Dr. Max Gerson: Healing the Hopeless with Howard Straus by Paula Peterson
Earthcode International Network
http://paulapeterson.com
Sitting across from Howard Straus, I am immediately struck by his glowing health
and lively demeanor. A handsome man in his sixties, Straus radiates vitality and
a level of vigor that would make anyone in their 30’s, 40’s, or 50’s envious and
eager to adopt healthier eating habits.
Straus lives the Gerson Therapy way – and sets a vibrant example of the
potentials and possibilities available for all of us.
It was going to be an interesting interview – I could sense it – as Straus
immediately launched into the first crucial topic of our discussion...
HS: Don’t drink the water.
In California - as it is with most municipal water supplies - there’s fluoride
and chlorine in it. Along with that, there are often critical levels of iron,
arsenic, or sodium. I had a water-distiller for a long time and whenever I
cleaned out the filters, I found an accumulation of a lot of ugly crud.
My mother’s distiller has a stainless steel holding tank that became completely
eaten away. So, we don’t drink the water.
PJP: I use a distiller, too, so I know what you mean. The crud that
accumulates is pretty disgusting. What about the common notion that people
should drink a lot of water – like up to eight glasses a day? I personally don’t
agree with this and feel that we get what we need by eating enough whole fruits
and vegetables.
HS: I'll tell you how that number of eight glasses of water per day came
about : when a person regularly eats meat, as most Americans do, one is
producing ketones in large quantities.
PJP: Since I don’t eat meat, I’ve never heard of ketones. What are they?
HS: Ketones are a metabolite of meat and are deadly to your kidneys. The
kidneys react to ketones by trying to get rid of them as quickly as possible by
flushing them out of the body. Since there isn’t enough “water” in the kidneys
to do this, the kidneys will suck water from the rest of the body as a function
of survival. Consequently, if you’re a carnivore and you don’t drink enough
water, you can become seriously dehydrated.
PJP: So, that’s why it’s been reported that most Americans are dehydrated
and are encouraged to drink all that water. That’s an eye-opener!
HS: Further more, drinking water actually dilutes stomach acid, which
eventually leads to digestive difficulties - especially in the elderly whose
digestive systems are already compromised.
So, unless you’re drinking distilled water - or purified water out of a bottle –
drinking water is not recommended.
PJP: Well … that was a stunning entry into our interview! Before we go on
to more eye-openers, I’d like to find how you got into this field.
Here you are a physics graduate of MIT, you've operated as a highly skilled
computer systems analyst for most of your career, you have an impressive
background as an independent computer programmer for NASA, international
communications, and the weather bureau. What inspired you to begin promoting
your grandfather’s books and therapy?
HS: I cannot imagine anything else I would rather do with my life. It’s
an opportunity to help a lot of people and save lives. It may or may not make
any money for me – but it will definitely help someone in addition to advancing
science.
Interestingly, this didn’t start out as a career path for me. When I was a kid
choosing a career, I didn’t want to spend my life around sick people – which
greatly disappointed my grandfather.
PJP: So, Dr. Gerson originally wanted you to become a doctor and take
over his work?
HS: Oh, yes. But he didn’t interfere with my choice. It wasn’t until many
years later as an adult that I changed my mind.
The turning point came about fifteen years ago. I had met a lovely lady who was
the first in my life that really fit and I was madly in love with her.
Although, I avoided it for a long time, I finally asked her to marry me. We set
a wedding date for six months away. Three months before the wedding, she was
diagnosed with her third occurrence of cancer.
So here are my choices: one - drop her like a hot potato since she’s already got
cancer and has a history of it.
The second choice was to go through the standard medical route and have them
slice something off – which we didn’t want to do.
The third choice was to go on the Gerson Therapy. It meant a total life-style
change. But once I realize that I’m madly in love with this woman, dropping her
wasn’t an option. Besides, we had been living together for several years and I
wanted to keep her!
And so, we went to the Gerson clinic and stayed for two weeks. After that, we
continued with the therapy at home for six months, in the middle of which we got
married.
In our wedding photos, you can see that we toasted each other with carrot juice.
And when you look at those photos, my wife has never looked better in her life.
Now, this was a woman in the middle of cancer therapy: she was slender; her skin
was perfectly clear and glowing. We’ve been married now for fifteen years.
PJP: That’s wonderful! Does this mean that her cancer went into remission
–or that it’s completely gone?
