Max Gerson
Max Gerson (1881-1959) was a German physician known for developing Gerson therapy, an alternative dietary regimen aimed at curing cancer and other chronic diseases. His approach, which he detailed in his 1958 book *A Cancer Therapy: Results of Fifty Cases*, emphasizes a strict organic diet, including raw plants and frequent juicing, while avoiding contaminants from artificial fertilizers and pesticides. Despite claiming successes in treating cancer patients, Gerson's methods have been widely criticized by the medical community, including organizations like the American Medical Association and the National Cancer Institute, which deem his therapy ineffective and unsupported by scientific evidence.
Gerson's background is notable; he was born into a Jewish family and pursued medicine partly due to the professional opportunities it afforded him amid anti-Semitism. After emigrating to the United States in 1936, he continued to promote his dietary approach, which included controversial practices like coffee enemas, considered unsafe by many health authorities. His daughter, Charlotte Gerson, furthered his legacy by establishing the Gerson Institute in 1977, fostering ongoing debate around the therapy’s efficacy. While some studies suggest potential psychological benefits for users, most clinical investigations have failed to validate Gerson therapy as a viable treatment for cancer. Despite its contentious status, Gerson's advocacy for a holistic view of nutrition resonates within contemporary discussions on integrative cancer care.
On this Page
Subject Terms
Max Gerson
- Born: October 18, 1881; Wongrowitz, Germany
- Died: March 8, 1959; New York, New York
Overview
Max Gerson was a German physician and orthomolecularist who developed Gerson therapy, an alternative dietary system to cure cancer and various chronic and degenerative diseases. Gerson described his approach in the book A Cancer Therapy: Results of Fifty Cases (1958). However, the American Medical Association and the National Cancer Institute have found this method ineffective and unsupported.
Gerson was born to a Jewish family in Germany, and he was said to have decided to study medicine because of anti-Semitism and because the medical field was open to Jewish persons. Gerson was said to have suffered from migraine headaches as a young man and decided to alter his diet. He found that, with this new diet, his headaches disappeared.
After entering private practice, Gerson prescribed the diet to patients to overcome health problems, including migraine headaches. Gerson also reported that skin lesions related to tuberculosis were remedied by his diet. In 1928, he conducted a clinical study that included a woman with serious cancer, and he claimed that his diet cured her. He suggested that artificial fertilizers and pesticides might be causing several diseases, and he spoke of a need for regulating agricultural practices.
After fleeing Nazi Germany, he settled in the United States in 1936. Here, he reportedly treated several persons with cancer with success, although most people in the scientific community found his results unconvincing.
Modern proponents of Gerson’s diet believe it was effective because it helped one avoid eating foods with contaminants, such as fertilizers. Additionally, the Gerson diet included consuming raw plants, drinking an eight-ounce glass of organic juice every waking hour, and supplementing one’s diet with various vitamins and other similar agents. The diet also restricted the intake of water, berries, nuts, animal products, various oils, and other harmful substances, such as tobacco and alcohol. The diet was often coupled with enemas, including those using coffee, which have since been exposed as dangerous and ineffective by independent investigators and regulatory agencies.
Gerson’s daughter, Charlotte Gerson, promoted the therapy and founded the Gerson Institute in 1977. Since this time, several retrospective studies have been performed—by both proponents and opponents of Gerson therapy—to investigate the usefulness of the approach. The results of such studies have been mixed. However, it is worth noting that proponents typically concluded the therapy extended patient life and reduced side effects, whereas the opponents typically concluded the therapy had no clinical benefits. Also of note, no clinical trials have found the therapy to be useful in treating cancer, although some researchers have indicated the therapy may have psychological benefits to its users.
Though some of Gerson’s ideas are easily seen as flawed in the context of modern medicine, other parts of his theory still hold weight. Positive benefits to Gerson’s ideas can be seen in his advocating for a holistic approach to nutrition. Although nutrition cannot heal cancer, nutritional counseling and dietary changes are integral to integrative cancer treatment in the twenty-first century. Gerson was also ahead of his time in empowering patients to express medical concerns to professionals and take control of their own health. Gerson correctly asserted that fertilizers and similar chemicals were harmful to health. Still, the Gerson Theory lacks scientific evidence, presents many unproven claims, and can be unsafe.
Bibliography
Gerson, Charlotte, and Beata Bishop. Healing the Gerson Way: Defeating Cancer and Other Chronic Diseases. Gerson Health Media, 2018.
Gerson, Charlotte, and Beata Bishop. The Gerson Therapy: The Proven Nutritional Program for Cancer and Other Illnesses. Rev. ed., Kensington Books, 2006.
"Gerson Regimen." Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, 10 Feb. 2023, www.mskcc.org/cancer-care/integrative-medicine/herbs/gerson-regimen. Accessed 15 Aug. 2023.
"Gerson Therapy - Complementary and Alternative Therapy." Cancer Research UK, www.cancerresearchuk.org/about-cancer/treatment/complementary-alternative-therapies/individual-therapies/gerson. Accessed 7 Sept. 2024.
Raman, Ryan, and Rachael Ajmera. "Gerson Therapy: Diet, Food Lists, Dangers, and More." Healthline, 19 Mar. 2019, www.healthline.com/nutrition/gerson-therapy. Accessed 7 Sept. 2024.
Straus, Howard, and Barbara Marinacci. Dr. Max Gerson: Healing the Hopeless. 2nd ed., Totality Books, 2009.