Dr. Johanna Budwig’s Healing Diet & Protocol (1)
Cancer: Essentially A Problem of Right and Wrong Fats & Lack of Sunlight?
An important introduction to Dr. Budwig's protocol
Copyright © 2005 - 2011 Healing Cancer Naturally
"What she (Dr. Johanna Budwig) has demonstrated to my initial disbelief but
lately, to my complete satisfaction in my practice is: CANCER IS EASILY
CURABLE, the treatment is dietary/lifestyle, the response is immediate;
the cancer cell is weak and vulnerable; the precise biochemical
breakdown point was identified by her in 1951 and is specifically
correctable, in vitro (test tube) as well as in vivo (real)..."
Dr. Dan C. Roehm M.D. FACP (oncologist & former cardiologist)
in "Townsend Letter for Doctors", July 1990
What would you think if you heard someone claim that there is a diet-based protocol centered on the ingestion of two simple foodstuffs plus sunlight that has actually helped heal numerous cases of cancer including saving the so-called terminally ill - some given a few hours to live!? If you react like many, you will think that this sounds far too simplistic to be true.
And yet it is.
As Dr Willner, M.D., Ph.D. (The Cancer Solution) writes, "Numerous, independent clinical studies published in major medical journals world-wide confirm Dr. Budwig’s findings…. Over 40 years ago Dr Budwig presented clear and convincing evidence, which has been confirmed by hundreds of other related scientific research papers since, that the essential fatty acids were at the core of the answer to the cancer problem…You will come to your own conclusions as to why this simple effective prevention and therapy has not only been ignored—it has been suppressed!". Or as someone commented, "Over the years I have been given a lot of different advice as well, so when I heard about Dr Budwig’s protocol I too was very sceptical, until I tried it."
Before you proceed to reading any further, please know that not everybody reacts the same to this or any other treatment, and that in any healing diet or protocol one may undertake, one should never underrate the often amazing power of the Mind, i.e. the placebo or belief effect, as well as the influence of the emotions and energetic and spiritual factors on both the disease and healing process.
So here are four important pieces of advice before we start:
1. If you do decide to follow the Budwig diet & protocol, give it a fair try, meaning that you follow Dr. Budwig’s instructions to the letter for a while such as at least 1 to 3 months, and then see how you or the patient fares. Dr. Budwig’s instructions are very strict and include no supplements apart from yeast flakes (and possibly plant-derived enzymes for fat/protein digestion, with herbs in their natural form also being ok), daily fresh ground flax seeds etc. etc. You can read up on all the details on this site.
Apart from the possible placebo effect she exerted (as any healing professional who instills confidence in his patients), Dr. Budwig heavily insisted on her instructions being closely followed since she believed that only in this manner, success could be reached.
Don’t get misled by self-proclaimed “Budwig diet experts” or a self-styled "Budwig center" who combine her basic flax oil/cottage cheese with a regime of their own making rather than with Dr. Budwig's real protocol, claiming to thus “reinforce” the Budwig diet. While such regimes may well be effective against cancer and other diseases, they are a far cry from what Dr. Budwig recommended. Remember that while it is true that much of the conventional cancer treatment approaches is about business (compare On Cancer Business & the Cancer Industry), so is much in the "alternative cancer treatment" field (compare Negative experiences in the alternative cancer treatment field).
2. Healing Cancer Naturally considers minerals and trace elements and the ubiquitous lack of them a major player in cancer genesis and healing, see Minerals. The fact that so relatively few of those who undertake the Budwig protocol today seem to report dramatic success when compared to the near 100% success rate claimed by Dr. Budwig who started treating patients decades ago, might (apart from non-compliance with her instructions) also be related to the reported significant decline in mineral and trace element (as well as vitamin) content in today’s foods, caused by soil depletion and inorganic husbandry. So an important piece of advice would be to look for and incorporate naturally rich sources of mineral and trace elements in your diet. More inexpensive sources are, apart from organically grown foodstuffs, particularly seaweeds which I highly recommend adding. Seaweeds among other things contain high levels of iodine which reportedly has anticarcinogenic (toxic to cancer cells) and cancer-preventative properties (more at seaweed).