HS: It’s completely gone. “Remission” is a term you have to be careful
about. When a doctor says there is eighty-percent remission of a disease – like
cancer – most people interpret this as meaning they are safe from the
condition.
However, if you ask the doctor to define remission in melanoma, for example, he
will say something like, “... the tumor has not advanced for a period of
twenty-eight days.” The medical establishment has defined the parameters of
remission to this narrow margin because, otherwise, they would not be able to
claim that a condition has an eighty-percent chance of total remission. The
parameter for total remission is regarded within a mere twenty-eight day period
and does not indicate the absence of melanoma: it simply indicates the absence
of advancement of the disease.
PJP: That’s such a short period of time. But I can see how it makes it
appear as though the doctor has far greater success in treating a chronic
condition than he really does.
Since you’ve been in this field for many years, what – in your opinion – keeps
most Americans from eating wholesome, healthy, nutrient-rich foods?
HS: Well, when you consider that most Americans watch television every
day, listen to the radio, read newspapers and magazines –the major portion of
advertising in those sources is geared toward consumption of value-depleted
foods: “eat this,” “eat that,” “eat at McDonalds,” “eat at Wendy’s” –and so on.
The primary focus is on commercial, nutrient-poor foods.
On the other hand, who advertises for the organic farmer? Nobody. Who advertises
for Whole Foods Market? Nobody. Who advertises for the community farmers market
where you can get fresh, wholesome, organic foods straight from the farmer?
Nobody.
And yet, we sit in front of the tv set for hours a day; and in between the
murders, the beatings and the stabbings, we’re bombarded by advertisements for
nutrient-poor foods which are making someone a pile of money.
So, why do we eat these non-wholesome, nutrient-poor foods? Because it amuses
our mouth.
PJP: It’s the taste sensation.
HS: Not only is it the taste sensation, it’s that people are also
desperately hungry. Let me explain ...
About ten or more years ago, the idea of Super-Sizing commercial meal portions
was thrust upon the American public and became one of the biggest reasons why
Americans are now considered to be the most obese people in the world.
To put it simply, the fast food industry had pretty much saturated the market
when it came to fast food. McDonald’s wanted to increase its sales, beat out its
competition, and bump up their stock to meet the demands of Wall Street. So they
developed a marketing scheme that did exactly that. And here’s how it worked…
It’s a proven fact that most people will eat more food if they are given more
food. Eating more food on a regular basis naturally stretches out the human
stomach. Therefore, by increasing the capacity of the stomach, a person would
eventually become hungrier and crave more food.
The strategy behind “super-sizing” was that if you offer the consumer half-again
as much food for only a few cents more, the average person would consider it a
good deal and purchase the super-sized meal. It didn’t cost McDonald’s a whole
lot more to add ten or fifteen percent to the size of the meal –and as a
consequence, the larger portions would expand the stomachs of the customer, who
were now able to eat more while their stomachs expanded commensurably.
PJP: This was really their theory and intention?
HS: Oh, yes. McDonald’s only hope of expanding their market rapidly and
consistently, at that time, was to expand the size of the American stomach –
which they then did. ( Skip to the Washington
Post report on this page)
PJP: Then they were basically relying on people to make a habit of eating
at McDonald’s.
HS: That’s right. There are a huge number of people who eat at McDonalds
– or some other fast food restaurant – at least once every day.
PJP: Hey, I used to do that many years ago. I was the Junk-Food Queen.
HS: Then you know what I’m talking about. And you became ill, right?
PJP: Actually, I was ill from infancy and struggled quite a bit with
severe health-issues throughout my childhood and early adult years. It was
really tough growing up that way. Eating unhealthy foods only made the condition
worse. I began to study the research –available even back then –that clearly
reported that most illness is caused by unhealthy eating habits.
From then on I changed my entire lifestyle, eliminated the unhealthy foods, and
specifically increased the amounts of fresh, organic whole foods – which saved
my life. I was eventually able to throw away all my medications, throw away my
prescription glasses, and achieved a far better state of health than I had in my
entire life.
Which brings me to another question: what about the unhealthy foods that our
kids eat at school?
HS: The American public, including the children, are not only barraged
with a constant onslaught of advertising messages from the commercial food
industry, but from our schools as well. What is the message we give our kids
when there are coke machines in the halls of the schools?
