THE GERSON DIET

by Dr. Lawrence Wilson

All information in this article is for educational purposes only. It is not for the diagnosis, treatment, prescription or cure of any disease or health condition.

I. INTRODUCTION

Max Gerson, MD lived about one hundred years ago and was a famous cancer specialist who pioneered the use of coffee enemas and carrot juice, among other things. He developed a program to heal chronic illness, and wrote an excellent book that documented his work entitled A Cancer Therapy – Results of 50 Cases.

Dr. Gerson’s dietary recommendations actually varied from case to case. Unfortunately, many people, including myself at one time, just decide to follow his strictest cancer diet, and we don't believe it is a healthful diet at this time.

NOTE: We greatly admire Dr. Gerson. However, this article is partly a warning to please avoid the strictest Gerson diet, as it leads to problems and is not needed or helpful today. Also, we do not recommend going to the Gerson Clinic in Mexico. We hear that their results are not that good. Among other problems, they use light-roast coffee in enemas and we believe this is not good.

II. YIN – A MAJOR PROBLEM WITH THE GERSON DIET

Yin is a word in some languages that means expanded and cold. This is a physics concept and very important in development science. All the bodies are far more yin than they were in the 1920s through the 1950s, when Dr. Gerson lived. This is due to:

1. A lot more ionizing radiation thanks to A-bomb tests, and other sources of radiation such as nuclear power plants, nuclear accidents, and radiation from other sources.

2. A much more mineral-depleted food supply is far more yin.

3. The widespread use of pesticides, herbicides, insecticides and hundreds of other toxic chemicals everywhere in the environment, even on organic food.

4. Much higher levels of toxic metals in the environment, particularly mercury from thousands of coal-burning power plants around the world. Plants in the USA and Europe are not too bad, but elsewhere scrubbers are not used and the plants spew soot and toxic metals into the air that travels everywhere.

5. Much more electromagnetic pollution from cell phone towers, smart meters, cell phones, computers, televisions, portable phones, wifi and other sources. Many people do not realize that these are all recent inventions.

As a result, the Gerson diet, which is very yin, is not as helpful today, and I am told that their results with cancer are not as good as they once were. Please be careful. For more details, read Yin Disease.

III. PROBLEMS WITH THE GERSON DIET PROTOCOL

1. Raw food. This is extremely yin in macrobiotic terminology. In addition, we find that very few people can absorb enough minerals from raw food because the minerals are locked up in the tough vegetable fibers. This is true even if one takes a digestive aid.

Other problems with raw food is that most people cannot eat enough of it, as the fiber fills up the stomach quickly. Also, it is not as clean as it used to be for various reason. To read more about this, read Raw Food on this site.

2. A lot of juices. Juices are rich in nutrients but have other problems. We recommend 10-12 ounces of carrot juice daily. We do not recommend more than this, or other juices. Carrot juice must be taken alone, not with food and not combined with powders, herbs or other things.

Juices are extremely yin. That is, they are cold, expanded, raw, watery and broken apart.

The worst are fruit juices. Dr. Gerson used apple juice. The probable reason is that if one grinds up the seeds of the apples, they are rich in nitrilosides, which help kill cancer. However, the juice is very yin. We recommend apricot pits to obtain nitrilosides.

3. Low animal protein. Animal protein is much more yang, and therefore is helpful at this time in history with all the yin influences around us. We recommend avoiding all red meat and all eggs if one has cancer. This is due to their high content of iron.

Good quality chicken, turkey, and sardines are excellent. For information about the problems of vegetarian diets today read Vegetarian Diets.

4. Be careful with supplements. We agree with Dr. Gerson that we all need more iodine. He used Lugol's solution. We find this is somewhat toxic and we recommend kelp, a natural food and a much safer product. It also contains many trace elements that most people badly need.

We also recommend several other supplements. They may not have been available when Dr. Gerson was alive.

IV. COFFEE ENEMAS

We think Dr. Gerson's use of coffee enemas is absolutely brilliant and his greatest contribution. He used about three tablespoons of coffee per enema, and we agree with this. Use less at first in case you are sensitive to it. In that case, start with less and work up to 3-4 tablespoons of coffee per enema.

Dr. Gerson used up to 6 enemas daily. We generally recommend up to four enemas daily, though more is possible. For more details, read Coffee Enemas.

For more information about Dr. Gerson, read The Cancer Pioneers. Also read Cancer And Alternative Therapies.

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