3. Detoxify in a healthy way (i.e. don't become obsessed with any uncleanliness or toxicity you may suspect in yourself while still striving to get rid of most obvious sources of "filth" in yourself and your environment). See Detoxification.
4. Lastly, but in fact most importantly, Healing Cancer Naturally advises following one's intuition, spiritual guidance or whatever name you may wish to call it as you travel along your journey to health and healing. A beautiful example has been set by Dr. Nancy Offenhauser who wrote a book about her experience called Healing Cancer Peacefullly (Dr. Offenhauser did not use the Budwig approach).
Who Was Dr. Johanna Budwig?
Dr. Johanna Budwig (born 30 September 1908, died 19 May 2003, pronounced Yaw-hun-nah Bood-vig), a seven-times Nobel prize nominee, was a qualified German pharmacologist, chemist and physicist with a doctorate in physics who worked as the chief expert-consultant for drugs and fats at the former Bundesanstalt für Fettforschung (Federal Institute for Fats Research). Described as "the world's leading authority on fats and oils", Dr. Budwig studied in-depth the effect of hydrogenated and other denatured fats upon human health and found it to be desastrous, while she discovered the truly "essential" and powerfully healing nature of essential fatty acids on all manner of degenerative diseases including cancer. She authored numerous books (among them Cancer - The Problem and The Solution, Das Fettsyndrom [The Fat Syndrome, discussing the links between fats and next to all diseases of the heart and lung as well as cancer], Krebs, ein Fettproblem [Cancer - A Fat Problem, on the right choice and use of fats], Der Tod des Tumors [The Death of the Tumor], as well as numerous scientific papers and treatises in which she published her findings on the critical importance of the right fatty acids and the deleterious effect of the wrong fats on human health (the use of "wrong fats" having become widespread since the invention and ubiquitous introduction of the hydrogenation process in order to extend the shelf life of fats and to create margarine).
Three of her works "FlaxOil As A True Aid Against Arthritis, Heart Infarction, Cancer, And Other Diseases" (read excerpts here), "The Oil Protein Diet Cookbook" and the above-mentioned Cancer - The Problem and The Solution (excerpts here) have been translated into English. The former, though a slender volume of only about 60 pages, is "packed with the most clear thinking on the genesis of serious diseases and health recovery" including healing cancer. The fact that so far solely three of Dr. Budwig’s works are accessible to the English-speaking world makes it hard, however, to appreciate the true scope and breadth of her protocol and cancer treatment approach. While the situation is naturally better for German readers, even these have easy access only to parts of her work since a number of her books - in fact, the majority - are currently out of print and much determination is called for to find a copy of these books in second-hand stores.
As other researchers who have offered a non-profitable and effective way of healing cancer (or keeping it under control by preventing metastasis), Dr. Budwig and her work have been attacked and silenced by vested medical, industrial and pharmaceutical interests throughout her life (compare History of Cancer Treatment). As summarized by Cliff Beckwith who has kept his prostate cancer under control for over a decade: "Dr. Budwig to my knowledge had over 1000 documented successes. However, her work was not popular with the Oncology Industry in Europe. Her ideas would have meant a lot of losses in the Food Industry [too]; especially in the fats industry.
My cousin, Richard Beckwith, called her probably eleven years ago and talked to her about forty five minutes. She told him that American doctors had come to Germany and been impressed with her work. Then they wanted to try to work out some way to have exclusive rights to her methods in the United States and make a lot of money and she wouldn't do that.
She believed her work was very important and was anxious to see it carried on but no one seemed interested unless they could make a lot of money.
I had Advanced [prostate] cancer and I could not wait for scientific confirmation and began to use these ideas immediately. One thing led to another, none of it planned, and we have seen many folks recover from cancer or have lives greatly extended. A lot of that information is at www.beckwithfamily.com.
That is all based on anecdotal evidence. Other than the evidence in Dr. Budwig's records [as far as they are available in English] that is all there is. No one is doing any scientific testing. That is done to prove the value of drugs for profit and one cannot patent Flaxseed Oil.
...In my view there should be enough on those lists [the evidence reported on two Budwig discussion lists he founded] and what we have seen to at least cause someone really interested in human welfare to be curious."