And since most of our public schools don’t get adequate funding, it’s easy for
them to accept offers from McDonalds –or other commercial food industries –in
supplying cheap food for the school lunch rooms. This becomes a severe problem
for our kids because the food is literally empty of vital nutrients.
Now, when the body doesn’t receive enough of these vital nutrients, what does
the body say?
PJP: “I need more food. I’m hungry!”
HS: Exactly. The body will cause you to crave more food. It’s the body’s
attempt to get its nutritional needs met. So when a person eats a donut and a
cola – which, of course, is empty of the most important nutrients – your mouth
says, “That was amusing.”
But once it gets past the mouth and into the stomach the body takes it in, sorts
it out and says something like, “Okay... there’s fat, sugar, flour, simple
carbohydrates ... I’ll just pack it away somewhere. But ...hey ... I’m still
hungry. Where’s the real food?” The body is not satisfied, and so it
generates cravings.
Emotional dissatisfaction, mood swings – even mental imbalances – have been
attributed to the body not having its nutritional needs met.
Unfortunately, most people don’t consider that their food cravings, emotional
instabilities and mental imbalances are related to the quality of the food
they’re eating. Instead, they will tend to find other ways to quell those
cravings and feelings of emptiness.
This leads many to consume substances or participate in activities that
temporarily numb the discomforts of hunger – like cravings or emotional
dissatisfaction – as well as any distress caused from toxins that accumulate in
the body as a direct result of eating unwholesome food.
The most common substances that people reach for are marijuana, cigarettes,
alcohol, cocaine, crack and other recreational drugs. The need to fill up the
emptiness they feel inside may even extend to violence, work-aholism or
religion.
PJP: In order to quell the cravings, right?
HS: Well, since they’re not getting proper nutrition in the foods they
eat, they’re hungry and they feel empty inside.
As an example: we all know that when a person smokes a cigarette they’re no
longer hungry. The nicotine in cigarettes is a narcotic. It changes a person's
body space as well as their bodily senses. And what is alcohol? It’s a
depressant. It’s interesting that some people are surprised when they feel down
or depressed after drinking alcohol.
PJP: I learned years ago that the acid in meat causes the body system to
contract which then triggers a craving for its opposite – like sugar, marijuana,
alcohol, drugs and so forth – which provides a quick expansion to counteract the
acid. Does the Gerson Therapy go into the acid/alkaline balance of foods?
HS: We don’t specifically focus on acid/alkaline balance because the
therapy emphasizes fresh, organic vegetables, fruits and grains which are
automatically alkaline producing and eliminates the dangerous levels of acid in
the body.
So, it naturally induces more alkalinity; whereas eating meat, animal
by-products and animal proteins generates greater acidity, which is a leading
cause of most degenerative diseases – like osteoporosis, arthritis, as well as
many other chronic health conditions which are normally – but incorrectly –
associated with aging.
Incidentally, I have been asked to speak to the Tribal Council at the
reservation at Clear Lake, California. Since there is drug addiction and
alcoholism among many Native Americans, they are interested in the Gerson
Therapy as a way of eliminating these conditions.
PJP: That would be a huge shift for Native Americans since they are
generally heavy meat eaters.
HS: It's true. Tribal members are concerned about this change because
they, as a people, have been eating meat for generations. However, their
ancestors ate very small portions – a mere handful of meat – and only when they
had it.
Not only that, their ancestors had to run after the animal, kill it, skin it,
carry it back, dry it – and then they ate a small amount of it along with a
little bit of grain. Their ancestors were in top shape – even in their eighties
– and looked great. But modern day Native Americans have adopted the eating
habits that are typical of most other Americans, and they’ve become overweight
and out of shape.
PJP: In relation to that, I found that when I began to eat more wholesome
and healthier foods that I became much more satisfied with smaller portions.
Now, I don’t get as hungry throughout the day and I eat far less food.
I’ve also seen the outcome of the American-style food trend in other countries.
When I visited Japan, I noticed that the older generations were small, slim
people. But since the introduction of westernized, commercial foods, the younger
generations have developed much larger bodies and their culture is beginning to
see obesity in their people for the first time – along with the diseases that
are typical of westerners.
HS: Is it any surprise? Anywhere else in the world, people are much
thinner and smaller. In the United States, people are huge. In relation to the
over-consumption of cattle in this country, one tends to see a lot of people who
look similar to heifers.
And this ‘super-sizing’ trend even occurs with certain whole foods. Take
croissants for instance: if you go to a bakery shop, the size of the croissant
is huge. They’re practically pizza-size.
