AN ABSTRACT OF THE  GERSON  THERAPY
From information we’ve alread y furnished, you know that in the years
just prior to and following World War II, German-American physician Max
Gerson, M.D., newly immigrated to the United States, proposed an
empirically developed set of general dietary and medical measures. He used
measures for the successful management of patients suffering from body
system deterioration of all types, most especially tuberculosis, kidney
diseases, diabetes, liver disease s, rheumatoid arthritis, stroke, gallbladder
disease, nearly every addiction, and almost all of the over one hundred
kinds of malignancies. Dr. Gerson’ s therapeutic techniq ues involved having each patient use an
integrated set of particular health care methods and managements, including
focusing on the following (see Table 4-1 ):2
A. salt and water intake management through sodium (Na+) mineral
restriction and potassium (K+) mineral supplementation,
B. superabundant intakes (hype ralimentation) of both macron utrients and
micronutrients through the regular hourly preparation and drinking of raw,
organically grown fruit and vegetable juices,
C. extreme limitation of fats consumed in foods,
D. temporary protein restriction through a basically vegetarian diet,E. natural, supplemental thyroid administration,
F. produ ction of bile by the liver (choleresis) by means of frequent self-
administered cof fee enemas. THE CORE OF THE  GERSON  THERAPY
Dr. Gerson’ s dietary program, once established, was approved and
employed by lar ge numbers of medical authors who duplicated his results to
cure migraine headaches and cutaneous tuberculosis (lupus vulgaris). It was
also described in clinical journals published worldwide as a therapy for the
various forms of pulmonary , gastrointestinal, and bone tuberculoses;
cardiorenal insuf ficiency; skin conditions of many types including eczema,
lichen planus, systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), psoriasis, and pruritus;
bronchitis and bronchiectasis; and nearly every liver and gallbladder
condition. By modifying the program, Dr. Gerson applied his therapeutic nutritional
regimen to cancer , rheumatoid and osteoarthritis, cardiovascular diseases,
multiple sclerosis, tuberculosis, migraine headaches, and much more,
publishing results in American and German peer-reviewed journals. Table
4-1 reveals  the core of Max Gerso n’s precise approach to changing an ill
individual’ s physiology to a healthy one. By following the Gerson Therapy
faithfully , a truly sick person can markedly improve his or her chances for
illness reversal, resumption of good health, and assurance of continuing
wellness. Harold D. Foster , B.Sc., Ph.D., professor of geography at the University
of Victoria in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada explained, “Gerson’ s
Therapy drastica lly alters the mineral balance of the patient’ s body. Anyone
undertaking this treatment rapidly loses sodium, while at the same time
potassium and iodine body levels rise. Milk, cheese, and butter are
forbidden, especially during the first months. Calcium is available through
the carro t and green juices to the extent that osteoporosis can be reversed
with the Gerson Therapy . The emphasis on fresh fruits and vegetables also
means that the patient received high levels of anti-oxidants, especially
betacarotene and vitamin C.”3
THE GERSON  THERAPY —IN HIS OWN WORDSHere, in Dr. Gerson’ s own words (see the original edition of A Cancer
Therapy) , is a summary of his theory .4
 
As scien ce is not yet developed to the point of knowing all
the enzy mes, vitamins and many biological functions of
hormones and minerals, it is safer to use foods raised, if
possible, by an organic gardening process, thus obeying the
laws of nature. [Today , more than forty-one years after he
wrote these words, Dr. Gerson’ s concept is proven even
more appropriate.] This observa tion helped the human race
for thousands of years before any science was developed. In
this way we bring in all known vitamins and enzymes, both
the discovered and the undiscovered ones, and especially the
unknown—“life stimulating substances”—given best as
fresh as possible  and not damag ed by refining or preserving
processes, such as canned [smoked, frozen, freeze-dried,
dehydrated, irradiated, and otherwise manhandled] food. These contain all of the necessary substances in their proper
quantity , mixture and composition, and are regulated by
instinct, hunger , taste, smell, sight and other factors. TABLE 4-1
  
The Cor e of the Gerson Therapy
The Gerson Therapy is a series of har monious and cohesive
medical tr eatments which have been observed to cur e many
individual cases of advanced cancer and other major health
problems in mankind. • The tr eatments consist of salt and water management which
holds down the intak e of Na+ and incr eases the intak e of K+. • A sick person’s metabolism and cell ener gy pr oduction ar e
stimulated by supplementing with natural thyr oid hor mone. • Maximum digestibility of nutrients is achieved by hourlydrinking fr esh, raw vegetable and fruit juices and eating a
basically vegetarian diet. • Fat is r estricted in or der, to lower intak e of disease pr omoters of
all kinds. • The r estriction of pr otein tends to uplif t a patient’s immune
response. • Coﬀee enemas stimulate the bowel and liver enzymes to
eliminate to xins acr oss the bowel wall. It is a kind of intestinal
dialysis. Three-quarters of the foods [for illness-prevention] which
should be consumed include the following:
All kinds of fruits, mostly fresh and some prepared in
different ways; freshly prepared fruit juices (orange,
grapefruit, grape, etc. ); fruit salads; cold fruit soups; mashed
bananas, raw grated apples, applesauce, etc. All vegetables freshly prepared, some stewed in their own
juices and others either raw or finely grated, such as carrots,
cauliflower or celery; vegetable salads, soups, etc. ; some
dried fruits and vegetables are permitted but no frozen ones. Potatoes are best when baked; the contents may be
mashed with nonfat yogurt or salt-free soup; they should
never be fried and preferably boiled in their jackets. Salads of green leaves or mixed with tomatoes, fruits,
vegetables, etc. Bread should contain whole rye or some (up to 20
percent) whole wheat flour , or these may be mixed; it should
be refin ed as little as possible. Oatmeal should be used
freely . Buckwheat cakes and potato pancakes are optional, as
are brow n sugar , honey , maple sugar and maple candy . (No
baking powder or baking soda may be used, even in
cooking.) Milk and milk products, such as pot cheese and other
kinds of cheese which are not salted or spiced, buttermilk,
nonfat yogurt and butter . Cream and ice cream should bereduced to a minimum or restric ted to holidays (ice cream is
“poison” for children). The remaining one-fourth of the dietary regimen, which
allows for personal choice, may consist of meat, fish, eggs,
nuts, candies, cakes, or whatever one likes best. Nicotine
should be avoide d; liquors, wine and beer should be reduced
to a minimum in favor of fresh  fruit juices; coffee and tea
should be cut to a minimum with the exception of the
following herb teas: peppermint, camomile, linden flower ,
orange flower , and a few others. Salt, bicarbonate of soda, smoked fish and sausage should
be avoided as much as possible, as should sharp condiments
such as pepper and ginger , but fresh garden herbs should be
used—onions, parsley leaves, chives, celery and even some
horseradish. As for vegetables and fruits, they should, I repeat, be
stewed in their own juices to avoid the loss of minerals
easily dissolved in water during cooking. It seems that these
valuable minera ls are not so well absorbed when they are out
of their colloidal state. All vegetables (except mushrooms and cucumbers) may
be used. Especially recommend ed for their mineral content
are carrots, peas, tomatoes, Swiss chard, spinach, string
beans, Brussels  sprouts, artichokes, beets cooked with
apples, cauliflower with tomatoes, red cabbage with apples,
raisins, etc. The best way to prepare vegetab les is to cook them slowly
for one and one-half to two hours, without water . To prevent
burning, place a heat distributing metal plate (asbestos mats
have been repla ced) under the saucepan. You may also use
some stock of [special Hippocrates] soup or else onions or
sliced tomatoes may be added to the vegetables. This also
will improve the taste. Spinach water is too bitter for use; it
generally is not liked and should be drained off. Onions,
leeks and tomatoes have enough  liquid of their own to keep
them moist while cooking. (Beets should be cooked like
potatoes, in their jackets and with water .) Wash and scrubvegetables thoroughly , but do not peel or scrape them. Saucepans must be tightly covered to prevent steam from
escaping. Cover s must be heav y or close fitting. (Use no
pressure cookers.) Cooked vegetables may be kept in the
refrigerator overnight. To warm them, heat slowly with a
little soup or fresh tomato juice. Dr. Gers on goes on to editoriali ze about his nutritional program’ s dietary
summary . In conclusion, he additionally writes:5
 
The human body has a wonder ful reserve power and many
possibilities of adjustment, but the best defense apparatus is
a 100 percent functioning metabolism and reabsorption in
the intestinal tract in combination with a healthy liver. People may conclude, needlessly , that it is not important to
place so much emphasis on nutrition. This may be so under
normal conditions and if these persons are not damaged
through heredit y, civilization, sickness, trauma or other
accumulations (nicotine and other poisons). Civilization has partially taken away this natural bestowal. Experiments on test groups to produce different vitamin
deficiencies by omitting food containing these vitamins
showed that one third can be made deficient in about four
months and two thirds in six months; only 5 to 6 percent
resisted ten months of deficien t feeding here in the United
States. These nutritional experi ments and others show that
only a minority possesses a complete intact reabsorption
apparatus and at the same time enough adjustment and
reserve power for healthy and unhealthy periods in their
lives. It is not necess ary for healthy persons to care so much
about enough or too many carbohydrates and proteins, and
their caloric value should be ignored. However , one cannot
ignore the absolutely necessary minerals, vitamins andenzymes in their most natural composition and in sufficient
amounts for a relatively long term and remain unpunished. The minerals have to be in the tissues where they belong, as
they are the carriers of the electrical potentials in the cells;
and there they enable the hormones, vitamins and enzymes
to funct ion properly . This gives the body the best working
power and reserves for a sound metabolism and life. REDISCOVERING THE  WHEEL
A spate of popular consumer books—some hitting the best-seller lists—
are now discuss ing Dr. Max Gerson’ s concept of diet and nutrition as the
means of preventing and treating cancer . They are filling library and
bookstore shelves today with what medical/nutrition specialists consider
some kind of revolutionary concept. For them, it’s new information. And
none of the authors are giving our Dr. Gerson the credit due. Such books as
Dr. Bob Arnot’ s The Breast Cancer Prevention Diet and Eat to Beat Cancer
and Dr. Gaynor ’s Cancer Prevention Program  make the case that anyone
can eat to reduce the risk of degenerative diseases such as cancer . Such
books lay out specific regimens to follow that are copycat versions of Dr.