And it seems likely that apart from financial interests, human failings such as intellectual pride play a part in the silencing and ignoring of Dr. Budwig’s apparently often life-saving discoveries. Cliff Beckwith again: "For the most part one cannot expect the doctors to place any real credibility to the use of FO/CC [flax oil and cottage cheese]. It seems incredible that anything could be successful other than what they are taught in Med school. Imagine the blow to one's ego if it became official that something with which he or she is not familiar would be found to be much better than the things that were studied 10 years to learn."
Dr. Johanna Budwig’s Major Discovery
In 1952, Dr. Budwig wrote in a paper entitled On Fat Biology V. Paper Chromatography of Blood Lipoids, the Tumour Problem and Fat Research: "It is basically proven that highly unsaturated fatty acids are the heretofore undiscovered decisive factor in respiratory enzyme function", i.e. constitute the second part of the "equation" that nobelist Otto Warburg* had been unable to find. What sounds insignificant to the layman’s ears, is arguably one of the greatest breakthroughs in medicinal science: from that moment onward we have known that the highly unsaturated fatty acid is the decisive factor achieving the desired effect of cellular respiratory stimulation. Working in conjunction with sulfurated amino acids (protein), the highly unsaturated fatty acid plays a part, even the critical part, in the "bridging" taking place between fats and protein, in the absorption AND utilization of oxygen, in all growth processes, in the formation of blood and in many other processes. Working from this theory, Dr. Budwig was able to help a great many cancer patients with the scientific oil-protein diet of flaxoil plus cottage cheese she designed (the "Budwig diet"), which allows cancer cells to start "breathing" again. A few physicians followed in her footsteps, such as Dr. Dan C. Roehm from Florida or Dr. Robert E. Willner (Miami).
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Based upon her research findings, Dr. Budwig was not only against processed foods and supplements (no pills) but also against chemotherapy, radiation and drugs, and in a less categorical manner, surgery (see interview). And, rare as that may be, she also was aware of the critical importance of sunlight as well as the spiritual, mental and emotional factors in healing cancer and other illness. That said and as hinted at above, it is important to keep in mind that the fuller details of her published thought on healing cancer are not currently known/accessible in the English- and most of the German-speaking world, thus making all efforts presently undertaken at implementing and spreading the word about Dr. Budwig’s discoveries in English a grassroots movement liable to be enlarged as more details become known to the general public via correctly translated editions of more of her books.
* Dr. Otto Warburg, twice Nobel Laureate, awarded the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 1931 for his research on cellular respiration, explains: "The growth of cancer cells is initiated by a relative lack of oxygen. Cancer cannot live in an oxygen-rich environment...Cancer has only one prime cause. It is the replacement of normal oxygen respiration of the body’s cells by an anaerobic (i.e., oxygen deficient) cell respiration." Going into greater detail in The Prime Cause and Prevention of Cancer, he writes: "...the cause of cancer is no longer a mystery, we know it occurs whenever any cell is denied 60% of its oxygen requirements. Cancer, above all other diseases, has countless secondary causes. But, even for cancer, there is only one prime cause. Summarized in a few words, the prime cause of cancer is the replacement of the respiration of oxygen in normal body cells by a fermentation of sugar. All normal body cells meet their energy needs by respiration of oxygen, whereas cancer cells meet their energy needs in great part by fermentation. All normal body cells are thus obligate aerobes, whereas all cancer cells are partial anaerobes." Compare Otto Warburg On The Prime Cause & Prevention of Cancer: Respiration of Oxygen in Normal Body Cells vs. Fermentation of Sugar in Cancer Cells.