If you go to France, where the croissant originated, they are only about three
or four inches across and they are absolute heaven. But Americans have totally
lost any sense of portion-control. The slogan for many Americans seems to be,
“the more I get the better.”
So our problem in the United States is not lack of food – our problem is
over-production and over-consumption – and the food is empty of nutrients.
In the long run, it’s killing us.
Remember ... it was only about twenty years ago that there was great concern
over the fact that there were so many Americans who were ten to twenty pounds
overweight. Now, the latest surveys report that there are increasing numbers of
people who are overweight by one-hundred pounds or more. The number of
overweight people has actually quintupled over the last ten years.
Isn’t it interesting that this ten year period is exactly the period of time it
took for McDonalds to promote the super-sizing gimmick as a cultural norm?
Consequently, most people want to fit in with society and be like everyone else,
and so they follow the eating habits of the majority.
PJP: I’ve noticed over the years of teaching classes in nutrition that
people won’t seriously consider improving their eating habits until something
serious happens to their health.
HS: That’s what my grandfather, Dr. Gerson, used to say... “I can’t
believe that people won’t even consider changing their diet and lifestyle until
the knife is at their throat. Even then, most people won’t.”
PJP: There is a strong belief in this country that one is doomed to get a
disease if it runs in their family. Personally, I could never accept this belief
and have always felt that people don’t inherit disease; they inherit the tendency toward
disease – and not the disease itself.
HS: Bingo! Genetics is a popular catch phrase with doctors. But genetics
is merely the hand that you’re dealt. Your health and life is how you play that
hand, regardless of what it is. You can play a poor hand well by giving yourself
every advantage in maintaining your health by getting enough proper nutrition.
We’re all going to die, but the matter is how expensive it’s going to be – and
when.
PJP: We can use our money for enjoying life and helping others rather
than spending it in hospitals, convalescent homes, and giving it all to the
doctors.
HS: That’s why there is a growing trend toward alternative health
practitioners and also why the organic food industry has risen substantially –
from a 2-billion to a 40-billion dollar industry in the last few years – while
the rest of the commercial food industry is going stagnant.
PJP: I told people years ago that this would be a growing trend : that
more and more people were going to become vegetarian and eat wholesome, organic
foods. A lot of those folks just laughed at me back then and said that it was
only a passing fad.
HS: Now it’s too big to stop. But the commercial food industry will try
to stop it, though.
PJP: There is research showing that the foods we eat influence our
thinking and affects our emotions. Eating healthy, organic, whole foods
eventually leads to greater awareness, balanced emotions and a clearer, more
expanded view of the world. I believe this to be true because I experienced the
positive change in my thinking and emotions – along with the healing of my body
– as my diet improved.
HS: The Gerson Therapy states that there is no such thing as mental
disease : there is only physical disease that disrupts the mental processes. Not
only that, these conditions can be reversed – anything from autism to
schizophrenia.
PJP: In regards to pharmaceuticals, its seems that far too many people
resort to using drugs – otherwise known as prescription medications – to treat
disease. Even prescription drugs can damage the body.
HS: Every pharmaceutical – that’s EVERY pharmaceutical – is liver toxic
at some level. This is why people often have side-effects from taking
prescription drugs.
However, we’re talking about a 1.6 trillion-dollar a year industry – the medical
industry in the United States. Do you think that they want to see as much as
one-percent of that go away if people stop taking medications in favor of
healthier alternatives? What’s one-percent of 1.6 trillion dollars? Its 16
billion dollars.
PJP: Whoa!
HS: So, what would happen if we actually cured cancer? If you could
prevent cancer or cure it, there goes about ten-percent of the
medical-pharmaceutical industry. That’s roughly 160 billion dollars a year. They
don’t want to see that much money go away.
Now, add to that equation the revenue from the fast food industry; artificial
fertilizers, pesticides, and chemical industry for commercial farming; food
packaging, super-markets, and commercial advertising for all of it – it widens
so rapidly that pretty soon you’re talking about a few trillion dollars worth of
economic activity that is threatened by what we teach, how we treat and
ultimately prevent disease based upon Dr. Gerson’s discoveries.
This is why Dr. Gerson was assassinated. Even though in the end, he actually
died of a fungal lung infection – his immune system was not able to fight it off
because there were high levels of arsenic in his blood.
PJP: What a shock that must have been. How did arsenic get into his
blood?
