Is Flaxseed Oil and Cottage Cheese Diet a Cure for Cancer?

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

If you do an internet search for ‘natural cancer cures’ you may come across web sites talking about a German doctor named Dr. Johanna Budwig.

dr. johanna budwig

Dr. Johanna Budwig

Apparently, Dr. Budwig was a cancer researcher and a biochemist that specialized in fats and oils.

She claimed that eating a diet based on flaxseed oil and cottage cheese would help prevent or cure cancer and chronic diseases.

Her theories were based on the belief that the blood of cancer patients is deficient in important nutrients, including phosphatides and lipoproteins (fats bound to protein molecules). She believed this deficiency would cause cancer cells to multiply and grow.

Budwig proposed that eating a diet high in hydrogenated and processed fats produces lipoproteins that your body can’t use. These unused substances can then block your circulation, negatively affect heart function, and even slow down the flow of blood and lymph fluids.

She also believed these unused lipoproteins may impair the bio-electrical activity of your body, resulting in disease and cancer.

The Story Behind the Flaxseed Oil & Cottage Cheese Budwig Diet

bottle of certified organic flaxseed oil

The purpose of the the Budwig Diet is to replace unhealthy fats with flaxseed oil and cottage cheese.

It was believed that some healthy fats need to be bound with protein in order for them to be properly absorbed by the body.

Dr. Budwig recommends organic cottage cheese as a protein source and organic flaxseed oil as a healthy fat source.

She recommended mixing the cottage cheese and flaxseed oil so it would supply your body with an abundant source of lipoproteins.

In her practise, she placed her cancer patients on this diet and monitored their progress. After 3 months of treatment, she claimed that the patients’ tumors gradually began to shrink.

She also claimed that the symptoms of cancer, diabetes, and liver problems were completely cured when following this diet.

Dr. Budwig claims to have 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)

How to Make the Flaxseed Oil and Cottage Cheese Recipe

Here’s a copy of the Budwig diet recipe retrieved from various 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 are supposed to be mixed well in a blender and eaten throughout the day. There were a few other recommendations Dr. Budwig had for patients on her regimen. These additional recommendations were:

  • 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

You can get more detailed information can be found at Budwig Center.

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.  If you Google “Budwig diet + testimonials” and you’ll find dozens of pages of testimonials.

There are people who have used flaxseed oil and cottage cheese and claimed it cured them of cancer and other chronic diseases.

I 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. She claims that 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 encouraging, more research is needed to determine the potential for flaxseeds and its oil.

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