Dr. Mitchell Gaynor, the chief of medical oncology at the Strang Cancer Prevention Center in New York City, had a very good understanding about cancer when he completed his cancer specialty at Cornell University, but admitted he had a poor understanding in regards to diet and nutrition and their significance in the prevention and treatment of degenerative disease.

Cancer is a specific cluster of cells undergoing uncontrolled cell division and multiplication.  It is the ultimate example of a degenerative disease in progress. Cancer cells are essentially parasitic and immortal. They fail to develop specific functions, they develop their own blood vessel network to siphon nourishment away from normal cells, and grow to such a state of abnormality that they kill their host. Cancer cells are not encapsulated by fiber and thus may invade nearby normal cells.  If they do not invade, the cancerous growth is considered to be localized; if they spread to other body parts, the malignancy is labeled metastasized.

More than 60 years ago, Max Gerson, M.D. (1881-1959) introduced the Gerson Therapy–a revolutionary dietary program that was far advanced for its time. There was no scientific rationale available to explain why it produced reversal of chronic and infectious diseases.  The therapy was successful in curing advanced tuberculosis, diabetes, migraines, heart disease, cancer, arthritis, skin disorders, and other life-threatening disorders.

Today, science is awakening to the fact that food is good medicine. The National Cancer Society is researching the role that plants and their phytochemicals play in the prevention in cancer.  Prestigious Universities and Medical Schools, such as Harvard, Cornell, and John Hopkins are researching and publishing findings regarding their discoveries on the effectiveness of plant chemicals in treating chronic disease. Dr. Mitchell Gaynor also has learned evidenced by his statement: “We’ve seen the future and the future is food.”

Diet, nutrition, and lifestyle are the wave of the future for beating degenerative disease of all types.  Numerous health institutes of Seventh-day Adventists are reputed for reversing chronic disease. Medically supervised lifestyle programs at Weimar, Black Hills, and Wildwood have, for years, successfully reversed diabetes, heart disease, and hypertension in patients. The Gerson Therapeutic Program also has proven effective for these diseases, but has the reputation to cure what the medical profession deems incurable diseases. Categories of advanced diseases like tuberculosis, rheumatoid arthritis, Lupus, and cancer without the use of drugs. On the contrary, the Gerson program only uses whole plant foods like the SDA institutes, but they recognize that an ailing body can be regenerated and brought back to health by also flooding the patient with raw juices from organically grown produce.

The underlining nutritional concept of Dr. Max Gerson was that an oxygen deficiency in the blood contributes to degenerative diseases and treatment must invariably bring a doubling of circulatory oxygenation for the patient to heal.  The therapy also stimulates metabolism, eliminates toxins, restores sluggish waste-removal functions of the liver and kidneys. “Thus, by using liberal amounts of high-quality nutrition (8 oz. of fresh, organic raw juice 13 times a day on the hour) in conjunction with natural medications and enemas the body can regenerate and heal even advanced cancer.  “Thus by using liberal amounts, increasing a patient’s oxygen availability, reinvigorating the entire organism with a well-functioning metabolism, and improving cellular detoxification, one’s suppressed immune system, imperfect physiology, muddled mind, and dysfunctional brain and other essential organs are encouraged to regenerate toward homeostasis once again.” The Gerson Therapy, p. 2.

Statistically, “chemotherapy boasts an overall remission rate on average of 12 percent (seven percent for colon cancer and one percent for pancreatic cancer), but the Gerson Therapy offers total remission success on average for up to 42% participating, largely terminal cancer patients.” Ibid.

Hippocrates said: “Leave the drugs in the chemist’s pots if you can heal your patients with food.” Whole food and juicing programs like Gerson’s make sure the patient’s body is also flooded with key nutrients in nature’s most perfect form for absorption. Elevated levels of minerals, enzymes, beta carotene, Vitamins A and C, and other antioxidants from produce that is free from all pesticide and fungicides are fed to the patients. Dr. Gerson believed that patients suffered from a severe imbalance of sodium and potassium. Potassium-rich juices, with added potassium iodine and compounds, are fed to the patient’s to reestablish sodium/potassium balance.