HS: As it turned out, about three years prior to his death he went on a
radio talk show and announced that he was writing a book on everything he knew
about treating and preventing disease. He was publishing it himself and having
it translated into as many languages as possible in order for the public to have
this vital information. He also declared that he would give the book away free
if necessary. That's how important it was for him to share this knowledge.
The “alarm bells” were surely ringing off walls in the pharmaceutical companies
and in organized medicine, right?
Shortly thereafter, his secretary – which had been subverted by someone in the
medical association – started bringing him a cup of coffee every day. Since he
was a busy physician at seventy-five years old, he had begun to drink a little
coffee to give him a boost in the afternoon.
He was close to finishing his manuscript when he suddenly fell ill. He took time
off from his busy schedule to nurse himself back to health. It was during this
time that his manuscript disappeared from his office. Then he found out that his
secretary had been stealing his patient files and had turned them over to the
American Medical Association.
He later discovered that twenty-five to thirty percent of his patients – his
most successful therapy cases – were mysteriously called in by their former
doctors and were somehow prevented from continuing with the Gerson therapy – or
they were given a substance to cause death. They all died. Is this a case of
mass murder? We think so.
Needless to say, he fired his secretary. It wasn’t until later, that he realized
she was probably slipping arsenic into his afternoon coffee. So “they” tried to
kill him and the book at the same time.
He had to write his book all over again from scratch – which he did.
This time, he secured the manuscript and published it himself. He sold
three-thousand copies before being overcome by the fungal lung infection – a
condition similar to Valley Fever. When Dr. Gerson died, the American Medical
Association widely publicized his death as a result of lung cancer – in order to
discredit him.
There was no biopsy and no autopsy performed – there was nothing to substantiate
their claims – it was just a rumor that they spread far and wide.
PJP: That is certainly a disturbing story. It seems to be a recurring
theme when it comes to those who openly share life-saving discoveries that
threaten the control of corrupt powers.
I really admire your courage for continuing to promote your grandfather’s work.
You’ve been very busy giving interviews on the radio and lectures to audiences
worldwide. Now that the word is finally getting out about this important
information, have you found an increasing interest in the Gerson Therapy?
HS: Our newly completed documentary - The Gerson Miracle - just
won the Golden Palm Award for Best Picture at the 2004 Beverly Hills Film
Festival. It's the event known as the "Little Oscars" and is quite prestigious.
It's a feature-length film that examines the Therapy, healed patients, the
reasons for degenerative diseases and their solution. It's a beautifully made
film that is quite stirring. We expect the film to make a great impact - so
you'll be hearing more about it. ( Skip to the Movie
Review report on this page)
PJP: That's wonderful! It's good to hear that important films which
change peoples lives are being especially acknowledged and honored. What about
the interest in other countries?
HS:In addition to that, I recently gave presentations in Southeast Asia –
and they loved it. I lectured to packed halls everywhere I went, which included
hundreds of medical doctors. I also gave presentations to the Health Minister of
Malaysia and the Health Ministry of Thailand. They’re hungry for this
information and have given me full endorsement for this work.
We are also getting interest in Eastern Europe as well as China.
It won’t happen in this country, of course, nor will it happen in Western
Europe, or in any of the highly developed countries because the drug companies –
the pharmaceuticals – already have too much power in these places.
But it will happen in the Third World countries because they cannot afford the
pharmaceuticals; and the pharmaceutical companies aren’t interested in becoming
established in these places since there isn’t enough money in those cultures –
so they won’t be going there.
PJP: Now, when a person goes to a doctor with a severe health condition –
like cancer – how can they best approach their doctor about using healthier
alternative sources to fight it?
HS: They can’t. It’s a felony in California and many other states to
treat cancer using any method besides the ones sanctioned by the American
Medical Association.
PJP: That’s shocking. So, in other words, one is trapped into going to a
conventional doctor for traditional treatment even if they don’t want the drugs
or the surgeries?
HS: That’s right. And the real shocker comes when conventional treatment
fails and the doctor tells you that there is nothing more he can do for you, it
is still against the law to seek alternative treatment – even after that. So, in
a literal sense, they are condemning you to death.
PJP: That’s terrible.
HS: Am I depressing you? Take Prozac.
(laughter)
PJP: That's funny in a tragic sort of way.
HS: In speaking about Prozac, in addition to Ritalin – the stuff they
give the kids to "zombie" them out – over half of high school students who used
guns to wound or kill other students and teachers were found to be on
school-prescribed drugs.