Gerson’ s original dietary approach to eliminating all types of illnesses,
cancer in particular . Moreover , some  former professional/political persecutors of Dr. Gerson
are rediscoverin g the food whee l as a means of therapy against cancer and
other chronic illnesses. Grudg ingly , pushed and pulled by the public’ s
disillusionment with President Richard Nixon’ s lost “war against cancer ,”
they are coming  around to belie ving in the importance of diet and nutrition
as cancer reducers. When it comes to deciding whether we should improve our lifestyles by
following the teachings of Dr. Max Gerson or sustain ourselves, if possible,
on snack  chips, Danish pastries, pizza, cheesebur gers, ice cream, and other
junk foods, Gabriel Feldman, M.D., director of the prostate and colorectal
cancer programs for the American Cancer Society , admits, “We don’t needyears of research. If people would implement what we know today, cancer
rates would drop. It’ s that simple.”
Dr. Max Gerson was correct in his medical/nutritional literary
presentation of 1958 before the advent of fast food restaurants and
supermarket convenience foods, and he is even more accurate today . Those
fast food outlet s are building up stacks of patients who now require the
Gerson Therapy . References for Chapter Four
1
Quoted in Walters, R. Options: The Alternative Cancer Therapy . Book
Garden City Park, N.Y . : Avery Publishing Group, 1992, pp. 189, 190. 2
Hildenbrand, G. “Bread, propaganda, and circuses.” Gerson Healing
Newsletter  4(18/19):1, March/June 1987. 3
Foster , H.D. “Lifestyle changes and the ‘spontaneous’ regression of
cancer: an initial computer analysis.” International Journal of Biosocial
Resear ch. 10(1):17-33, 1988. 4
Gerson, M. A Cancer Therapy: Results of Fifty Cases . Summarizing 30
Years of Clinical Practice and Experimentation. The Powerful
Nutritional Therapy  that Has Heal ed Thousands. Bonita, Calif.: The
Gerson Institute, 1958, pp. 22-24. 5
Ibid., pp. 27-28. OceanofPDF .comChapter Five
REMISSION—HOW IT HAPPENS
 
We should be paying more attention to the exceptional
patients, those who get well unexpectedly , instead of staring
bleakly at all those who die in the usual pattern. In the words
of René Dubos, “Sometimes the more measurable drives out
the most important.”
Bernie B. Siegel, M.D., in Love, Medicine and Miracles
 
CURE OF  LYMPHOMA  BY USE OF  THE GERSON  THERAPY
Practicing as a chiropractor since 1955 in Amarillo, Texas, John
Albracht, D.C., now age sixty-six, first underwent surgery for the removal
of mixe d-cell lymphoma in 1963. The laparotomy , perform ed then by
surgeon Charles Y. Mayo Jr., M.D., son of the Mayo Clinic’ s famous
founder , uncovered an irregular retroperitoneal tumor pushing up through
the mesentery of the small bowel. Dr. Albracht’ s cancer was so large and
extensive that it was considered inoperable, and Dr. Mayo Jr. merely closed
up the incision. He sent his patient to receive twenty fraction s of cobalt
radiotherapy . Following Dr. Albracht’ s radiation treatments, his residual mass shrank
rapidly . At the time of his initia l biopsy and laparotomy , Dr. Albracht was
thirty years old. He rema ined in remission for twenty-four years. On December 1, 1986,
however , Dr. Albracht had a recurrence of multiple discomforting signs andsymptoms of malignant disease. They consisted of severe gastrointestinal
bleeding, excessive sweating (diaphoresis), muscle weakness,
gastrointestinal gas, belching, indigestion, epigastric fullness, diarrhea,
tachycardia, a low hemoglobin reading of 8 g/dL (normal is 14-18 g/dL),
and a low pack ed red cell volume in blood (hematocrit) of 26 mL/dL
(normal is 40-54 mL/dL). Four days later at the High Plains Baptist
Hospital in Amarillo, gastrointestinal surgeon Gregorio Matos, M.D.,
performed a small-bowel resection with end-to-end anastomosis on the
patient. The lymphoma involved  one-third of the small bowel and extended
to the mesothelium, including the whole jejunum down to the proximal
ileum. Indeed, along with 7 feet of small bowel, the malignant tumor
removed from Dr . Albracht’ s belly was the size of a cantaloupe. Recommended followup by oncologist Karim Nawaz, M.D., was with
massive amounts of five potent cytotoxic agents for a minimum of eight
chemotherapies starting January 11, 1987. The patient tolerated two chemo
treatments, but their adverse side effects were so awful—nausea and
vomiting, diarrh ea, abdominal cramping, severe abdominal pain, irritation,
hoarseness, chest pains, shortness of breath, coughing, pain in the lower
back, pain in the testicles, burning and swelling of both arms where the
chemotherapy injections were placed, and a serious weight loss of 55
pounds in three weeks-that he voluntarily discontinued them. “Dr. Matos used my case as a luncheon case study at the High Plains
Baptist Hospital  here. He told his study group that I had maybe three to six
months to live,” said Dr . Albracht.1
That’ s when this patient, still filled with abdominal disease, entered the
Gerson Therapy hospital in Tijuana, Mexico, on Februrary 17, 1987. Dr.