Basic Introduction to Dr. Budwig’s Diet, Fats, Essential Fatty Acids and Related Subjects
The basis of Dr. Budwig’s diet or protocol is the ingestion of a special oil-protein mixture in the form of organic cold-pressed flaxseed oil plus cottage cheese or "quark" (a dairy product readily available in German-speaking countries made from various types of milk and roughly similar to cottage cheese), to balance an oversupply of omega 6 fatty acids and hydrogenated fats in the Western diet and to provide an immediately available abundant supply of essential omega 3 acids. Of all plant oils, flax oil is the richest source of these omega 3 acids (naturally occurring variations not considered, 100 g of oil contain 72g of polyunsaturated fatty acids, 54g of which are omega 3 acids). This oil is combined with protein (or more precisely, sulphurated amino acids** such as liberally found in quark/cottage cheese) to allow the highly unsaturated fatty acids to become water-soluble, thus bypassing the need for an (often) diseased or impaired liver to break down the unsatured fat by its own efforts. Quote: "The lipotropic protein connections, e.g. Cystein, as they are found in ... cottage cheese or nuts are able to make water-soluble the ...highly unsaturated fatty acids in seed oils. And that is what matters. When you mix together ... cottage cheese and linseed oil in your blender the fat becomes water-soluble" and thereby immediately available for use by the body. In this manner, the necessary "spark plugs" are provided for cells to "breathe", optimally detoxify and function, even more so when additionally combining the flax oil cottage cheese mix with an optimised sugar-free diet devoid of respiratory poisons [substances which inhibit cellular respiration] but containing much raw organic food (compare excerpts from Dr. Budwig’s Flax Oil As A True Aid and Nutrition page).
Dr. Budwig’s diet (which, when properly applied, is an entire protocol and involves not only ingestion of the above oil-protein mixture, but also a healthy minimally processed vegetarian diet, freshly ground flaxseeds, sunlight, stress management, "Eldi" oils, etc.*, has literally pulled people back from death’s doorstep. Based on this evidence and its ease of implementation, it may be the quickest and easiest move to take for many stricken with a cancer challenge and/or those who are looking for an often fast-working approach to health recovery. In fact, eminent alternative & conventional cancer treatment researcher Lothar Hirneise considers Dr. Johanna Budwig’s protocol the indispensable nutritional basis of any healing
plan for cancer patients.
* Compare Complementary therapies Dr. Johanna Budwig recommended and endorsed.
Dr. Johanna Budwig’s proposed diet and basic protocol IS easy to implement in daily life (see Dr. Johanna Budwig: The practical implementation of my oil-protein diet), and for "how-to" details on the Budwig diet, start with Making the Flaxseed Oil plus Cottage Cheese or Quark Mixture. Budwig Linomel Breakfast Muesli Recipe, Oleolux Recipe, Quark-Flax Oil Mayonnaise Recipe as well as the very extensive Budwig Diet & Protocol FAQ I have written and compiled from authentic Budwig sources including the 14 original German-language books by Dr. Budwig I own).
I’d also like to refer you to Dr. Johanna Budwig’s available English-language books, with some people expressing particular appreciation for her oil-protein cookbook. One comment reads: "I have found that one of THE MOST VALUABLE, yea NECESSARY items one should get for following the Budwig diet is Dr. Budwig's ‘Oil Protein Cookbook.’ It demystifies all kinds of things for you, and has OVER 500 recipes in it to make sure [you] will be getting all the things Dr. Budwig wanted her clients to get in their diet." I too believe it is essential for anyone "serious" about implementing the Budwig diet with the aim of healing from serious disease such as cancer to at the very least own Dr. Budwig’s inexpensive oil-protein cookbook. It would seem best to also read her book "Flax Oil as a True Aid" and to make sure to share these books with others, both to possibly help them prevent and heal from serious disease. More comments.
Research Studies On Animals Into the Effects of Flaxseed and Flaxseed Components (Lignan, Lignan Precursors & Oil) on Cancer and Tumor Growth***
1 A 2002 animal experiment on the "[e]ffect of flaxseed supplementation on prostatic carcinoma in transgenic mice" found that a "diet supplemented with 5% flaxseed inhibits the growth and development of prostate cancer in the TRAMP model".
