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All I think about is CANCER…Challenges I’ll face studying “alt-med”


Robyn Openshaw - Aug 15, 2011 - This Post May Contain Affiliate Links


Quotes by Charlotte Gerson I read recently:

“You cannot heal the body with poison.”

“Dr. Gerson . . . with nutritional metabolic therapy . . . was able to return the body to full balance with complete mineralization, complete immune response, complete oxidation, and complete liver function. When all of these things work completely, there can be no disease. The body becomes capable of healing itself again.” (1981)

That said, I think I will face some challenges studying “alt-med” for cancer. Challenges, from what I’ve observed and read thus far, will likely include these factors:

1. Alternative clinics are dealing mostly with end-stage cancers. Time is not on the side of the patient. The patient has been several rounds with chemo and the immune system is all but destroyed. As previously mentioned, breast-cancer stats include very early detection, often followed by a mastectomy, and it counts in success statistics–the virtual opposite of what a natural practitioner experiences.

2. Studies performed well are not cheap, and without a drug company to pay for it, I doubt major studies have been done to test nutritional and supplement theories and practices. Even case studies can be and are called into question, especially by those inside the orthodoxy. (Did the person REALLY have cancer or was he misdiagnosed, etc.?)

3. Natural treatments are not codified, making them difficult to track. Five rounds of chemo using a very specific amount of very specific cocktails is different than half a dozen separate “natural” protocols that involve patient compliance at home, after the initial treatment period.

4. Patient compliance is low. It’s not that fun to drink carrot/celery juice. I will eat ANYTHING if it’s good for me, but I just about toss my lunch, drinking wheat grass juice. Actually I threw up a little in my mouth, just WRITING that, about wheat grass juice, remembering the taste of it from earlier today. My grandmother was HIGHLY compliant for a year after her diagnosis, and 80% compliant for a few years after that. I remember her 20 years later eating good stuff, but ice cream and bad stuff too. It’s easy to get complacent. The point is, people have to be highly motivated to give up their “food vices.” Not even a cancer diagnosis will do it for most, because they want to believe their doctor’s advice will save them from the worst-case scenarios.

5. Numbers of those employing the therapies are few. Very few people will do like my grandmother did: she listened to an M.D. Anderson doctor tell her the chances she’d live were 1% without chemo, and she walked out the door. And then she checked into a raw-food clinic in Jamaica and followed their recommendations and therapies to the letter. How many people are that gutsy? (Some would say reckless.)

6. Docs who practice in “alt med” have to constantly fear the loss of their medical license. Only non-practitioners like Charlotte Gerson have the legal distance to boldly speak the truth. One M.D. practicing “outside the box” with cancer patients, for decades, said to me today, “I don’t even care anymore. I want the truth told. The body has the ability to heal itself, and unnatural methods cannot restore natural balance. They can take my license. Count me in on your research.”

Posted in: Health Concerns, Holistic Care

6 thoughts on “All I think about is CANCER…Challenges I’ll face studying “alt-med””

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  1. Anonymous says:

    Robyn, your doctor friend warms my heart with their desire to open their heart and let the truth be told about the body’s ability to heal. Thank you. Thank you, so much! 1 stone makes huge ripples, and it will only multiply. I can’t wait to hear more!

  2. Anonymous says:

    I have the high- risk breast cancer factor from family genetics on both my maternal and paternal sides.The closest one being my sister who has had a mastectomy, and of course chemo, etc. I quit the hormones 20 years ago and have always eaten whole foods as best as I knew how. “I did then what I knew then, I do now what I know now”, to quote Maya Angelou. My husband and I began GS and 12 steps about 6 months ago, and have been eating more raw foods as the months go by. We are about 85% raw now. My main point here is, I have less fear now of developing breast cancer than ever in my life. I feel confident that raw, live foods are keeping me cancer free. I am the only female on my mother’s side who has not developed a disease of some sort. My family has always called me their ” health nut”, and I just smiled and agreed. I thank God that I AM healthy, and I thank Him for leading me to your site, Robyn. Your teachings and wealth of background information are making our lives happy and vibrant. Thanks for going into the trenches for us on this one. Lord bless you and all who are ill who will benefit from your dedication and passion.

  3. Anonymous says:

    I agree–wheat grass is like licking the lawn right after you mowed it, minus the dog pee. Actually, a little dog pee might improve the taste. Maybe all these alt med treatments aren’t being funded or studied because healthy people are proactive, strong willed and inquisitive–sick people have their hands full just living. A nation full of very healthy people would uset the status quo. So go Robyn, go! Upset that apple cart ( and make green smoothies with the apples!)

  4. It’s funny that when they give chemo that they never question whether the cancer exists or not. I know of someone that was given chemo, repeatedely, and did NOT have cancer. I understood that he got very ill, could not walk, and could have died. And he didn’t have cancer!!

    Kind of a “control group”.

    And the 3 types of cancer that chemo has good results with, would other therapies also have results equally as good??

  5. Anonymous says:

    I get my wheat grass fix at Jamba Juice and have it blended with fresh carrot and orange juices. Highly palatable that way :). In fact, blended with fresh juice, I can down a double shot of wheat grass! 😎 I’m hoping next year to be able to afford a wheat grass juicer, so I can have them everyday in my green smoothies.

  6. Anonymous says:

    Hi was wondering if you have any natural cures for allergies??? I thought drinking these green smoothies everyday would help but my seasonal allergies are still very bad!!!

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