Max Gerson believed you could cure disease through diet. In his four books, "Diet Therapy of Lung Tuberculosis," "My Diet," "Diet Therapy of Malignant Diseases (Cancer)" and "A Cancer Therapy," and numerous papers, he outlined the use of fresh food and detoxification to rid the body of toxins. The principles of the Gerson Diet might have some scientific basis, but you should not consider replacing a medical treatment plan with this diet unless directed to do so by your health professional.
The Founder
Max Gerson was born in Germany in 1881, according to the Gerson Institute, a non-profit organization founded in his name. He attended four universities in that country, and finished medical school. Dr. Gerson suffered from severe migraines and tried altering his own diet to help keep them under control. While experimenting with nutritional changes, he shared his findings with a patient suffering from skin tuberculosis and the patient reported relief in his disease.
Concept
The concept of the Gerson Diet, as explained on the website Cancer Tutor in an analysis of the doctor's "A Cancer Therapy Book," is to treat the entire body in order to oxidize systems throughout. He felt it was necessary to detoxify the body, concentrating on what passes through the liver. In fact, several chapters in the book focus on the liver, which he thought to be in control of the progression of cancers, regardless of whether they were focused in that area.
Diet History
Dr. Gerson established a treatment program for tuberculosis at Munich University Hospital. He put patients on the Gerson Diet and, according to his biography on the Gerson Institute website, the majority recovered completely. Dr. Gerson established the Gerson Diet as a treatment plan and published articles in numerous medical journals calling it a cure for skin tuberculosis. With the help of Ferdinand Sauerbruch, M.D., a top thoracic surgeon at the time, and famed doctor Albert Schweitzer, Gerson began trying his diet on patients with other illnesses, such as cancer and heart disease.
The Plan
The Gerson Diet is concentrated on the fresh and raw. It is based on eating mainly fruit and vegetable juices and soups, which you make fresh as needed. Dr. Gerson was very specific in his book on how to prepare these, requiring the use of juicers, water distillers and household goods he believed to be non-toxic. The diet also includes taking vitamin B12 and potassium supplements, as well as thyroid hormones and pancreatic enzymes. In addition, the Gerson Treatment Plan requires detoxifying with coffee enemas.
Considerations
Despite the many works published by Dr. Gerson on the success of his diet, it has not been accepted as a cure by the medical community, as explained by Memorial Sloan-Kettering's Barrie R. Cassileth, Ph.D. Dr. Cassileth wrote "Gerson Regimen" for the journal "Oncology" and noted that case reviews done by the New York County Medical Society and the National Cancer Institute found no evidence that the Gerson Diet was a cancer cure.