Matos and Dr. Nawaz continue d to monitor his progress. They observed
that his tumor mass, just to the right of the umbilicus, shrank steadily from
4 cm by 7 cm to nothing. By the close of 1987, with Dr. Albracht still
following the Gerson dietary treatment for cancer , his mass was no longer
detectable using any type of medical diagnostic method . The two
conservative Amarillo cancer specialists, investigating the patient by use of
lymphangiograms, bone marrow tests, laboratory tests, physical
examinations, and more, considered him cured then and still do now . Dr. Matos said to Dr. Albracht, “The way you were going down hill, your
health was deteriorating. And I think you did the right things to bring your
health back up, and your weight and strength, and to get some  sunshine.”Even now, Dr. John Albracht continues to maintain his Gerson Therapy
eating and detoxification progr am. He still goes for regular five-month,
follow-up checkups by Dr . Matos.2
Since his successful employme nt of the Gerson Therapy for reversing
deadly malignant lymphoma, Dr. Albracht currently incorporates diet and
nutrition into his practice of chiropractic. He admits to having used the
Gerson dietary program as the sole means for saving and preserv ing his life. Yet some uninfo rmed medical observers who are biased in favor of drug or
radiation therap ies may point to the patient’ s cured cancer and comment
with disdain, “Oh, that’s just an example of a cancer ’s spontaneous
regression.” But Dr. John Albracht, whose life had been teetering in the
balance, knows the truth. There was no spontaneity to his cancer  regression. He worked hard to achieve it in 1987 and now continues to do so every day
(see the photograph of Dr . Albracht with his wife). THERE IS  NO “SPONT ANEOUS  REMISSION ” OF CANCER
In chap ter 4, we briefly quoted from an article regarding cancer
remission for patients result ing from lifestyle improvem ents. The
information came from a study conducted by Harold D. Foster , B.Sc.,
Ph.D., Professo r of Geography and a statistician with the University of
Victoria in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. In 1988, Dr. Foster
performed a thorough computer  analysis of cancer patients who underwent
so-called spontaneous regressions.Dr. and Mrs. John Albracht
Spontaneous regression (or spontaneous remission)  means that the
cancer gets smaller or disappears completely (and with no new tumors
developing) without any conventional treatment.3
The renowned pathologist William Boyd, M.D., collected a large series
of such instance s, all documented in great detail, in a book he published in
1961. Dr. Boyd estimated that approximately 1 in every 100,000 cases of
cancer will show spontaneous regression. In his series, more than half of the
proven cases of spontaneous regression came from four forms of tumor: (1)
kidney (renal-ce ll) cancer , (2) melanoma (pigmented cancer of the skin), (3)
neuroblastoma (a rare cancer of childhood), and (4) chorio-carcinoma (a
rare cancer of the placenta). As part of the other half of Dr. Boyd’ s cases,
there were one or two examples of almost every other type of cancer .4
In his classic coauthored textb ook Spontaneous Regression of Cancer ,
oncologist W H. Cole, M.D., writes: “The term ‘spontaneous’ is an
erroneous classification because there must be a cause of the regression.”5Also, in his published writings and lectures, Max Gerson, M.D., has stated
repeatedly that cancer regression does not happen spontaneou sly but that
some specific improvement in the patient’ s physiology causes the cancer to
react favorably . “What is missing, therefore,” says Harold D. Foster , Ph.D ., “is an
understanding on the part of those involved of why a major improvement in
health is occurring.” A wide variety of possible explanation s have, of
course, been put forward for spontaneous regression.“6
Spontaneous Cancer Regr ession Analyzed by  Dr. Har old Foster
Dr. Foster looke d at the data on 200 recovered patients who had used
various forms of alternative treatment, including the Gerson Therapy ,
Hoxsey’ s herbs, Kelley’ s dietary program, macrobiotics, the Moerman diet,
and Jason Winters Herbal Tea. He discovered that more than half of these
recovered chronic disease patients (with cancer striking most of them) had
used some form of nutrition and lifestyle changes, including detoxification,
such as coffee enemas, castor oil enemas, high colonic irrigatio n, dry heat
saunas, or fasting. Eighty-eight percent of the patients had incorporated
vegetarianism as their daily eating program, and 65 percent swallowed daily
amounts of mineral supplements , with potassium and iodine being the most
frequently taken. Additional nutrients ingested by them included niacin,
digestive enzymes, bioflavonoids, red clover , and the vitamins A, B12, and
C.
Dr. Foster wrote that “spontaneous” cancer regressions “tended to occur
most frequently in vegetarian nonsmokers, who did not use table salt, white
flour , or sugar and who avoided canned, smoked, or frozen foods. Typically
such individuals eschewed alcoholic beverages, tea, coffee, and cocoa, but
instead drank freshly pressed fruit and/or vegetable juices. Many took
vitamin and mineral supplements together with various herbs. The time
interval spent by patients eating such special diets varied from one month to
fifteen years, the median time period being forty-one months.”7
Since there must always be a reason for cancer regression, confirmed Dr.
Foster , he agreed with Dr. Max Gerson’ s original finding, sayin g, “There is
really no such process as spon taneous regression.” The data support his
view that dramatic remissions occur “in association with major dietarychanges, which  must inevitably have resulted in alterations in the
availability of bulk and trace elements to both the immune system and to
tumors.”
Dr. Foster affirmed that the Gerson therapy program was heavily
represented among those cancer patients “who exceeded their anticipated
lengths of survival by at least a factor of ten.” In this group were persons
who followed the Gerson protocol and recovered from brain tumors,
lymphosarcoma, basal cell carcinoma, kidney sarcoma, spreading
melanoma, breast cancer , spinal cord tumor , metastasized testicular cancer ,
and pituitary gland cancer . Recovered patients following the Gerson
program were represented in nearly every category in Dr . Foster ’s study .8
The U.S. National Cancer Institute (NCI) and the Canadian Cancer
Society (CCS) are promoting diets that they anticipate will reduce the
incidence of cancer . Interesting ly enough, many of the 200 patients who
experienced cancer regression in Dr. Foster ’s study were following diets
exactly like that advocated by Max Gerson, M.D. They were extreme forms
of those now being championed by orthodox medicine, as represented by
the NCI and the CCS.9,10
Creating “Spontaneous Regr essions/Remissions”
Alternative methods of healing (considered unconventiona l by the
standards of modern oncology) were applied by those investiga ted patients
who experienced spontaneous regressions. TABLE 5-1
Percentage F requency with Which P articular F oods and Drinks W ere
Avoided by 200 Cancer V ictims Who Underwent “Spontaneous
Regressions”
Type of Food or Drink Percentage of Patient Sample
All canned foods 80.0
All frozen foods 80.0All smok ed foods 80.0
White sugar 79.5
Meat 79.5
Pickles 75.5
Table salt (sodium chloride) 75.5
Alcoholic beverages 75.5
Spices 75.0
Eggs 70.0
Fish 67.0
Fats 65.5
White ﬂour 65.5
Tea 65.5
Coﬀee 65.5
Chocolate 63.5
Oils 62.0
Milk 62.0
Nuts 59.5
Soybeans 49.0
Tomatoes 38.5
Shellﬁsh 16.0
(Taken with per mission fr om F oster, H .D. “Lifestyle changes and the
‘spontaneous’ r egression of cancer : An initial computer analysis.”