We’re all up in arms about guns, gun control, violence on television, rock
music, video games, parental control and so forth – and yet, there has been
little discussion about the dangers of Ritalin or Prozac in regards to these
matters.
Just look at the written information that accompanies a prescription of Prozac
or Ritalin: expectable side-effects are violence and psychotic episodes.
Expectable side effects! And these drugs are being prescribed to millions of
adults and children – even for two-year olds.
PJP: I’ve worked with a number of disabled and special-need kids and it
alarms me to see how many drugs the parents are giving these kids for their
condition. Sadly, the cost for these drugs – in addition to frequent doctor
visits – is so high that the parents must purchase insurance to pay for it all.
Then, the only way the insurance companies will pay for the drugs is if the
parents go to a conventional doctor, who, in turn, is the only one who can
prescribe the drugs.
The parents often won’t – or are afraid to – try anything of an alternative
nature because they are so dependent and locked into the system. They just keep
giving their kids more drugs. When one medication stops working, they go to the
next one – which I can clearly see makes them worse. On top of that, I rarely
see these kids getting proper nutrition and this only compounds the problem.
These kids may never be “normal” like healthy kids, but they're condition could
be greatly improved through proper diet.
I’ve noticed, too, that with all the emphasis on preventing our kids from taking
drugs – you know, the “Just say NO to drugs” campaign – that we’re giving just
the opposite message to these kids when the parents continue to purchase
prescription and over-the-counter drugs for their ailments and minor
discomforts.
HS: It’s the American paradox.
Incidentally, Ritalin is nearly identical to cocaine on a molecular level. It
leaves such bad, permanent brain alteration that the United States Military will
not accept recruits that have a history of using Ritalin.
Along with that, when cocaine addicts can’t get their fix, they will often hang
around school yards to buy Ritalin from the kids who won't take it – often
paying ten dollars or more per pill. Ritallin gives the cocaine addict enough of
a fix that he can last until he can find some cocaine.
PJP: That’s scary.
HS: This stuff gets scary in a big hurry.
PJP: After all those years of exhausting doctor visits, painful
treatments, taking medications and then discovering that there was a successful
way of healing my condition through eating healthy, wholesome foods – I learned
that most doctors don’t know much about the effects of nutrition.
HS: That’s because everything they know about treating disease has been
taught to them in the medical schools and medical journals. They are not taught
that proper nutrition and healthy eating is a way of healing the body,
preventing disease and maintaining long-lasting health.
In addition to that, the pharmaceutical companies are the ones that fund the
medical schools and they determine what the curriculum will be. It is also the
pharmaceutical companies that have total control over what the medical journals
say.
Therefore, everything that goes into the doctor’s mind – including the stream of
free samples, free gifts and vacations to the Caribbean provided by the
pharmaceutical companies – is constantly about drugs.
PJP: Because of the studies I’ve done over the years, I discovered that
even though we can categorize all these diseases and give them all different
names, what it all boils down to is how well our immune system functions.
HS: The immune system is like an incredible army – an army that has
evolved over millions of years – and it’s the most effective power you have to
protect the borders of your health. It has all the resources it needs to deal
effectively with every health challenge.
But like any army, if you don’t send it enough supplies or ammunition; if you
don’t carry away the dead and wounded; if you don’t send it enough of the right
kinds of food – eventually you have gaps in your defense perimeter. So, the
important thing is to think of your immune system as an amazingly efficient and
powerful army that – given half a chance – will protect you with its life.
The important part we play is in making sure that we give this army – the immune
system – all the proper nourishment, supplies and maintenance it requires so
that it can do its job well.
The main function of our immune system is to heal, protect and maintain
homeostasis – which is perfect health – and it is superb at doing so. All we
have to do is not stop it and to get out of its way. And we do this by
eliminating the toxins and nutrient-poor foods. When we provide our body – and
it's immune system – with the nutrious foods that it needs for optimal
functioning, it is capable of miracles.
PJP: A healthy immune system helps keep us looking and feeling young,
too.
HS: Staying young is an interesting subject. What we interpret as “age”
in our culture is really the progressive – and unnecessary – degeneration of our
bodily functions. Progressive degeneration – the unnatural acceleration of aging
– is caused by poor nutrition, lots of toxicity, and using the resources of the
body without replenishing them.
