Healing the Gerson Way
By Charlotte Gerson with Beata Bishop
Totality Books, 2007. Paperback, 406 pages plus indexes.
ISBN-10: 0976018608; ASIN: B000UKBD38
Reviewed by Andrew W. Saul, J Orthomolecular Med, 2007. Vol 22, No 4, p 217-218.
If I were asked to choose the most valuable two pages of any medical book ever written, I would not hesitate to nominate pages 196-197 of Healing the Gerson Way. They present a very concise listing of the full Gerson nutritional therapy as an "Hourly Schedule for Typical Cancer Patients." These two pages deserve to be (and may already be) among the most photocopied-and-shared documents in alternative medicine. Authors Charlotte Gerson and Beata Bishop also provide additional, modified treatment schedule tables: one for patients who are severely weakened and/or on chemotherapy, and another for nonmalignant patients.
Any preconceptions that the seven-decades-old Gerson approach may be outmoded or inflexible will be put to rest in the second chapter. Long-time students of Gerson will appreciate new additions to the therapy, such as chromium, selenium, and pau d'arco. Chapters 5 and 6, supported by 175 references, discuss how chronic disease is primarily caused by what we do to ourselves. The remainder of the book tells you exactly what you can do about it, with sections on "Restoring the Body's Defenses," "Why Does the Gerson Therapy Work," "Pain Control Without Drugs," and "Preparing Food and Juices - The Basic Rules."
It would not be Gerson book without a chapter on coffee enemas. The coffee enema is probably the most controversial, most misunderstood, and, perhaps, most memorable Gerson technique of all. Its purposes are detoxification, liver cleansing, and pain relief. Chapters also explain recommended laboratory tests and discuss non-pharmaceutical medications. I was pleased to see chapters addressing psychological support, necessary household procedures and equipment, and potential "healing reactions," the Gerson version of the side-effect. A collection of frequently asked questions, and a broad sampling of case histories of recovered patients are also provided. Healing the Gerson Way is carefully supported with citations from the medical literature. Indexing is thorough, including both subject and author indexes.
For those who dread the thought of living on some kind of a health-nut vegetable juice diet, there is more good news. Chapter 28 is entirely made up of recipes, some 80 pages of them. They look good, too: dips, appetizers, sorbet, dressings, numerous soups and salads, grilled vegetables, ratatouille, and desserts. You do not have to be sick to want to eat Gerson-style.
For over thirty years I have recommended the Gerson therapy to persons fighting cancer, and have never once had cause to regret it. This new Gerson manual is the best ever written on the subject: comprehensive, up-to-date, exhaustively referenced, and very well-written. It explains the therapy as it instructs on exactly how to do it yourself. Most importantly, Healing the Gerson Way is about healing chronic diseases other than cancer, including many that are supposedly "hopeless." Don't let anyone tell you otherwise: There is much more than hope for "terminal" patients: there is Gerson. This is a compendium of knowledge, based on decades of success, that you will want to share with everyone you know.
Andrew Saul is the author of the books:
FIRE YOUR DOCTOR! How to be Independently Healthy
DOCTOR YOURSELF: Natural Healing that Works
For more information and to order 'Healing The Gerson Way' please visit www.gerson.org
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