International Journal of Biosocial Research. 10(1):17-33, 1988.Of the record ed patients, 175 (87.5 percent) had made major
improvements in their diets. Table 5-1 lists the foods which were typically
avoided. As can be seen, these  now healthy people closely followed the
Gerson Therapy dietary recommendations (see chapters 7, 8, and 10). Eliminated from  their meal planning were alcoholic, fatty, oily, dairy ,
canned, frozen, smoked, sweet,  salted, spiced, and pickled foods. Eighty
percent of the people who cured various cancers on their own discontinued
eating these foods. In addition,  tobacco, meat, and sugar were no longer
ingested by 79.5 percent of the patients who later underwent “spontaneous”
cancer regressio ns. As indicated below , spices, eggs, fish, oils and fats, tea,
coffee, cocoa, chocolate, white flour , milk, and nuts were avoided as well
by more than 50 percent of the patients. TABLE 5-2
Percentage F requency with Which P articular F oods and Drinks W ere
Consumed by 200 Cancer P atients Experiencing “Spontaneous
Regressions”
Type of Food or Drink Percentage of Patient Sample
Broccoli 84.5
Leeks 84.5
Cauliﬂower 84.5
Onions 84.5
Legumes 84.5
Carrots 84.5
Brussels spr outs 84.5
Beet r oots 82.5
Squash 82.5
Apples 81.5Pears 81.5
Apricots 77.0
Whole grain cer eals 75.0
Cantaloupe 73.5
Grapes 73.0
Tomatoes 72.5
Lentils 69.0
Grapefruit juice (fr eshly made) 58.0
Alfalfa and other spr outed seeds 57.5
Orange juice (fr eshly made) 57.0
Apple juice (fr eshly made) 57.0
Grape juice (fr eshly made) 55.0
Tomato juice (fr eshly made) 55.0
Carrot juice (fr eshly made) 53.5
Green leaf juice (fr eshly made) 51.5
Liver 46.5
Raisins 46.5
Almonds 32.0
Pineapples 26.0
Cottage cheese 24.5
Butter milk (chur ned, not cultur ed) 24.5
Eggs 24.5
Wheatgrass 22.0Yogurt 21.0
Olive oil 20.5
Sunﬂower seeds 19.5
Barley grass 18.5
Avocados 18.5
Keﬁr 16.5
Garlic 14.0
Flax oil 7.5
Miso 4.5
Tamari 2.0
(Taken with per mission fr om F oster, H .D. “Lifestyle changes and the
‘spontaneous’ r egression of cancer : an initial computer analysis.”
International Journal of Biosocial Research. 10(1):17-33, 1988. In contrast, certain foods were consumed in large quantities by cancer
patients seeming ly under going “spontaneous regression.” These  are shown
in Table 5-2. The most popular foods valued for their anticancer
components proved to be fresh vegetables; namely carrots, beet roots,
squash, broccoli, leeks, cauliflower , onions, legumes, and brussels sprouts. Such vegetables were the only foods specifically eaten by more than 80
percent of the spontaneously regressed patients. Also of note was that 57
percent of these fortunate (or informed) people followed the Gerson
Therapy recommendation of freshly pressing and drinking apple, carrot, and
orange juices. Freshly squeezed  carrot juice, in fact, played a significant
role in the diets  of 53.5 percent of all patients in the sample. Grapefruit,
grape, and tomato juices were also drunk by over half of those experiencing
regressions. Other foods that were popular included whole grains, alfalfa
sprouts, cantaloupes, tomatoes, lentils, grapes, and apricots.SURVIVING AND  THRIVING  FORTY YEARS  AFTER THE  GERSON  THERAPY
There is no shortage of confirmations that dietary improvements
combined with detoxifying lifestyles help to eliminate cancer and other
illnesses manifested by total cellular deterioration. Such confirmations
include the statements of patien ts still living forty or more years after they
had under gone the healing program advocated by Max Gerson, M.D. What
follows is just such an example of surviving and thriving more than forty-
two years after engaging in the Gerson Therapy to counteract bone cancer . Carla Shuford (see photograph)  is happy and healthy today , more than
forty-two years  after she was diagnosed with the metastatic cancer
osteogenic sarcoma, at age fifteen. Osteogenic sar coma,  a cancer of the bone tissue itself, is the second most
common type of primary malign ant bone tumor . Although most often seen
in people aged ten to twenty years, an osteosarcoma of this type can occur
at any age. Abou t half of the tumors occur in or around the knee  and within
the femur, but they can origin ate in any bone. They tend to spread as
secondary growths to the lungs. Usually , osteogenic sarcoma causes severe
pain and swelling at the tumor site.11
Carla Shuford was a victim of the disease but saved herself  with the
powerful nutritional and detoxification program advocated by Dr. Gerson. To help save the lives of other childhood cancer patients, she wrote her case
history for publication in the bimonthly July/August 1998 issue of the
Gerson Healing Newsletter .12Carla Shuford
Here is Carla Shuford’ s story:
 
This year, on September 4, 1998, I will be celebrating my
fortieth annivers ary—an anniver sary of life! I was diagnosed
with cancer, and on that day forty years ago, my left leg was
amputated at the hip. I had gone through seven months of
pain before the tumor was disco vered, so when the diagnosis
of osteogenic sarcoma was confirmed in a biopsy report to
John Preston, M.D. (the surgeon who had performed the
biopsy), the prognosis was not good. The cancer had spread
to my lymph system, and I was given six months to live. At that time [early September 1958], radiation and surgery
were the conven tional methods of treatment. Radiation was
not possible because of the tumor ’s location, and in
desperation, the doctors decid ed to do radical surgery,
offering a faint possibility that it could postpone my death by
thirty to sixty days.However , on the same day, and in fact, while the operation
was being performed, someth ing seemingly much less
dramatic, but far more vital was taking place. My mother
was talking [in person] to Dr. Max Gerson in his New York
City office, making arrangements for me to begin his therapy
immediately upon my hospital dischar ge. The next five years were to be round-the-clock days of
labor , as my parents devoted their lives to preserving mine,
Gerson-style. We were poor dairy farmers from the
mountains of western North Carolina, whose livelihood
depended upon milking by hand our herd of thirty Jersey
cows, and delivering the raw milk to our customers each
morning. Although it would have been preferable for me to be a
resident of Dr. Gerson’ s New  York clinic, circumstances
made that impossible. Because of the extreme demands of
time, energy, and the difficulty of acquiring toxin-free foods,
along with the thoroughness and exactness that the program
required, Dr. Gerson was relucta nt for patients to handle the
treatment at home, especially  in the beginning stages. However , he was impressed with my mother ’s intelligence
and untiring dedication to detai l. In return for his trust, she
made him the promise that she would follow his prescribed
regimen to the letter . So began five years of uncompromising observance to the
Gerson Therapy  by my mother , my father , and myself. In
those days, the Gerson juicer was an enormously heavy
machine (similar to a car jack) , with a separate press and
linen cloths to press the ground food in to prevent any
chance of oxidation. We were all grateful that our arms had
grown strong from years of milking cows, as it required
equal strength to operate this equipment! As the juice had to
be freshly ground and pressed with each feeding, my mother
barely finished washing the machine and cloths, before it
was time for the next round. At that time too, the liver “juice” consisted of the liquid
from grinding and pressing a calf’s liver that had never beenfrozen. Our nearest source for the liver was in Asheville,
forty miles away . My father ’s job was to meet the bus at 3:00
P.M. at the local station with our order of fresh liver . While my father had converted to organic gardening in the
early 1950s, none of the other local farmers had any interest
in this pursuit. However , since the quantities of lettuce and
carrots required for daily juicing , as well as the various roots
and vegetables for the prescribed soup, were enormous [for
me], my father needed the assistance of our neighbors. Different farmers agreed to allocate portions of their gardens
to be pesticide-free. In those areas, they grew “Carla’ s
carrots” and “Carla’ s lettuce” and “Carla’ s whatever .”
