The Gerson Institute is a non-profit organization located in San Diego, California, dedicated to providing education and training in the alternative, non-toxic treatment of cancer and other disease, using the Gerson Therapy.

The Gerson Therapy is a safe, natural treatment developed by Dr. Max Gerson in the 1920’s that uses organic foods, juicing, coffee enemas, detoxification and natural supplements to activate the body’s ability to heal itself.  Over the past 60 years, thousands of people have used the Gerson Therapy to recover from so-called “incurable” diseases such as cancer, diabetes, heart disease and arthritis.

Founded by Charlotte Gerson (Dr. Gerson’s daughter) in 1977, we are the true source of information on the original, unmodified, proven Gerson Therapy.  We refer people to licensed Gerson clinics and treatment centers, practitioners and caregivers.  We also train health professionals, patients and others who want to learn this natural therapy.  Visit our STORE for a wide selection of educational books, audio and video tapes.

You have the power to heal yourself.  We can give you the tools and show you how!

Gerson Therapy

Throughout our lives our bodies are being filled with a variety of disease and cancer causing pollutants. These toxins reach us through the air we breathe, the food we eat, the medicines we take and the water we drink. As more of these poisons are used every day and cancer rates continue to climb, being able to turn to a proven, natural, detoxifying treatment like the Gerson Therapy is not only reassuring, but necessary.

The Gerson Therapy is a powerful, natural treatment that boosts your body’s own immune system to heal cancer, arthritis, heart disease, allergies, and many other degenerative diseases. One aspect of the Gerson Therapy that sets it apart from most other treatment methods is its all-encompassing nature. An abundance of nutrients from thirteen fresh, organic juices are consumed every day, providing your body with a superdose of enzymes, minerals and nutrients. These substances then break down diseased tissue in the body, while enemas aid in eliminating the lifelong buildup of toxins from the liver.

With its whole-body approach to healing, the Gerson Therapy naturally reactivates your body’s magnificent ability to heal itself – with no damaging side-effects. Over 200 articles in respected medical literature, and thousands of people cured of their “incurable” diseases document the Gerson Therapy’s effectiveness. The Gerson Therapy is one of the few treatments to have a 60 year history of success.

Although its philosophy of cleansing and reactivating the body is simple, the Gerson Therapy is a complex method of treatment requiring significant attention to detail. While many patients have made full recoveries practicing the Gerson Therapy on their own, for best results we encourage starting treatment at a Gerson Institute licensed treatment center.

The Gerson Therapy is a state of the art, contemporary, alternative and natural treatment which utilizes the body’s own healing mechanism in the treatment and cure of chronic debilitating illness. When it was introduced to the world by Max Gerson, M.D., the dietary therapy was so far ahead of its time that there were almost no rationales available in the scientific literature to explain how it could produce cures in chronic as well as infectious diseases. But, because it did cure many cases of advanced tuberculosis, heart disease, cancer and numerous lesser conditions, the Gerson Therapy was established as a major contribution to the medical field, through the publication of articles in peer reviewed medical literature http://cancer-research.net/GersonPubs.html. Gerson first published on the topic of cancer in 1945, almost forty years before the adoption of the current official U.S. National Cancer Institute program on diet, nutrition, and cancer.

Max Gerson treated many hundreds of patients and continued to develop and refine his therapy up until his death in 1959, at the age of 78. His most famous patient was Dr. Albert Schweitzer, whom Gerson cured of advanced diabetes when Schweitzer was 75. Schweitzer returned to his African hospital, won the Nobel prize, and worked past age 90. Schweitzer wrote “I see in Dr. Gerson one of the most eminent geniuses in the history of medicine.”

Most recently, Dr. Gerson was recognized as a pioneer in his field when he was inducted into the Orthomolecular Medicine Hall of Fame in Ottawa, Canada on May 14, 2005. He joined seven other giants of medicine whose seminal work has been influential in the medical and scientific worlds, and are considered pioneers in their respective fields.

It is rare to find cancer, arthritis, or other degenerative diseases in cultures considered “primitive” by Western civilization. Is it because of diet? The fact that degenerative diseases appear in these cultures only when modern packaged foods and additives are introduced would certainly support that idea. Max Gerson said “Stay close to nature and its eternal laws will protect you.” He considered that degenerative diseases were brought on by toxic, degraded food, water and air.