Aiming to "investigate the effects of flaxseed supplementation on prostatic neoplasia in the transgenic adenocarcinoma mouse prostate (TRAMP) model", a "total of 135 male TRAMP mice 5 to 6 weeks old were randomized to a control group (AIN-76A diet) or an experimental group (AIN-76A diet plus 5% flaxseed by weight). One half of the mice in each group were treated for 20 weeks and the remainder for 30 weeks. At autopsy, urogenital tissues (four prostatic lobes, seminal vesicles, and emptied bladder), lungs, lymph nodes, and grossly abnormal tissues were collected for histologic evaluation. RESULTS: Of the control mice, 100% developed prostate cancer versus 97% of the mice in the flaxseed group. The tumor/urogenital weight was 3.6 +/- 0.4 g in the controls versus 1.9 +/- 0.2 g in the flaxseed-treated mice (P = 0.0005). At 20 weeks, no significant difference in tumor grade was seen between the two groups; however, at 30 weeks, the flaxseed-treated mice
had significantly less aggressive tumors than did the controls (P = 0.01). The prevalence of lung and lymph node metastases was 13% and 16%, respectively, in the control mice versus 5% and 12%, respectively, in the experimental group (difference not significant). After 20 weeks of treatment, cellular proliferation (Ki-67) differed significantly between the control and experimental groups (38.1 +/- 2.03 versus 26.2 +/- 2.03; P <0.0001), and the apoptotic index (deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP-digoxigenin nick end labeling) was 1.45 +/- 0.14 versus 3.3 +/- 0.31 (P <0.0001). Similar differences were seen after 30 weeks of treatment.
The original NCBI report with references
2 A 2002 animal experiment on "the effect of flaxseed (FS), the richest source of lignans and alpha-linolenic acid, on growth and metastasis of established human breast cancer in a nude mice model" concluded that "Dietary flaxseed inhibits human breast cancer growth and metastasis".
Dietary flaxseed inhibits human breast cancer growth and metastasis and downregulates expression of insulin-like growth factor and epidermal growth factor receptor.
Chen J, Stavro PM, Thompson LU. Department of Nutritional Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada M5S 3E2.
Recent studies indicate that diets rich in phytoestrogens and n-3 fatty acid have anticancer potential. This study determined the effect of flaxseed (FS), the richest source of lignans and alpha-linolenic acid, on growth and metastasis of established human breast cancer in a nude mice model. Estrogen receptor-negative human breast cancer cells, MDA-MB-435, were injected into the mammary fat pad of mice (Ncr nu/nu) fed a basal diet (BD). At Week 8, mice were randomized into two diet groups, such that the groups had similar tumor size and body weight. One continued on the BD, while the other was changed to BD supplemented with 10% FS, until sacrifice at Week 15. A significant reduction (P < 0.05) in tumor growth rate and a 45% reduction (P = 0.08) in total incidence of metastasis were observed in the FS group. Lung metastasis incidence was 55.6% in the BD group and 22.2% in the FS group, while the lymph node metastasis incidence was 88.9% in the BD group and 33.3% in the FS group (P < 0.05).
Mean tumor number (tumor load) of total and lymph node metastasis was significantly lower in the FS than in the BD group (P < 0.05). Metastatic lung tumor number was reduced by 82%, and a significantly lower tumor trend (P < 0.01) was observed in the FS group. Lung weight, which also reflects metastatic tumor load, in the FS group was reduced by 20% (P < 0.05) compared with the BD group.
Immunohistochemical study showed that Ki-67 labeling index and expression of insulin-like growth factor I and epithelial growth factor receptor in the primary tumor were lower in the FS (P < 0.05) than in the BD group.
In conclusion, flaxseed inhibited the established human breast cancer growth and metastasis in a nude mice model, and this effect is partly due to its downregulation of insulin-like growth factor I and epidermal growth factor receptor expression.
The original NCBI report with references
More research studies incl. on humans
***Please note this important addendum by Healing Cancer Naturally on the subject of animal experimentation.
Comments on Dr. Budwig’s work
As mentioned above, Dr. Budwig and her work have been attacked and silenced by vested medical, industrial and pharmaceutical interests throughout her life (compare History of Alternative Cancer Treatment).