The rest is histo ry. Dr. Gerson died in the spring of 1959,
less than six months after my mother had visited him. The
doctors finally grew tired of requiring monthly chest X-rays
that were consistently clear . Sloan-Kettering [Cancer Clinic]
sent out a yearly  survey to ask if I was still alive, and each
year, to their amazement, it was returned. In 1988, I realized
I had outlived their thirty-year study! My father died in 1965. My mother died on January 18 of
this year (1998), just three days before her ninetieth birthday . I am now an of ficial senior , having turned fifty-five in April. I eat only organic, unprocessed foods, with an emphasis
on fruits, vegetables, and whole  grains. I swim a mile each
morning, and enjoy good healt h—other than the wear -and-
tear that is attendant to a forty-year life on crutches. I keep an updat ed “Gerson Folder” in my bureau drawer ,
so I will know what to do, shou ld I ever need Doctor Max’ s
help again. And perhaps most importantly , I look forward to
celebrating my fortieth anniversary on September 4, 1998, as
I once again give thanks to my mother , to my father , and to
Dr. Max Gerson for MY LIFE! Carla Shuford
 References for Chapter Five
1
Hildenbrand, G. “Cure of a recurrent, inoperable, chemoresistant mixed
cell lymphoma (retroperitoneal lymphocytic/histiocytic nodular diffused)
through the Gerson cancer therapy.” Healing Newsletter . 7(1-2):1–10,
Jan./ Feb. & Mar ./Apr . 1992. 2
Ibid.,  p. 10. 3
Bashford, E.F cited by Rae, M.V “Spontaneous regression of a hyper -
nephroma.” American Journal of Cancer . 24:839, 1935. 4
Buckman, R. What You Really Need  to Know about Cancer: A
Compr ehensive Guide for Patie nts and their Families. Baltimore: The
Johns Hopkins Univesity Press, 1997, pp. 242, 243. 5
Cole, W.H. “Opening address: Spontaneous regression of cancer and the
importance of finding its cause.” In Confer ence on Spontaneous
Regr ession of Cancer , ed. by T.C. Everson, and W H. Cole. Philadelphia:
W.B. Saunders & Co., 1966, pp. 5-9. 6
Foster , H.D. “Lifestyle changes and the ‘spontaneous’ regression of
cancer: an initial computer analysis.” International Journal of Biosocial
Resear ch. 10(1):17–33, 1988. 7
Ibid. 8
Ibid. 9
Ross, Wk.S. “At last, an anticancer diet.” Reader ’s Digest. 1222(733):
49–53, 1983. 10
Canadian Cance r Society . “Facts on cancer and diet: Your food choices
may help you reduce your cancer risk.” 1985. 11The Merck Manual of Medical Information: Home Edition. Whitehouse
Station, N.J.: Merck Research Laboratories, 1997, p. 223
12
Shuford, C. “Carla’ s story .” Gerson Healing Newsletter . 13(4):5–6, July/
Aug. 1998. OceanofPDF .comPart Two
THE GERSON THERAPY IN ACTION
OceanofPDF .comChapter Six
HEALING MELANOMA WITH THE GERSON THERAPY
When a death-dealing skin cancer , melanoma, reaches the state of having
spread, or metastasized, throughout the body , it is classified as a stage IV
cancer . Such a circumstance is serious, unquestionably life-threatening, and
carries no optimistic prognosis among conventionally practicing
oncologists. A melanoma  (literall y “black tumor”) is a malignant mole, the most
dangerous of all skin cancers and among the most malignant of all cancers. It can spread to nearly every organ and tissue and lead to death within a
year after it recurs in distant sites (metastasizes). Although it is rare for a
pregnant woma n’s tumor to spread to her fetus (see the case of Lana
Matuseck near the conclusion of this chapter), melanomas lead the list
among those tumors that do spread in this way . Melanoma is most common in people in their forties to sixties. While not
yet among the most common  cancers, its incidence is rising faster
worldwide than any other . In the United States alone, more than 40,300
cases occurred in 1997, and an even higher number are being counted for
1998. Only one type of cell composing all melanomas exists—the malevolent
pigment-producing cell called a melanocyte —but there are a few variants
distinguished by their shapes, such as cuboidal or spindle-shaped. The
behavior of each is generally similar in skin melanomas, altho ugh in eye
melanomas their shape determines the behavior to a significant degree.1
MRS. DAEL MINTZ ARRIVES  WITH  STAGE IV M ELANOMA
Arriving at a natural remedy hospital using the Gerson Therapy in
Tijuana, Mexico , in June 1993, Dael Mintz, aged fifty-five, of Calabasas,California, had her life endangered by stage IV melanoma. Mrs. Mintz
defied all the conventional medi cal odds. “Frankly , at the outset , we here at
the Gers on Therapy treatment center in Tijuana thought that her prognosis
was rather poor,” admits Alicia Melendez, M.D., the Gerson Therapy-
educated physician who specializes in treating cancers holistically . “She had a severe case of metastasized melanoma, with tumor masses in
her lungs and liver and lesions engulfing and compressing her mid-back and
neck vertebrae. Dael’ s largest tumor measured 1 1.5 centimeters [cm] across;
there was a mass of lumps just under the skin on her chest, and she had a
tumor on her nose as well,” relates Dr. Melendez. “Surgery followed by a
skin graft had been unable to eliminate the nose tumor , and soon it grew to
the size of a grape. A total of twenty tumors were found throughout her
body (including her hip, spine, liver, bones, and kidneys) and her clavicle
was visibly distended with clear signs of the cancer .”
Conventionally practicing oncologists in California had given up on Mrs.
Mintz. In fact, they predicted that she had less than six months to live. When melanoma is that far advanced, there is almost nothing regular drug-
oriented (allopathic) medicine can do. Stage IV melanoma is resistant to
radiation treatment, immunotherapy , and chemotherapy . None of these
established procedures has been  shown to bring about any good long-term
results. All oncologists will tell you that stage IV skin cancer is among the
most difficult malignancies to overcome. But it turns out that this was not
the situation for Dael Mintz. Over the next three weeks at the Gerson Therapy facility and then for
eighteen months on her own, Mrs. Mintz followed the standard Gerson
program of eating a specialize d diet, consuming fresh vegetable juices,
taking nutritiona l supplements, receiving remedial injections, going through
detoxification, and giving herself coffee enemas. In addition, she received
ozone topically for her nose lesions and took it rectally twice daily for
general body detoxification. At the end of this three-week period, the
patient still showed some lesions in and on her body , but she felt a great
deal more energy. Overall, the Gerson Therapy doctors and staff evaluated
her as being well on the road to recovery . She then returned home to treat
herself.2
STAGE IV M ELANOMA  REMISSION , REGRESSION , AND ELIMINA TIONDr. Melendez acknowledges that the severity of her patient’ s case was of
great concern at first. “Her health at the time she had been admitted to our
clinic was like a train plummeting down a mountain with an engineer who
has had a heart attack. The melanoma was that far out of control. We
needed to stop the train and push it back up the mountain, ” states the
Gerson Therapy cancer specialist. Within the next six months of her remaining on the Gerson program,
Mrs. Mintz’s clavicle returned to a normal appearance. After another six
months, comput erized axial tomography (CAT) scans she went through as a
diagnostic procedure indicated that there was a substantial size reduction in
her liver tumors; the scans also showed that most other organ metastases
had disappeared. The woman’ s next CAT scan, six months later still (a year
and a half from the start of her Gerson self-treatment), depicted a continued
reduction in the liver tumor and only two (out of an initial five) lung tumors
remained. One year later , in June 1996, there were only two calcified nodules on her
left lung and a single, 1-millimeter calcification on the right lobe of her
liver remained. She was in remission, near to total regression, and
approaching the end stage of complete elimination of her stage IV
melanoma. This not uncommon occurrence for Gerson Therapy patients
was confirmed repeatedly in two ways: by Dael Mintz consulti ng with her
local oncologist and by return visits to the Gerson treatmen t center in
Tijuana. “Between June 1993 and June 1996, the tumor on her nose flattened out,
developed a concave area in its center , and lightened in color ,” reported the
patient’ s Mexica n physician during the season that followed. “Dael feels
very healthy, despite the lingering lesion on her nose. This last lesion, too,
is drastically reduced from its original size and she believes it is gradually
healing.”