The Gerson Therapy seeks to regenerate the body to health, supporting each important metabolic requirement by flooding the body with nutrients from almost 20 pounds of organically grown fruits and vegetables daily. Most is used to make fresh raw juice, one glass every hour, 13 times per day. Raw and cooked solid foods are generously consumed. Oxygenation is usually more than doubled, as oxygen deficiency in the blood contributes to many degenerative diseases. The metabolism is also stimulated through the addition of thyroid, potassium and other supplements, and by avoiding heavy animal fats, excess protein, sodium and other toxins.

Degenerative diseases render the body increasingly unable to excrete waste materials adequately, commonly resulting in liver and kidney failure. To prevent this, the Gerson Therapy uses intensive detoxification to eliminate wastes, regenerate the liver, reactivate the immune system and restore the body’s essential defenses – enzyme, mineral and hormone systems. With generous, high-quality nutrition, increased oxygen availability, detoxification, and improved metabolism, the cells – and the body – can regenerate, become healthy and prevent future illness.

No treatment works for everyone, every time. Anyone who tells you otherwise is not giving you the facts. We know that when you have been diagnosed with a life-threatening ailment, choosing the best strategy for fighting your illness can be a bewildering task. Everyone claims to have either “the best treatment”, “the fastest cure”, or “the only therapy that works.” In most cases your trusted family physician only has knowledge of conventional treatments, and is either unaware of, or even hostile toward alternative options. No matter how many opinions you receive on how to treat your disease, you are going to make the final decision on what to do, and you must be comfortable with your decision. Choose a treatment that makes the most sense to you.

Most therapies, conventional or alternative treat only the individual symptoms while ignoring what is ultimately causing the disease. The reason the Gerson Therapy is effective with so many different ailments is because it restores the body’s incredible ability to heal itself. Rather than treating only the symptoms of a particular disease, the Gerson Therapy treats the cause of the disease itself. Although we feel the Gerson Therapy is the most comprehensive treatment for disease, we don’t claim it will cure everything or everyone.

Although the Gerson Institute does not own or operate any medical facilities, we do refer patients to clinics which are fully licensed by the Gerson Institute to provide the Gerson Therapy. Whether you plan to follow the treatment on your own at home, would like to schedule admittance to a clinic, or simply have questions about the Therapy, we encourage you to contact one of our client service representatives at the Gerson Institute.

Caution: Do not start the Gerson Therapy without referring to Charlotte Gerson’s Book, “Healing the Gerson Way”, or without the supervision of a Gerson Doctor if any of the following conditions apply:

• Chemotherapy
• Diabetes
• Brain metastases
• Severe kidney damage
• Foreign bodies such as pacemakers, breast implants, steel plates or screws.

Juicers

Juicing is an essential component of the Gerson Therapy. To ensure reliable results, the Gerson patient will need to purchase an appropriate juicer. Dr. Gerson’s research indicates that cancer patients must have a two- stage juicer with a separate grinder and hydraulic press. One-step juicers generally do not produce the same quality of enzyme, mineral or micronutrient content, and some patients have failed to experience results simply by using the wrong juicer.

We do not recommend the use of any centrifugal-type juicers for Gerson patients. Other non-centrifugal juicers may be used for health maintenance or non-cancer diagnoses.

If you are intersted in learning more about the press-type juicers, please contact the Norwalk Juicer Representatives, Richard Boger or Gisela Summer at 1-800-405-8423/760-436-9684 outside the US.
The Diet

The Gerson diet is naturally high in vitamins, minerals, enzymes, micro-nutrients, extremely low in sodium and fats, and rich in fluids.

The following is a typical daily diet for a Gerson patient on the full therapy regimen:

• Thirteen glasses of fresh, raw carrot/apple and green-leaf juices prepared hourly from fresh, organic fruits and vegetables.
• Three full vegetarian meals, freshly prepared from organically grown fruits, vegetables and whole grains. A typical meal will include salad, cooked vegetables, baked potatoes, vegetable soup and juice.
• Fresh fruit and fresh fruit dessert available at all hours for snacking, in addition to the regular diet.

Medications

All medications used in connection with the Gerson Therapy are classed as biologicals, materials of organic origin that are supplied in therapeutic amounts.