Science and research have substantiated that plant substances called phytochemicals play a significant role in defending our cells against free radicals and stimulating our immune system.  Sulforaphane, a chemical in cruciferous vegetables, boosts the body’s production of phase II enzymes that cart off dangerous residues of procarcinogens, those cancer-causing precursors capable of damaging cellular DNA. Sulforaphane has been shown to have anti-tumor activity. Cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, and kale all contain sulforaphane.

Phase II enzymes are important antioxidants produced in the body and sulforaphane turns them on.  Phase II enzymes detoxify carcinogens and turn them into water-soluble substances that can be excreted by the cell. According to Dr. Dr. Bob Arnot, “Scientists have long known that all phase II enzymes are important and that the loss of even one can raise your risk of cancer.

GSTP1, or glutathione S-transferase, is a Phase II enzyme that is universally absent in prostate cancer cells but present in normal prostate tissue. GSTP1 is very good at detoxifying carcinogens. However, prostate cancers, breast cancers, and liver cancers all seem to inactivate GSTP1, says William Nelson, M.D., Ph.D., oncologist and antioxidation expert at John Hopkins University.

There is a lot of evidence that you can turn on Phase II enzymes All indications are that sulforaphane, a compound found in broccoli and other cruciferous vegetables, is the most potent compound for turning on Phase II enzymes.  Medical experts believe that if we can raise the level of Phase II enzymes, you would establish a resistance to cancer.

There is great healing potential in plants. One phytochemical, sulforaphane, was discovered by Paul Talalay, M.D. at John Hopkins University when he and his colleagues were looking for substances in cruciferous vegetables that would raise Phase II enzymes.  They later administered sulforaphane to laboratory rats with mammary tumors.  They saw a marked reduction (at least 50%) in the incidence in tumors and their size and development.  Dr. Talalay also found that a three day-old sprouts of arugula, bok choy, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, had 10 to 100 times more glucoraphanin than corresponding mature plants.

Dr. Talalay and his colleague, plant physiologist Dr. Jed W. Fahay, have a patent on broccoli sprouts that contain high levels of sulforaphane or glucoraphanin. The patent belongs to John Hopkins and the product is called BroccoSprouts.  You only have to eat 1/20th of the amount of mature broccoli. So eating two servings of broccoli sprouts per day is comparable to eating 40 servings of mature broccoli.

In 1995, the National Cancer Institute pursued 40 new or established studies in the area of nutrition that involved enzymes, fiber, fat, micronutrients, vitamins, and phytochemicals.

Plants also contain phytosterols which they store in an oil form in their membranes. The two main phytosterols are beta-sitosterol and campesterol.  Dr. Awad of the University of Buffalo found that beta-sitosterol inhibited the growth of prostate cancer cells.  Vegetarians get around 400 mgs. of phytosterols a day from their diet.  Average Americans about 80 mgs. All plants contain phytosterols.

A company called Nutrastar has applied for a patent for their stabilized rice bran products that are safe and effective for use in complementary and alternative medicine. Stabilized rice bran is to phytosterols what BroccoSprouts are to sulforaphane. Rice bran contains the highest amount of these plant compounds and numerous other super-antioxidants that can fight cancer. I love stabilized rice bran and the taste reminds me of Graham crackers. I just add some rice milk and eat a bowl without having to cook it. You can find it on the internet sold in 40 lb. bags.