After the patien t was on the Gerson program for two years, Dr. Alicia
Melendez was able to pronou nce her “almost completely clear of any
cancer .” Bearing  in mind that the average life expectancy for someone with
stage IV melanoma is under one year in almost all cases, for the patient still
to still be alive to this point for seven years is highly impress ive (see the
photograph showing Mrs. Dael Mintz today). At home in Calabasas, when Mrs. Mintz reported her recovery to her
allopathic oncologist, he was “thunderstruck and amazed,” she says. “Hewas completely unable to understand what produced this turnaround in my
presumably fatal melanoma. Fortunately , my oncologist had enough sense
to encou rage me to remain on the Gerson Therapy .” She consults him
periodically to confirm that melanoma is staying away . Mrs. Dael Mintz
We have described this deadly stage IV melanoma case history because
Dael Mintz’ s skin cancer with its multiple metastases is even  worse than
most of the other melanomas studied as part of a broad-based retrospective
investigation. We discuss the research below . A retrospective investigation
or revie w is one that surveys  past performance of some therapy . This
examination reviewed how many melanoma patients lived at least five
years (considered a “cure” by the American Cancer Society’ s oncological
scientists). The retrospective study reported here compared melanoma patients who
first began the Gerson Therapy under medical supervision and then, like
Mrs. Mintz, went on to self-administer the treatment at home. Our
described melanoma patient and 152 other study participants who followed
the Gerson Therapy with enthusiasm (153 in all) did exceedingly well
regarding their five-year surviv al rates. Among them, 69 percent of the
Gerson Therapy patients lived beyond five years. They were compared with
those other melanoma patients taken from the medical literature (16,229 in
all) who had undergone different courses of treatment. It’s readily seen thatthe non-Gerson Therapy patien ts were less fortunate and died in greater
numbers before the five-year mark (usually within a year). THE MELANOMA  RETROSPECTIVE  REVIEW  OF FIVE-YEAR SURVIVAL
The melanoma study was condu cted by members of the Gerson  Institute
and the Cancer Prevention and Control Program at the University of
California, both located in San Diego. This retrospective review described
all patients, including nonresponders to therapy , and encompassed their
melanomas in stages I and II (localized), stages IIIA and IIIB (regionally
metastasized), stage IVA (distant lymph, skin, and subcutaneous tissue
metastases), and stage IVB (visceral metastases). A peer-reviewed clinical
journal article, “Five-Y ear Survival Rates of Melanoma Patients  Treated by
Diet Therapy after the Manner of Gerson: A Retrospective Review ,” was
published in September 1995.3
The article’ s authors, G. L. Hildenbrand, L. Christeene Hildenbrand,
Karen Bradford, and Shirley W Cavin, summarized the clinical outcomes of
melanoma patients treated with the nutrition-based cancer therapy in
contrast with outcome rates reported in the medical literature. Over a
fifteen-year period—from 1975 through July 1990—153 adult, white
melanoma patients treated with the nutrition-based cancer therapy
developed by Max Gerson, M.D. (who originally conducted his research at
the University of Munich in the 1930s), were evaluated retrospectively . Although he published the results of his dietary program in Europe, Dr.
Gerson publiciz ed his findings even more extensively after 1936 when he
immigrated to the United States.4
The Gerson Therapy melanoma patients studied ranged from twenty-five
to seven ty-two years of age. The Gerson program participants were treated
with a lacto-vegetarian, low-sodium, low-fat, and low-protein diet. They
received elevate d amounts of potassium, fluid, and nutrients in the form of
hourly administered eight-ounce glasses of raw vegetable juices and/or fruit
juices. Their metabolism was increased by thyroid. The calorie supply was
limited to from 2,600 to 3,200 calories per day. Coffee enemas as needed
for dexotification, pain relief, and improvement of appetite were taken. A few of the melanoma patients had been treated by private practice
physicians, but almost all had been hospitalized at some facility providingthe Gerson Therapy in the Tijuana area of Mexico. (Patient records were
examined from four dif ferent T ijuana hospitals.) This retrospective review revea led that 100 percent of the 14 Gerson
Therapy Patients (GTP) with melanoma stages I and II surviv ed for five
years, compared with only 79 percent living that long of 15,798 stages I and
II melanoma patients reported by oncologist C. M. Balch, M.D.5
Of 17 GTP with stage IIIA (regionally metastasized) melan oma, 82
percent were alive at five years, in contrast to just 39 percent of 103 stage
IIIA melanoma patients taking therapy dispensed by the German health
facility Fachklinik Hornheide.6
Of 33 GTP with stages IIIA plus IIIB melanoma, 71 percent lived five
years, compared  with 41 percent of 134 stages IIIA plus IIIB melanoma
patients from the Fachklinik Hornheide.7
Of 18 GTP with stage IVA melanoma, 39 percent were alive at five
years, compared with a mere 6 percent of 194 stage IVA melanoma patients
from the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group.8
Of 71 GTP not recorded statistically , after exclusions, the 153 total
number of five-year survivors turned out to be clearly stage-related. Some
patients were lost to follow-up because they died from causes  other than
melanoma or moved out of contact with the researchers and could not be
reached. The American Cancer Society  has reported a 39 percent five-year
survival rate for stage III mela noma.9 Yet the assessable survival rate in
stage III melanoma patients treated with Dr. Max Gerson’ s diet therapy is
71 percent. Male and femal e survival rates were identical for stages I, II, IIIA, and
IIIB melanoma, but stage IVA melanoma women (such as Dael Mintz) had
a strong survival advantage over men. Survival impact was not assessed for
stage IVB melanoma. Various aspects of the Gerson Therapy program have been designated as
the theoretical reasons for patient success against disease, yet no clearly
defined mechan ism has been identified. As will be understood from the
chapters to follow , components of the Gerson Therapy program are
dedicated to an improved oxidation process of the sick patie nt’s cellular
structures. Under this procedur e, to more properly treat cancer and other
degenerative diseases, the oxidation function must be increased markedly .10It generally goes unrecognized by medical consumers that chronic
illnesses replace d infectious diseases as the dominant public health issue in
the 1920s, long before antibiotics appeared on the scene. There is a global
pattern of chronic ill health related in particular to wrongly applied
nutritional factors. The Gerson Therapy effectively corrects those human
internal environmental factors which have gone awry .11
The first National Health Surv ey conducted in 1935 reported that 22
percent of Americans lived with a chronic condition of illness .12 In 1987,
nearly 30 percent of the popu lation (upwards of 90 million Americans)
suffered from one or more chronic conditions.13 Based on trends  during the
preceding and succeeding decades, some 50 percent of the American
population (perhaps 150 million people) are expected to be counted among
the chronically ill before the year 2000 ends. These considerations are
pertinent to Gerson Therapy . It is a main method for the permanent
elimination of chronic degenera tive diseases of all types but especially for
the one hundred or more types of cancer . Please note that the Medicare system’ s state of finances desperately
needs the Gerson Therapy since in the Medicare program, more than 10
percent of beneficiaries consume about 72 percent of medica l resources. That high percentage of chronically ill took up massive amounts of taxpayer
money in 1998 and the situation is anticipated to worsen in each successive
year.14
JULIE HEPNER  HAS HER MELANOMA  ELIMINA TED BY THE  GERSON
THERAPY
Julie Hepner ’s good health ended in 1988 when she was only twenty-two
years old. A mole was removed from her right shoulder by a dermatologist,
and the biopsy he conducted determined that she had a melanoma. In the
next four years Julie underwent seven surgical operations to remove a lump
from her neck, a tumor from her brain, a cyst from her ovary , flesh from her
tonsil, and 1 1/2 feet of colon. On each occasion, biopsies found melanoma. After under going the colon surgery, Julie began the Gerson Therapy with
assistance from her mother and regular consultations with metabolic
physicians practicing medicine near her location who employ the Gerson
Therapy . Despite a minor setback in 1993 when she moved into a newlypainted and carpeted home and experienced environmental allergies, Julie
has felt “great.”  This former melanoma patient has encountered no further
recurrences of melanoma and to this day remains on a less inten sive Gerson
Therapy program. (See the photo on the next page, which pictures Julie
Hepner as she looks today , eleven years after she was diagnosed with
melanoma.) Julie Hepner
CAROL  ASKHEW  HEALS  MELANOMA , ARTHRITIS, AND  CHRONIC  HEPATITIS
C
Carol Askhew turned to the Gerson Therapy to deal with three  different
illnesses, beginning with arthritis, which had left both her father and her
sister with multiple hip replacements. Although arthritis did affect her and
was cured by application of the Gerson Therapy , melanoma was thiswoman’ s more serious health problem. Melanoma was what brought Carol
to adopting the Gerson diet and detoxification metabolic program. Her cancer happened after her father was diagnosed with melanoma. Carol became frightened for herself and had a biopsy performed  on a lesion
that had been frozen off several times before. When the resul ts indicated
melanoma, Carol Askhew entered a hospital administering the Gerson
Therapy where she stayed for two weeks. She thrived on the program for as
long as she followed it at home. Her arthritis and melanoma disappeared
and have stayed away . Carol Askhew
Then, in December 1995, a liver biopsy she required for the infection
then invading her body indicated that this patient had stage III hepatitis C.