A very balanced comment by Dr. Vincent Gammill of the non-profit Center for the Study of Natural Oncology reads:
"Budwig's observations were correct, but her conclusions require clarification. Flax oil or FSO/CC [cottage cheese] is not in and of itself an anticancer diet. It simply helps correct (perhaps even overcorrects) an omega-3 deficiency in our diet. This can affect many pathways ranging from prostaglandins to cellular immune function." In fact, Dr Armin Grunewald, MD, Dr. Budwig's nephew concurs when he writes, "Dr. Budwig's approach is not a method of healing cancer but a technique which strengthens the body's own immune defence against cancerous cells."
But perhaps it doesn’t even matter how the "Budwig diet" is called (which, as mentioned, involves an entire "protocol" comprising healthy diet, sunlight, stress management, etc., when properly applied). As the German saying goes "Wer heilt, hat recht." (The one who heals is right). And Dr. Budwig’s protocol has, at least when applied under her direct tutelage, a respectable track record of (sometimes near-miraculous-seeming) healings.
A more deplorable (and quite subjective) comment on the Budwig diet has been furnished by Dr. Andrew Weil, a well-known US doctor with an alternative bend. His "case in point" serves to illustrate how many help-seeking people can be kept in ignorance by the words of "authorities" they so implicitly trust. Dr. Weil’s website carries an article on Dr. Budwig where he notes "All of this sounds fanciful to me." and concludes "I certainly would not rely on a combination of flaxseed oil and cottage cheese as a treatment for any form of cancer."
As various members of a Budwig forum commented:
"My question is this, how do these so called brilliant doctors watch thousands of people die, due to withholding valuable lifesaving information such as the flaxoil/cottage cheese... sleep at night?"
"My feeling is this, sometimes mainstream medical doctor's have just enough alternative healing knowledge, to be VERY dangerous. It's better if they make no statements at all, until they decide who and what they are going to stand for. Too many innocent people will hear a doctor say a few words about natural, alternative methods, and then believe everything that doctor says. It's just very deceptive and misleading if you yourself are not educated. When I think about how many years it's taken me to get where I'm at, I shudder to think about the chaos going on inside the heads of people just starting out in their journey of searching out alternative protocols."
"It's been going on since the 1930s--since Morris Fishbein representing the AMA destroyed Royal Rife and all his records. You can read it (and weep) in a book called The Cancer Cure that Worked by Barry Lynes [currently out of print]. Had Rife been able to share his discovery with the world, cancer would have long ago ceased to be. The few people, like Richard Schulze the herbalist, who have cured so many by natural means and refused to play the game, have been put out of commission and many wind up in jail."
"Self delusion as a result of worshipping money and status. Gross lack of research as a result of relying on tainted studies or the lack of studies to allow continued worship of money. Simple evil."
"No doubt he has done a lot of good, but when anyone answers to two kings, it makes me highly suspicious of anything they do and say. Another one, Dr. Rosenfeld, is not as stupid as he appears. He lies thru his teeth to stay in the good graces of the powers that be. Anytime anyone tells a half truth, or leaves out part of the truth to create a false illusion, which Rosined does every time he is on TV, I am forced to put him on the list not to be trusted. At times, I think Dr. Weil does the same thing. So how can any of us trust their beliefs and statements?"
"I have not read a lot of Andrew Weil's stuff, but I can certainly see that he has become a wealthy fellow with a 'cult' following! That is one reason I have not read a lot of his stuff!
By the way, he says, about Dr. Budwig's 7 nominations for the Nobel Prize, that ‘anyone can get nominated.’ How about if this year, I nominate you and you nominate me for the Nobel Prize? Deal? LOL! Weil almost makes it sound like Budwig greased some palms for those nominations just to be able to tout her FO/CC regimen! LOL!" (by Elliot Yudenfriend)
"I respect a doctor who can say 'I don't know.' I don't respect one who denigrates without knowing and further presumes the scientific results to be 'fanciful'."
Memorable Quotes on Dr. Budwig's work
In addition to quotes already featured above, here are statements by Dr. Budwig and more comments by several physicians and researchers.
"This diet is far and away the most successful anti-cancer diet in the world".