Another food that contains high amounts of a beneficial fatty acid, called omega three fatty acid, is flaxseed. Flaxseed contains 54% of this powerful fatty acid that can lower LDL cholesterol while raising HDL cholesterol. It causes cells to attract oxygen and is known as a breast cancer preventative because it supports female organs and can help balance hormones. Johanna Budwig, Ph.D., of Germany has shown that the omega 3 fatty acids in flax kill human cancer cells in tissue cultures without destroying normal cells in the same culture. She also points out that flaxseeds are high in electrons. Flaxseed oil should be refrigerated and not stored beyond the expiration date on the bottle. The oil is processed in light and oxygen-free environment and packaged in a black bottle to avoid rancidity.

The Gerson Therapy has been proven to:
1) Harmonize the person’s biochemistry
2) Elevate the workings of a suppressed immune system
3) Rectify the malfunctioning of essential organs.

The underlying cause of all disease according to Gerson is toxicity and deficiency (malnourishment). Both problems must be addressed to heal the patient.

1) The deficiency was overcome by a tremendous amount of nutrients available in the multiple (thirteen 8 oz. Glasses) given every hour and made from organically grown produce. 2) The toxicity is addressed by using coffee enemas, the primary means of detoxification. Patients also experienced pain relief as their livers released cellular toxins. The coffee enema opens the bile ducts and helps the body release the body’s accumulated poisons. Peter Lechner, M.D., of the Second surgical Division in Graz, Austria, made some scientific studies on how coffee enemas work.

Thousands of people have benefited from the The Gerson Therapy from life-threatening and chronic diseases. The Gerson Therapy is being used by the American Cancer Society, which once condemned Dr. Gerson and blacklisted his diet. Moreover the NCI and the AHA both encourage the use of a modified version of the Gerson eating program.

Another alternative cancer program uses the Hoxsey Herb Formula that contain known herbal cancer fighters like red clover, chaparral, and poke root. Red Clover is commonly known as a blood purifier. Science has discovered that Red Clover also contains genestein, the same estrogenic isoflavone for which the soybean has been getting all the press. It also contains three other compounds for preventing or slowing the growth of cancer. These compounds have all been documented to produce anticancer effects.  They are anti-angiogenic, meaning that they prevent the formation of new blood vessels, thereby cutting off the ability for the tumor to grow. Red Clover also is a blood thinner and contains the phytochemical coumarin much like the pharmaceutical blood-thinning drug coumadin.

Burdock Root is claimed to inhibit tumor growth. Poke Root, sometimes called cancer root, was recognized by the early Eclectics for its anti-cancer properties. One famous Eclectic physician, Eli Jones, whom one science writer referred to as “one of the founders of modern oncology” considered poke as the most valuable general remedy available for treating cancer. Poke hit the headlines in 1998 when Anti-microbial Agents and Chemotherapy, the Official Journal  of the American Society for Microbiology, published a study about a promising new drug that eradicates HIV infection (AIDS) in mice. The new agent contains a potent antiviral protein from the pokeweed plant and was found to be 100 to 1000 more active than any other anti-HIV agent produced to date. The new medications work like a magic bullet, delivering the plant-derived inhibitor selectively to AIDS-infected cells.  The mice in the study were cured of human AIDS without side effects.  Therapeutic drug levels were achieved in monkeys without side effects. As a result of these promising results, the FDA granted permission to start clinical studies in HIV-infected patients at treatment centers in the US. Bayberry and Prickly Ash Bark-Bayberry contains a wealth of anticancer, anti-tumor, antioxidant, and mutation-preventing compounds, as well as cancer-preventive properties.  Prickly Ash contains some of the same alkaloid compounds found in bayberry. The other Hoxsey herbs, buckthorn bark, cascara sagrada, stillingia root, and licorice root, have all shown meaningful anti-cancer activity as well.

I hope and pray you have found this article informative. Remember, there are no incurable diseases with God , for Jesus conquered our sicknesses and diseases on the cross, just as He conquered sin. He forgives us for our sins and He heals us of our diseases. “Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits: Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases;   Who redeemeth thy life from destruction; who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies.” Ps. 103:2-4.