If we eat and have life-style habits like everyone else, we’re going to “age” at
the same rate as everyone else. When we’re fifty-five and we look around to see
that we look and feel like everyone else our age – that we’re not any better or
worse – we assume that we’re looking and feeling “normal” for people that age
and then determine that it’s just a process of normal aging. But it’s not true.
What it really means – when you’re looking and feeling like everyone else at
your age – is that you are degenerating at the same rate as everyone else
because you’re mistreating your body in the same way that they are.
If, on the other hand, you start eating the way nature intended, your body will
start getting rid of the toxins and will begin to regenerate the deteriorated
parts of your body. In this way, a person can literally reverse – or greatly
slow down – his or her aging process.
You never have any control over how long you will live. However, you DO have
control over how fast – or slow – your body degenerates. If you treat yourself
badly, your body will degenerate faster. If you treat yourself well, your body
will degenerate slower.
We’re not built to last forever. But we should have a healthy human life span of
110 to 120 years – even more – and still be clear of mind and strong in body. No
osteoporosis, no dementia, no Alzheimer’s, no arthritis – none of the
degenerative diseases that are commonly – and incorrectly – assumed to be the
conditions of old age. What we call “aging” in this culture actually falls into
the category of degenerative disease.
PJP: I believe that people can reverse their age to some degree.
HS: Basically, yes. You can reverse your age up to a certain point. If
your body has deteriorated to a condition below where it should be, then you can
reverse your aging to a level of where it ought to be for maximum health at that
age. The body won’t regenerate back to eighteen years of age, but it will
regenerate back to a good healthy version of forty-five, sixty, seventy and so
on.
You should see my mother, Charlotte Gerson: she’s eighty years old and her eyes
are beautiful and clear. My grandfather was a still going strong as a practicing
physician until he died: he was almost eighty.
We have prior patients of Dr. Gerson calling my mother and saying things like,
“I was one of your father’s patients long ago. I’m doing great, but my son has
cancer and I was hoping that you could help him.” Of course we can help him –
and when we ask how old their son is we hear, “Oh, he’s 78 years old. I’m 104
and doing great – he’s the one with cancer.”
Although Dr. Gerson died decades ago, we often hear from people who were once
his patients. These were people who originally came to him for treatment after
they were already dismissed by their own doctor as terminal and incurable.
So, think about that.
Decades later, they’re still healthy. I interviewed some of them in my book.
PJP: If you were to talk to someone who wasn’t aware of all this and is
dependent upon conventional means of treating disease, how would you approach
them with this information?
HS: My advice is: don’t be a “Food-Nazis”, because then you experience a
lot of resistance. Instead, be an example of health, joy and vitality. When
people ask how you got that way, then you can tell them all about it.
PJP: That makes a lot of sense. What else would you like the readers to
know that would inspire them to take charge of their health?
HS: Chronic disease is not inevitable – in spite of the claims of doctors
who say they have no idea what causes about 1,500 or so conditions of chronic
disease. They may have a hundred different of ways of defining the diseased
condition, but the bottom line is that these diseases are simply different
manifestations of the same problem: deficiency caused by poor nutrition.
This does not mean deficiency caused by a person not getting enough food
– it means that a person isn’t getting enough of the right kinds of food:
fresh, organic, and whole vegetarian foods.
Degeneration is also caused by the toxins, or poisons, that are ingested from
contaminated sources: the water, commercially grown foods, food processing,
prescription drugs, industrial chemicals, automobile pollution – from hundreds
of substances that we consume or unknowingly absorb from our environment.
The good news is, the physical body has a phenomenal capacity for healing,
restoring and maintaining our health.
PJP: The body can heal itself of almost anything.
HS: That’s all it knows how to do. The function of the body is to
maintain homeostasis: perfect health.
The doctors know this, too. They perform the surgeries: they cut, take things
out, put things in and sew it up. But who is doing the healing? Who rearranges
things so that you’re no longer bleeding, you’re no longer in pain, and you no
longer have a slice from the outside to the inside? The doctor doesn’t know how
to do that. You don’t know how to do that. Only your body knows how to do that.
If the body has enough energy it will take off and do what it needs to do – to
repair and heal itself and return to normal health. It has evolved over millions
of years to do just that one thing.
So when you are not feeling your best, you must be doing something to keep it
from popping back up to normal health.