• Potassium compound
• Lugol’s solution
• Vitamin B-12
• Thyroid hormone
• Injectable Crude Liver Extract
• Pancreatic Enzymes
• Enemas of coffee and/or chamomile

Detoxification

A very important part of the Gerson Therapy is frequent detoxification of the tissues and blood. This is accomplished through a variety of means, first and foremost through the use of coffee enemas.

The scientific basis for the use of coffee enemas is well documented, and can be obtained from the Gerson Institute. Patients report that the enemas decrease pain and hasten healing. Biologically, enzyme systems of the gut wall and liver are stimulated, and bile flow is increased. This has been shown to enhance the body’s ability to eliminate toxic residues from environmental, chemotherapeutic, and other sources.

Tumor and other diseased tissue is also more rapidly eliminated as it is broken down.
Other means of detoxification include castor oil, used as an additional stimulant of bile flow and as another way to enhance the liver’s ability to filter blood. In addition, digestive enzymes serve to enhance absorption of nutrients as well as assist in the elimination of damaged tissue.

Patients must have a complete understanding of the Gerson Therapy so that they may effectively continue the regimen at home after leaving the treatment center. The following are examples of educational opportunities at a typical licensed Gerson facility:

• Gerson-trained physicians and/or educators present lectures and instruction on healing reactions and medication uses.
• Charlotte Gerson and/or other senior Gerson Institute staff members lecture on the theory and practice of the Gerson Therapy, scientific rationales and relevant research.
• Instruction and demonstration of two-piece, press-type juicers, such as the Norwalk Juicer.
• Videotapes of lectures by Charlotte Gerson, other Gerson Institute staff, and Gerson-trained physicians are available for viewing at any time.
• Regular, individualized consultation with your Gerson physician on the specifics of your condition and any necessary modifications to the treatment. During this time, any specific questions you have may be addressed.

Max Gerson, M.D. was born in Wongrowitz, Germany (1881). He attended the universities of Breslau, Wuerzburg, Berlin, and Freiburg. Suffering from severe migraines, Dr. Gerson focused his initial experimentation with diet on preventing his headaches. One of Dr. Gerson’s patients discovered in the course of his treatment, that the “migraine diet” had cured his skin tuberculosis. This discovery led Gerson to further study the diet, and he went on to successfully treat many tuberculosis patients. His work eventually came to the attention of famed thoracic surgeon, Ferdinand Sauerbruch, M.D.

Under Sauerbruch’s supervision, Dr. Gerson established a special skin tuberculosis treatment program at the Munich University Hospital. In a carefully monitored clinical trial, 446 out of 450 skin tuberculosis patients treated with the Gerson diet recovered completely. Dr. Sauerbruch and Dr. Gerson simultaneously published articles in a dozen of the world’s leading medical journals, establishing the Gerson treatment as the first cure for skin tuberculosis.

At this time, Dr. Gerson attracted the friendship of Nobel prize winner Albert Schweitzer, M.D., by curing Schweitzer’s wife of lung tuberculosis after all conventional treatments had failed. Gerson and Schweitzer remained friends for life, and maintained regular correspondence. Dr. Schweitzer followed Gerson’s progress as the dietary therapy was successfully applied to heart disease, kidney failure, and finally – cancer. Schweitzer’s own Type II diabetes was cured by treatment with Gerson’s therapy.

In 1938, Dr. Gerson passed his boards and was licensed to practice in the state of New York. For twenty years, he treated hundreds of cancer patients who had been given up to die after all conventional treatments had failed.

In 1946, Gerson demonstrated recovered patients before the Pepper-Neely Congressional Subcommittee, during hearings on a bill to fund research into cancer treatment. Although only a few peer-reviewed journals were receptive to Gerson’s then “radical” idea that diet could effect health, he continued to publish articles on his therapy and case histories of healed patients.

In 1958, after thirty years of clinical experimentation, Gerson published A Cancer Therapy: Results of 50 Cases. This medical monograph details the theories, treatment, and results achieved by a great physician. Gerson died in 1959, eulogized by long-time friend, Albert Schweitzer M.D.: “…I see in him one of the most eminent geniuses in the history of medicine. Many of his basic ideas have been adopted without having his name connected with them. Yet, he has achieved more than seemed possible under adverse conditions. He leaves a legacy which commands attention and which will assure him his due place. Those whom he has cured will now attest to the truth of his ideas.”