Once again Carol Askhew returned to self-application of the Gerson
Therapy and performed in accordance with its requirements. Her liver
enzymes subsequently came back to normal levels where they remain today .Her health continues to improve. (See the above photograph, which shows
how Carol Askhew looks today .) Carol Askhew makes the following series of health-e nhancing
statements:
“There’ s nothing  like losing your health to inspire you to do something to
preserve it.”
“Cancer is a symptom. T reat the cause.”
“The Gerson Therapy saved my life.”
“On the Gerson Therapy , I feel like I just get better and better .”
KATHLEEN  MONAGHAN  ELIMINA TES THE  DEADLIEST  FORM OF  MELANOMA
After a mole and some lymph nodes were removed from her right arm,
Mrs. Kathleen Monaghan was diagnosed with malignant melanoma, level
IVB, the deadliest known form of skin cancer . Within a year, the melanoma
had metastasized to her liver and adrenal glands where an additional tumor
had deve loped. The patient’ s physicians then told the Monaghan family that
she had only thirty days to remain alive. The four authors of the above-described five-year retrospective survival
survey made no attempt to assess the survival impact of the Gerson Therapy
in stage IVB, because they were unable to find a single comparable
treatment group worldwide moving through any treatme nt-reporting
system. In other words, they did have stage IVB melanoma patients, all
with gravely advanced disease, but there was no group of such patients who
lived long enough anywhere else with which to make comparisons. Despite family protests, Kathleen Monaghan entered a Gerson Therapy
facility located in Tijuana, Mexico, in October 1993. There she embarked
on the dietary/detoxification program with vigor and immediately felt
rejuvenated. MELANOMA OF THE  EYE CURED BY  USE OF THE  GERSON  THERAPY
Recently Charlotte Gerson recei ved a telephone call from a woman who
explained that she and her daug hter had attended a Mexican cancer clinic
that employs the Gerson Therapy in 1982. The mother went as a support
person for her daughter , Lana Matuseck, aged twenty-six at the time. Thedaughter ’s body had paid the price for prolonged malnutrition during the
time of her pregnancy , a year before. At the time of their 1982 visit across
the Mexican/American border , they had brought along her one-year -old
baby boy. During her period of pregnancy and beyond, Lana had been
diagnosed with ocular melanoma of the left eye at the prestig ious Health
Sciences Center of Portland, Oregon. Lana was lucky that, because of her pregnancy , she had not been treated
with chemother apy; however , by the time her baby was a year old, the
woman had under gone seven surgical operations, each time to remove a
quantity of the spreading melanoma around her left eyeball. Even so,
additional melanoma tissue would appear in her eye socket, and each
surgery sought to remove some more of the malignant tissue. Success was
limited and the cancer kept returning. At the Gerson Institute, it is especially painful for staff members to hear
from young wom en such as Lana who are pregnant or with small children
and are suffering  from some type of cancer . Unfortunately , this is not a rare
occurrence. In these situations, the same underlying physiological problems
connected with all malignancies exist: body deficiency and toxicity . In contrast, it’s not possible for a healthy body to produce cancer . When
all defenses, especially the immune system, are in place, the healthy body
will naturally kill and eliminat e cancer cells whenever or wherever they
develop. Before a cancer establi shes itself and becomes evident, therefore, a
person’ s major immunological defenses weaken or disappear . Then one’s
immune system  fails to work, the enzyme system becomes damaged, the
pancreatic enzymes stop destroying foreign proteins (tumor tissue), the
hormone system gets depleted, and minerals are lacking. Lana and many other young women today have bodies that are just
barely maintaining balance and health under average conditions. However ,
when they become pregnant, their bodies are called upon to produce an
entirely new person with its own organ system. This requirement puts a
drain on a marginal body , just barely functioning. Both the mother -to-be
and her fetus then must pay the elevated price of her chronic poor
nourishment. When the food intake contain s the necessary ingredients (fresh, raw
vitamins, miner als, and enzymes in assimilable form rather than in
pharmaceutical preparations), the pregnant body receives the additional
materials to accomplish this job as it has for thousands of years. Still, weoften see that our modern typical American diet is seriously deficient in
these live nutrients. Instead, it puts additional strain on a pregna nt woman’ s
body in the form of excess fats, proteins, and salt, along with food
chemicals such as preservatives, dyes, emulsifiers, and worse. Now comes the conundrum: nature always provides for the fetus, the new
life, and will build a perfectly good body for the baby-to-be from available
vitamins, miner als, and nutrients. If these are not being supplied to a
woman in the form of appropriate nutrition, nature will take these required
materials for the fetus out of the woman’ s already marginal body systems. Now the minerals, enzymes and nutrients for the pregnant woman’ s body
become seriously depleted. With immune system defenses virtually gone,
she manifests illness in the weakest part of her physiology . If the depletion
and toxicity are serious enough, the result is likely to be a malignancy . Or,
in other circumstances, illness might “only” result in toxemia of pregnancy ,
kidney trouble, genitourinary disorder , or some other internal dif ficulty . Originally all three of Lana’ s medical doctors—an internist, an
ophthalmologist, and an oncologist—concurred in a statement to her
parents and husband that she would not live five months. But Lana, against
odds, had exceeded that dire prediction. Nevertheless, the trio of doctors
maintained to the patient’ s mother that her daughter ’s situation was
“hopeless and that there was nothing they could do to help stop the
melanoma from  killing her.” Also they added that the type of treatment
advocated on the Gerson program was “a waste of time, money , and
hardship on the family .”
By phone, Lana’ s mother further told Charlotte Gerson that when she
was first seen by the Gerson Therapy physicians at the Mexican cancer
clinic, the patien t’s affected eye was totally blind. She looked at the world
only out of her right eye. But then, Lana Matuseck’ s parent reported, her
daughter followed the Gerson Therapy faithfully . It was her only hope of
recovery . Today , June 1, 1999, more than a decade and a half later, she is
completely well and has been that way for over a dozen years. Mrs. Lana
Matuseck has since delivered three more strong and health y children,
another boy and two girls. The whole Encaustic family lives  a lifestyle
according to the principles of Dr . Max Gerson. At forty-one years of age, the ex-melanoma patient needs no corrective
lenses and has full use of her vision in both eyes. Her formerly affected left
eye has come back to 20/20 vision simply because she refused to accept herthree conventio nally practicing, allopathic physicians’ discouraging
prognosis and instead has been following the Gerson Therapy these past
sixteen years. References for Chapter Six
1
Mitchell, M.S. “Melanoma.” In Everyone’ s Guide to Cancer Therapy .,
rev. 3rd ed., by M. Dollinger; E.H. Rosenbaum; and G. Cable , Kansas
City, Missouri: Andrews McMeel Publishing, 1997, pp. 568, 569. 2
Gerson, C. “Successfully reversing stage IV melanoma: the story of Dael
Mintz.” Healing Stories of the Gerson Therapy  from the Alternative
Medicine Digest. Issue no. 18, May/June 1997. 3
Hildenbrand, G.L. ; Hildenbrand, L.C. ; Bradford, K.; Cavin, S.W “Five-
year survival rates of melanoma patients treated by diet therapy after the
manner of Gerson: A retrosp ective review .” Alternative Therapies. 1(4):29–37, September 1995. 4
Gerson, M. “Dietary consider ations in malignant neoplastic  disease;
preliminary report.” Rev. Gastr oenter ol. 12:419-425, 1945. 5
Balch, C.M. “Cutaneous mela noma: prognosis and treatmen t results
worldwide.” Semin. Sur g. Oncol. 8:400-414, 1992. 6
Drepper , H.; Beiss, B.; Hofherr , B.; et al. “The prognosis of patients with
stage III melanoma: prospectiv e long-term study of 286 patien ts of the
Fachklinik Hornheide.” Cancer . 71:1239–1246, 1993. 7
Ibid. 8
Ryan, L.; Kramar , A.; Borden, E. “Prognostic factors in metastatic
melanoma.” Cancer . 71:2995-3005, 1993. 9
Op. cit.,  Balch, C.M.10
Ericson, R. Cancer Treatme nt: Why So Many Failur es? Park Ridge, Ill.:
GE-PS Cancer Memorial, 1979, p. 100. 11
Sydenstricker , E. “The vitality of the American people. In Recent Trends
in the United States. New Y ork: McGraw-Hill Co., 1993, chap. 2. 12
Philband, C.T National Health Survey: Preliminary Results. Washington,
D.C.: National Institutes of Health and the U.S. Public Health  Service,
1937. 13
Hoffman, C.; Rice, D.; Sung, H.Y “Persons with chronic conditions. Their prevalence and costs.” Journal of the American Medical
Association. 276:1473–1479, 1996. 14
Health Care Financing Administration. “Medicare: a profile.”