Dr. Dan C. Roehm M.D. FACP (oncologist & former cardiologist)
"I suggest that all those who find it necessary to add other protocols or to add supplements to it have not even given the Budwig Protocol half a chance. They just don't look beyond the flaxoil/cottage cheese part. There is much more to it than that. It is a scientifically well thought out, all natural approach to health, that has a tremendous rate of success and track record... and it costs next to nothing. I think that if it were very expensive and much money could be made on it, it would be much more popular because it would be pushed by business. But as it stands, it doesn't lend itself to it. So you have to take it at practically no cost or go for some other high priced methods."
Wilhelm H
"It's not the results of the ‘bone scans’ or ‘CTs’ which are of crucial importance ... but whether the cancer can be gotten under control or not. While many of the test methods used by us physicians are certainly scientific, they say nothing about the patient's state of health*.
Dr. Budwig's approach is not a method of healing cancer but a technique which strengthens the body's own immune defence against cancerous cells."
Dr. Budwig’s nephew Dr Armin Grunewald, MD
* Compare "Modern Medicine Is Not A Science".
"I only wish that all my patients had a PhD in Biochemistry and Quantum Physics to enable them to see how with such consummate skill this diet was put together. It is a wonder."
Dr. Dan C. Roehm M.D. FACP (oncologist & former cardiologist)
"It is amazing how quickly the tumor, for instance with colon cancer, is being eliminated. Even with an old patient of 84 years who was scheduled for an operation because of his colon threatening to become blocked, I was able to achieve the complete elimination of the tumor and the patient’s restoration to health within a few days. These are not isolated cases, in fact 99% of the sick that come to see me to use the biological method of cancer therapy, are cancer patients who have had operations and radiation sessions, or who were diagnosed as being too far advanced for an operation to be of any help. Even in these cases health can be restored, usually within a few months, I would say in 90% of cases."
Dr. Budwig in "Der Tod des Tumors, Band II" (The Death of the Tumor, Vol. II) transcribing an interview broadcast by the Süddeutscher Rundfunk Stuttgart (South German Radio Station) on 11 Sep 1967, translated by Wilhelm H.
[Compare I have followed the Budwig protocol for a long time but don’t see a positive effect concerning the cancer I want to heal, Does
the Budwig protocol heal ANY condition of disease within ANY human/animal body? and Which complementary treatments did Dr. Budwig allow, endorse or recommend? for advice for those who don’t seem to respond.]
"Of all the nutritional theories that I have investigated, Dr. Johanna Budwig’s is definitely number one ... Nowhere in the world have I found not even remotely such fantastic cases as with Dr. Budwig. It’s phenomenal."
Lothar Hirneise, eminent German cancer researcher and author of Chemotherapy Heals Cancer and The Earth Is Flat
"Over 50% of Dr. Budwig's patients were doctors or relatives of doctors who knew why in such a serious disease they would rely on the experiences of this brilliant physicist, chemist and pharmacologist rather than follow the prevailing opinion which says that tumors must be destroyed through chemotherapy and radiation."
From the back cover of Dr. Budwig's last book: Cancer - The Problem and The Solution
"And what do I actually do? I give cancer patients simple, natural foods. That is all. I take sick people out of the hospital, when it is said there that they do not have more than an hour or two left to live, that the scientifically attested diagnosis is at hand and that the patient is completely moribund. In most cases I can help even these patients quickly and conclusively."
Dr. Johanna Budwig in Flax Oil as a True Aid
"The food we eat is not mankind's only determining factor. The body, soul, mind and spirit all have their functions and roles to play, their areas of influence. But the harm done by eating the wrong kind of food fats has repercussions in all realms of life, including healthy mental and spiritual functioning. In our world, however, the choice of healthy food is one of the elementary aspects of our lives which we should organize as such. It is far more important than many people in the Western world are willing to admit. It is not those who acknowledge this fact who are materialistic in their way of thinking, but those who are not willing to forego something, in order to achieve a far greater goal."
Dr. Johanna Budwig in "Flax Oil as a True Aid"
"I would not think of using the allopathic treatment. I don't think it was bravery on my part to reject it. For me it would have been stupidity to consider it after having seen what it did to so many I knew. My best friend died in my arms shortly after choosing chemo and radiation. I know of so many others who had different cancers and used the traditional treatments and died.
This is my opinion. I believe 150% in what I am choosing to not do and to do. I think that is very important. To give in to any protocol because of the strong opinions of others is a mistake. Research is crucial on the part of the one with the diagnosis."
