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.
