Dr. Johanna Budwig

Can you cure cancer and fight disease with a flaxseed oil and cottage cheese diet?

Conduct an internet search for 'natural cancer cures' and you may come across websites about a German doctor named Dr. Johanna Budwig.

Dr. Budwig was a cancer researcher and a biochemist that specialized in fats and oils. She claimed a diet based on flaxseed oil and cottage cheese would prevent or cure cancer and chronic disease.

She believed the blood of cancer patients is deficient in important nutrients, including phosphatides and lipoproteins (fats bound to protein molecules). This deficiency would cause cancer cells to multiply and grow.

She proposed that a diet high in hydrogenated and processed fats produces lipoproteins your body can't use. These unused substances block your circulation, affect heart function, and impede the flow of blood and lymph fluids. Dr. Budwig also believed these unused lipoproteins may slow down the bio-electrical activity of your body, resulting in disease and cancer.

Introducing the Budwig Diet: Flaxseed Oil and Cottage Cheese

The Budwig Diet replaces unhealthy fats with flaxseed oil and cottage cheese. Some healthy fats need to be bound with protein to be properly absorbed. Dr. Budwig recommends organic cottage cheese as a protein source and organic flaxseed oil as a healthy fat source. Mixing the cottage cheese and flaxseed oil would supply your body with an abundant source of lipoproteins.

Dr. Budwig placed her cancer patients on this diet and monitored their progress. After 3 months of treatment, her patients' tumors gradually began to shrink. She said the symptoms of cancer, diabetes, and liver problems were completely cured when following this diet.

Dr. Budwig had used this treatment for over 10 years, treating patients where other mainstream remedies have failed. She claimed it prevented or cured:

• Cancer
• Arteriosclerosis
• Strokes
• Fatty liver
• Bronchial spasms
• Stomach ulcers
• Prostatic hypertrophy
• Alleviate arthritis symptoms
• Eczema
• Immune Deficiency Syndromes (multiple sclerosis)

Flaxseed Oil and Cottage Cheese Recipe

Here's a copy of the Budwig diet recipe I found from other internet sites:

• 1 cup organic cottage cheese (low fat)
• 2 - 5 Tbsp. of organic flax seed oil
• 1 - 3 Tbsp. of freshly ground up flaxseed
• Add enough water to make it soft
• Optional ingredients: dash of cayenne, honey, fresh fruit

These ingredients were to be mixed well in a blender and eaten throughout the day. Of course, there's more to this diet than just flaxseed oil and cottage cheese. The Budwig Diet also recommends:

• Absolutely no sugar
• No animal fats or salad oils
• No meat (due to chemicals and hormones)
• No butter or margarine
• Plenty of fresh squeezed vegetable juices
• 2 spoonfuls ground flax seeds mixed with yogurt every morning

If you do a search on the internet, I'm sure you'll find more detailed information on this controversial diet and the lifestyle changes that go with it.

Does the Budwig Diet Really Work?

Now the big question you're probably asking, "Is this really a natural cure for cancer?"

There are many followers of the Budwig Diet. I Gooogled "Budwig diet + testimonials" and got back dozens of pages of testimonials. There are people who used flaxseed oil and cottage cheese and claimed it cured them of cancer and other chronic diseases.

I also did a catalog search at the National Library of Medicine, and couldn't find any studies or research on the flaxseed oil and cottage cheese diet. I also couldn't find any published studies by Dr. Budwig.

Apparently, Dr. Budwig was vilified by the medical establishment and fought many legal battles with the German commercial food oil industries. She also had disagreements with the German pharmaceutical industry and the cancer industry. It seems mainstream journals and publishing houses refused to publish her clinical studies and research because it was so controversial.

In spite of her notoriety, Dr. Budwig may have been onto something when she recognized the health benefits of using flaxseed on cancer. Researchers at the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences in South Dakota found flaxseed oil reduced the appearance of colon tumors in rats by almost 50%. And a study in Toronto, Canada showed breast cancer patients who ate a muffin with 25 grams of ground flaxseed every day experienced slower-growing tumors. While these results are exciting, more research is needed to determine the potential for flaxseeds and its oil.

Conclusions:

I couldn't imagine the feelings if I was diagnosed with cancer. Would I follow such a diet? There's nothing harmful about the diet but I would still follow my doctor's advice for treating my disease. Eating flax seed oil and cottage cheese isn't dangerous by any means. What's harmful is if someone followed this diet, refused to follow their doctor's treatment plan, and ended up dying of their disease. That would be the real tragedy. We all need to be informed patients and work with our doctors and care-givers to help make the journey to wellness as fast as possible.

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