“There is no cancer in normal metabolism,” wrote Max Gerson, M.D. ( 1881-1959)

Hard to believe that that long ago, someone was talking about health and ways to fight cancer.  Or better yet, how not to allow cancer to thrive in your body!  This still makes me very sad…and angry.  What part of “you are what you eat” is still not registering with us?

Max Gerson, M.D., lived in the United States for 23 years.  He is the pioneer of what is known as nutritional metabolic therapy.  His therapy involves detox and nutrition aimed at restoring the body’s natural immunity and healing power.  His theory stated “cancer results from faulty metabolism due to poor nutrition and long-term exposure to pesticides, chemical fertilizers, air and water pollution, and other irritants that increasingly saturate the environment”.

Gerson believed cancer was systemic rather than a localized disease.  Systemic refers to something that is spread throughout, affecting the body as a system.  The program helps the body eliminate toxins and waste materials that interfere with your body’s natural defenses, like metabolism.  It also involves a low-fat, salt-free diet. This type of diet pumps the body’s cells with easily assimilated nutrients that will strengthen your natural immune defenses.

The core of the therapy is the diet.  It includes organic fresh fruit and veggies and thirteen glasses of fresh squeezed juices daily.  These give the patient high levels of vitamin C, beta-carotene, and other antioxidants.  His patients also received supplements.  No meat was allowed and all animal protein was omitted for the first six to twelve weeks.  The diet also included some yogurt and certain cheese.  Research shows that these fatty acids killed human cancer cells in tissue cultures.  They did not destroy normal cells.  What may seem unorthodox to you, is the coffee enemas that patients gave themselves several times daily.  This was the key detoxification method.  Gerson believed patients died from the liver’s inability to absorb the toxic breakdown of the dissolving tumor, not from the cancer itself.  What does caffeine do?  Caffeine is believed to stimulate the action of the liver, increase bile flow and open bile ducts so that the liver can excrete the toxins of the tumor as it breaks down.

More about Max Gerson.  He was a refugee from Nazi Germany.  With his salt-free vegetarian diet he successfully treated tuberculosis, migraines, arthritis, and cancer.  One of his most prominent patients was Albert Schweitzer.  He put him on a nutritional program, helping Schweitzer control his diabetes.  So well, in fact, that he stopped taking insulin.  He also cured Schweitzer’s wife of terminal tuberculosis.  In the United States in 1936, Gerson was persecuted and harassed by the medical establishment.  Does that sound familiar?  Gerson was expelled from the New York Medical Society due to his unorthodox cancer therapy.  His therapy remains today on the American Cancer Society’s Unproven Methods blacklist.

Although there are skeptics to this therapy and to many others, I still believe the key to a healthy body and mind starts with your diet.  The addiction to food that most Americans have is scary.  I can only hope that it starts taking less time to get this message across.  I hope that it starts with you.  I hope that parents start teaching their children at an early age about the benefits of diet and exercise.  Peace.

Sure it can–but you have to make it that way!  So much to do, so little time.  Make breakfast, eat breakfast, get the kids off to school, get yourself off to work, make lunch, eat lunch, grocery shopping, make dinner, eat dinner, get everyone ready for bed.  Wake up and do it all over again the next day.  But wait…..what about Dr. appointments, laundry, paying the bills, getting your haircut?  Ok that last one I just can’t compromise on. I’m actually going to drive to VT from VA next week just to get my hair cut! 

Let’s start with your morning routine.  Are you jumping out of bed with the alarm or are you setting your alarm for fifteen minutes before you actually have to get up?  Try it.  During that fifteen minutes spend some time “waking up”.  Take some deep breaths from your toes through your head.  Get some extra oxygen in your body and your cells.  Stretch in bed or out of bed.  Don’t have time for a yoga or daily exercise routine?  Yes, you can do yoga in your pj’s.  Very simple to twist, stretch and just breathe before you even get out of bed.

Is breakfast every morning a chore instead of a great way to start the day?  Have you tried simply juicing or blending your morning meal?  Grab some fresh greens and some frozen fruit and you’ve got yourself a very healthy and filling breakfast AND lunch.  And you’ve just made more time in your day. This great green smoothie can be made and you. Here’s another idea.  I just started making a chocolate oatmeal milkshake for my morning/lunchtime meal.  I bought a bag of buckwheat flakes (the kind you’d use for oatmeal).  I also have some organic buckwheat seed.  The night before I soak in one bowl, 3-4 dates(the big ones).  In another bowl I soak about a quarter cup of the flakes, a small handful of the seed and 4-6 almonds.  In the morning, I am ready to blend up my concoction.  I add all of the above and some ground flax seed, cinnamon, a little more water (I use all the water from soaking), 4-6 ice cubes, some crushed sesame seeds and a teaspoon of raw cacao.  What a treat.  With my Vitamix, there is hardly any pulpand definitely very little clean up.  Got more people to feed in the family?  Just double up the recipe.  And making soy or nut milk has now, never been easier.  Fifteen minutes?  Really?  Of course you can add fruit to your drink or use these alternatives to dairy for a healthier alternative on your cereal or oatmeal in the morning.  I love it when I can do things the night before.  You can make your own yogurt and you will have breakfast, lunch or put this in your smoothie.

What are you going to do for lunch? Well, if you made a green or chocolate smoothie before you left for work, you’d have your meal already.  Other than that, something crunchy and colorful for lunch.  Veggies are everywhere and it’s almost summer veggie season!  Try dipping your veggies in yogurt or light salad dressing.  There are some great alternatives to your fast food lunch out there. 

And then there’s dinner.  Who has time?  I need to do the laundry.  I need to pick the kids up.  And I can’t go another day without vacuuming this house!  I know, I have the same problems, only for me it’s feeding the animals.  The other day I asked my housemates if they had any jeans they wanted to wash because I didn’t want to just wash my jeans in one small load.   Well….now they have countertop washing machines and dryers!  How many times has your washing machine spin cycle not worked?  And you (or one of your teenagers) really want those jeans….tonight!  But back to dinner…one word…crockpot.  Or rice cooker…maybe two words.  I must admit, I just used one of these for the first time a few weeks ago.  Really? Cooked rice that fast?  It must be a mistake.  But there it was.  Stir fry your veggies and the rice is done at the same time.  Love foods that can make it through the week and can be enjoyed at a variety of meals.  How about dehydrating ?  Fresh fruit wraps instead of the store bought version.  Nuts with your own seasoning.  You decide.  Fresh, easy and you have it to take to work for snacking.

Start taking advantage of your free time by MAKING more free time! 

Good luck!