You can be healthy without doctors. Your health is a choice – it’s not a crap
shoot. You make choices that have consequences. Whatever you choose to put into
your body, into your mouth, into your lungs, into your nose – every choice you
make has direct consequences on your health.
Therefore, when you make the right choices, your health will be robust and you
will have a long, healthy life. Your children will be healthy; they won’t get
sick, and they won’t be subject to ADHD, Mad Cow Disease, diabetes, cancer,
asthma and so forth – and they will be free of drugs.
They will be well-behaved, smart, high-achievers and emotionally stable because
their brains and their body will be functioning properly.
You can be as healthy as you choose to be... and that's the bottom line.
Scroll down for mini-biography of Dr. Max Gerson and movie review of The
Gerson Miracle
©by Paula Peterson
You may link to this page by using ~ http://www.paulapeterson.com/Howard_Straus.html
~ Thank you!
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Howard Straus is the grandson of Dr. Max Gerson and the son of Charlotte
Gerson. After his MIT education in physics, he pursued a career in computer
systems analysis for nearly 40 years. Late in life, he discovered his passion
for helping people recover from “incurable” diseases using the famous Gerson
Therapy developed by his grandfather and continued by his mother.
Although Dr. Gerson was called “the most eminent genius in medical history” by
Nobel Laureate Albert Schweitzer, no thorough biography of Gerson existed forty
years after his death. Howard Straus took up the task in 2002 by publishing Dr.
Max Gerson: Healing the Hopeless, which has received excellent reviews in the
Journal of Orthomolecular Medicine and The Townsend Letter for Doctors and
Patients.
Howard Straus contributes to the Journal of Orthomolecular Medicine and Way of
the Heart, and is writing a second book, Power Nutrition, from which the Way of
the Heart articles are extracted. He also authors an informative and
twice-weekly e-bulletin called Be Well! in addition to pursuing his career as a
nutritional consultant and international lecturer on the Gerson Therapy.
He founded the nonprofit organization, Cancer Research Wellness Network, which
is dedicated to educating people about cancer therapies that work. Mr. Straus’
Power Nutrition workshops have been very well-received, and have helped
thousands to radically improve the quality of their lives.
Howard Straus can be reached at:
Cancer Research Wellness Network
316 Mid-Valley Center
Carmel, CA 93923
Telephone: 831-625-3565
NOW . . . you can view the entire 91-minute documentary of 11 chapters
anytime from anywhere in the world for FREE
Just click here: TheGersonMiracle.org
To purchase a copy of Dr. Max Gerson: Healing the Hopeless by HOWARD STRAUS -
please order through your favorite book store.
Or click here to order on-line: Amazon.com
Visit the website: Gerson
Institute
You can also write or call:
The Gerson Institute
1572 Second Avenue
San Diego, CA 92101
Telephone: 888-443-7766
NEWS! MOVIE REVIEW ~ The Gerson Miracle
The Gerson Miracle - winner of the GOLDEN PALM AWARD for best film out of over
two-thousand entries at the Beverly Hills "Little Oscars" 2004 Film Festival.
A "must-see" documentary that focuses on the successful therapy developed by Dr.
Max Gerson - a therapy that has cured some of the most hopeless conditions of
cancer as well as numerous other chronic diseases.
Even though Dr. Gerson is deceased, his legendary work continues on through the
efforts of his daughter, Charolotte Gerson - founder of the Gerson Institute,
and his grandson, Howard Straus - author of Dr. Max Gerson: Healing the
Hopeless.
Now in her eighties and retired, Charolotte continues to participate in the
activities of the institute as a board member, while Anita Wilson remains as its
director.
The Gerson Institute serves thousands of critically ill patients with an
amazingly simple but stringent dietary program and gets them back on the road to
health in weeks instead of years.
The testimonies of real people is the most moving of all - especially that of a
adolescent girl whose fragile life was restored to her through the Gerson
Therapy. It will bring heart-warming tears to your eyes!
Please see this film! It's available on DVD and VHS and makes an excellent gift
of love to those who struggle with illness. It also serves as a critical source
of knowledge that can help nearly anyone prevent disease and build lasting
health.
The Gerson Miracle was filmed and directed by cinematographer, Steve Kroschel's
(KroschelFilms.com) whose earlier works are "I Spy" and "Vertical Limit", as
well as his own specials on NOVA.
TO ORDER The Gerson Miracle DVD or VHS please send an e-mail
to the Gerson Institute or Howard Straus by clicking on the links
above.
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