dr. Mark Stengler and Dr. Paul Anderson. It’s written for patients but contains over 1100 citations to peer reviewed studies. I would also re-listen to this interview with Dr. Anderson.
I’d get real serious about de-stressing. For me, that would involve cutting back on commitments and an even greater emphasis on time in the presence of God by reading his word and prayerful gratitude. “A joyful heart is good medicine, but a broken spirit dries up the bones.“

The protocols to reverse cancer have much on common with the Wellness Repair Plan. I will keep the Wellness Repair Plan, and this list, updated as I learn. My hope is to encourage others to adopt meaningful prevention steps.

Tell someone you care about

It is a certainty that you know at least one person touched by cancer. How will they learn about this unless someone brings it to their attention? I would rather let people think I’m a nut than have them find out later I never said anything while their loved one slipped away.

It takes courage, I know. Wouldn’t you want someone to tell you? You can use the colorful buttons below to share.

I will continue to add to this post over time as I encounter additional resources. If you would like to be kept updated, please subscribe to my email list.

If you or a loved one struggles with cancer, my prayer is for you to have abundant wisdom and total wellness restoration.

Additional Resources:

Andrew W. Saul Interviews Cancer Crusader CHARLOTTE GERSON

Interview with Dr. Leonard Coldwell

iCureCancer YouTube channel

OutSmartYourCancer.com

A study on the DCA treatment

Medical Disclaimer