Article against the Gerson therapy

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0GCU/is_n5_v14/ai_20097504/


Over the last 30 years the scientific literature has shown that: carcinogens are not respiratory poisons; most respiratory poisons are not carcinogens; oxygen does not inhibit the growth of cancer cells either in vitro or in vivo; the absence of oxygen does not induce or accelerate cancer growth; effective anticancer drugs are the ones that affect DNA synthesis and not fermentation; energy from fermentation is not inferior by any measure; tumors increase oxidative metabolism of fats and carbohydrates to gain energy; and there is no evidence of the "poisoning" of aerobic metabolism in tumor cells.[2]

The hepatology literature does not show that bile is a vehicle for toxin removal. A primary function of bile is to move metabolites from the liver to body tissues. To conserve bile and to ensure that the metabolites it carries are not lost during transit through the intestine, more than 95% of the bile entering the intestine is reabsorbed and returned to the liver before it reaches the colon. If Gerson's postulate were true, toxins carried in the bile would not be excreted but would recirculate through the body endlessly.[3]

Coffee does not stimulate bile production; it causes release of bile from the gallbladder. Bile does not contain glutathione, and glutathione is not a precursor for bile formation.[4]

In the short term, the action of an enema causes an insignificant loss of bile from the intestine. But the amount of bile lost from frequent enemas over a period of months is appreciable. Under such circumstances, severe nutritional consequences associated with malabsorption can and do result.[5]

The pathogenesis of inflammation and its role in the immune system have been defined in studies showing that inflammation suppresses fat metabolism and cellular oxidations, and increases the rate of glycolysis, tissue wasting, septic shock, and hemorrhagic necrosis in all cells, normal and malignant. Proponents of the Gerson treatment have never shown that there is a "healing" inflammatory process that focuses specifically on tumor cells.

Finally, Gerson proponents have never identified the "poisons" in processed foods and have never shown them to be present in voided enema fluids or that an all-natural diet of the juices of raw fruits, vegetables, and calf liver can stimulate any kind of "healing." All the evidence in the scientific literature today indicates that mutagenesis, and not the interference with oxidative metabolism, is the cause of cancer.[6]