Washington, D.C.: Health Care Financing Administration, February
1995, chart PS-1 1. OceanofPDF .comChapter Seven
SUCCESS WITH OTHER DISEASES
In this chapter , we will explo re Dr. Max Gerson’ s nutritional eating
program by relating some healing experiences of noncancerous Gerson
Therapy patients. EPILEPSY  CURED BY  SELF-APPLICA TION OF  THE GERSON  THERAPY
By putting herself on the Gerson Therapy dietary program at home five
years ago, Dallas, Texas, schoo lgirl Jessica Kahn, then sixteen years old,
was eventually able to permane ntly get rid of grand mal seizures. Epilepsy
has finally stopped ruining her life, and now she has blossomed into a
beautiful young woman who is active, vivacious, and completely recovered. Epilepsy  (falling sickness) is a chronic disorder characterized by
paroxysmal brain dysfunction due to excessive neuronal dischar ge and is
usually associated with some alteration of consciousness. The clinical
manifestations of the mind/brain attack may vary from complex
abnormalities of behavior including generalized or focal convulsions to
momentary spells of impaired consciousness. These clinical states have
been subjected by health profes sionals to a variety of classifica tions, none
universally accepted to date among psychiatrists, neurologists, and other
physicians who deal with mental and neurological processes of the disease. Grand mal seizur es cause the patient to fall to the ground unconscious
with his or her muscles in a state of spasm. The lack of any respiratory
activity or movement results in a bluish discoloration of the skin and lips
(cyanosis). This “tonic” phase is replaced by convulsive movements when
an invol ved patient may bite the tongue and urinary incontinenc e may occur
(the “clonic” phase). Spasmodic  movements die away and the patient mayrouse in a state of confusion, complaining of headache, or he or she may
fall asleep. We asked Jessic a Kahn to descr ibe her health history . Here is what Ms.
Kahn wrote:
 
When I was sixteen years old, I began to have grand mal
seizures. At first they occurre d once every three to four
months, but my condition soon deteriorated. Eventually I
was experiencing two or three seizures at a time, practically
every week. Of course, they had me feeling depressed and
devastated. My father has had a mild seizure disorder for the past
twenty years, and so I believed that my seizures were
inherited and here to stay. I did consult neurology specialists
and took EEGs [electroencephalograms] looking for my
condition’ s cause and cure, but none of the doctors could
figure out what was wrong. They didn’ t offer me anything
more than anti-convulsive drugs. Not wanting to go down
the orthodox medicine road and use toxic treatment, my
family and I searched and experimented with several
alternative therapies. All of them having failed, we decided
to try the Gers on program because we had seen it work
miracles with friends of ours who had once been affected by
cancer . I went completely on the program for eleven months; I
was able to adjust my school day and my lifestyle, and I did
manage to accomplish all of the juicing and purging
required. Although my mother spoke to Charlotte Gerson on
the telep hone a couple of times,  we did the Gerson Therapy
“by the book.” That old book written by Dr. Max Gerson so
long ago became my bible—I memorized its pages word for
word. During my eleven months on the Gerson program, I
experienced only three seizures. They coincided with my
anticipated healing crises, such as the one I went through
after six weeks at the start of the Gerson Therapy .It has now been over four years since I stopped the
treatment and over five years since I experienced any kind of
seizure! I am ever so grateful to the Gerson program and also
to my family for being so persistent in searching out an
epilepsy cure for me. Jessica Kahn is graduating from  college this spring and will be pursuing
a career in the health care sciences.
_OceanofPDF.com_The_Gerson_Therapy_-_Charlotte_Gerson_Morton_Walker.txt
Summarize the following text section accurately and concisely. Maintain specific details and numerical information, and use anti-repetition mechanisms:

        AN ABSTRACT OF THE  GERSON  THERAPY
From information we’ve alread y furnished, you know that in the years
just prior to and following World War II, German-American physician Max
Gerson, M. D. , newly immigrated to the United States, proposed an
empirically developed set of general dietary and medical measures. He used
measures for the successful management of patients suffering from body
system deterioration of all types, most especially tuberculosis, kidney
diseases, diabetes, liver disease s, rheumatoid arthritis, stroke, gallbladder
disease, nearly every addiction, and almost all of the over one hundred
kinds of malignancies. Dr. Gerson’ s therapeutic techniq ues involved having each patient use an
integrated set of particular health care methods and managements, including
focusing on the following (see Table 4-1 ):2
A. salt and water intake management through sodium (Na+) mineral
restriction and potassium (K+) mineral supplementation,
B. superabundant intakes (hype ralimentation) of both macron utrients and
micronutrients through the regular hourly preparation and drinking of raw,
organically grown fruit and vegetable juices,
C. extreme limitation of fats consumed in foods,
D. temporary protein restriction through a basically vegetarian diet,E. natural, supplemental thyroid administration,
F. produ ction of bile by the liver (choleresis) by means of frequent self-
administered cof fee enemas. THE CORE OF THE  GERSON  THERAPY
Dr. Gerson’ s dietary program, once established, was approved and
employed by lar ge numbers of medical authors who duplicated his results to
cure migraine headaches and cutaneous tuberculosis (lupus vulgaris). It was
also described in clinical journals published worldwide as a therapy for the
various forms of pulmonary, gastrointestinal, and bone tuberculoses;
cardiorenal insuf ficiency; skin conditions of many types including eczema,
lichen planus, systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), psoriasis, and pruritus;
bronchitis and bronchiectasis; and nearly every liver and gallbladder
condition. By modifying the program, Dr. Gerson applied his therapeutic nutritional
regimen to cancer, rheumatoid and osteoarthritis, cardiovascular diseases,
multiple sclerosis, tuberculosis, migraine headaches, and much more,
publishing results in American and German peer-reviewed journals. Table
4-1 reveals  the core of Max Gerso n’s precise approach to changing an ill
individual’ s physiology to a healthy one. By following the Gerson Therapy
faithfully, a truly sick person can markedly improve his or her chances for
illness reversal, resumption of good health, and assurance of continuing
wellness. Harold D. Foster, B. Sc. , Ph.
Focusing on an integrated set of dietary and medical measures to manage patients with various health issues.
What was the main focus of Dr. Max Gerson's therapeutic approach?
The text does not explicitly state this, but it does mention that the therapy includes salt and water management, natural thyroid administration, hourly consumption of raw, organically grown fruit and vegetable juices, and the restriction of fats and protein.
What are some of the key components of the Gerson Therapy?
The text does not explicitly state this, but it implies that the focus is on reversing and eliminating cancer and other chronic diseases by promoting a healthy lifestyle and nutrition.
What is the primary focus of the Gerson Therapy?
According to the text, Dael Mintz's melanoma was considered "hopeless" by her doctors, but she went on to follow the Gerson Therapy and is now in remission.
What was the prognosis of Dael Mintz's melanoma?
According to the text, Julie Hepner was able to eliminate her melanoma and is now healthy and active, with no further recurrences.
What was the outcome for Julie Hepner's case, who was diagnosed with melanoma?