Rhoda Freed replying to "Is anyone here using flaxoil/cottage cheese as a first line anti-cancer treatment i.e. have you had the guts to reject chemo/radiation? I think anyone who rejects the traditional ‘approved’ treatments must be very brave."
And to add here my very personal opinion of Dr. Budwig’s diet and protocol (if I may ;-): I think that it can be a true life-saver for people with serious and less serious ill-health. Due to its affordability and relative ease of implementation (combined with the amazing success rates stated by Dr. Budwig), it seems a sensible basic healing approach to try. In the long term, it might not be optimal for all healthy persons considering the continual inclusion of animal protein in the diet, especially considering the conditions under which most of earth’s dairy is currently produced (see next major heading).
More important in my eyes, however is the following: I believe that for true and permanent healing to be achieved, one often needs to consider and work at healing all known aspects and levels of human existence, which particularly include the emotional, mental, spiritual as well as the environmental ones, with the first three subsumable under the term energetic factors. In fact, I very much agree with eminent alternative and conventional cancer treatment researcher Lothar Hirneise who concurs with a number of other thinkers and healing approaches including traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) in stipulating that energetic blockages in the widest sense frequently or invariably provide the basis for disease to develop (likely exceptions in my eyes are ionizing radiation damage and similar noxious impacts assaulting the body’s integrity). Such blockages in energy flow would consequently need to be addressed and removed to allow life energies which form the basis of healthy functioning to flow normally again. See Budwig protocol & life energies blockages: On the question why the cancer always/sometimes will come back when the Budwig diet is abandoned and Energetics, particularly the outstanding DIY healing tool of EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique). I most highly recommend combining the Budwig protocol with EFT and related energetic approaches such as Qigong to optimise one’s cancer "healing curve".
For more Dr Budwig quotes, read excerpts from her book FlaxOil As A True Aid.
Why Use Organic Dairy in the Budwig Diet?
1. Antibiotics
Conventional milk (and meat) products are very likely to contain antibiotics which harm and destroy the good (beneficial) intestinal flora. This apparently both impedes proper digestion/optimal mineral nutrient assimilation and immune system performance and contributes to the currently observed Candidiasis epidemic (Candidiasis being defined as "overgrowth in the gastrointestinal tract of the usually benign yeast [or fungus] Candida albicans"). Candida fungus overgrowth has become widespread apparently due to indiscriminate antibiotics use in the food chain.
Compare On supplements, intestinal flora, cancer and immune system and Fungi producing mycotoxins: The Fungal/Mycotoxin Etiology of Human Disease (particularly CANCER).
2. Genetically engineered bovine growth hormone (Posilac)
Conventional dairy products in the US may or do contain bovine growth hormone. See for instance rense.com/general48/milk.htm ("cows treated with Posilac have been developing bone cancers").
Also compare Milk and the Cancer Connection I, Milk and the cancer connection II and Cancer Causes: Aflatoxins.
3. Ethics
(see Vegan Alternatives)
Tips
Organic Cottage Cheese and the Budwig diet
has moved to Making the Flaxseed Oil plus Cottage Cheese or Quark Mixture.
Vegan Alternatives to Cottage Cheese/Quark?
has moved here.
Tips, Suggestions & Testimonials For Dairy/Cottage Cheese/Lactose Intolerance/Sensitivity
has moved here.
**Methionine, Cystine, and Cysteine: Methionine, cystine, and cysteine and their derivatives owe their designation of "sulphurated amino acids" to the fact that they contain sulfur in addition to carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen and oxygen. Incidentally, they are also well-known as an effective cleaning "squad" for all toxic substances that we ingest because they attach themselves to harmful substances and pollutants and carry them out of the body. One example: methionine and cysteine aid in lead elimination (Karen Vago).
Also compare Cancer Causes: Aflatoxins
Budwig Testimonials
Complete list of Johanna Budwig diet & protocol cancer healing testimonials
Support Groups, Flaxseed Oil/Cottage Cheese Forums, Budwig Forums & Other
Introductory note: As I know from owning 14 of Dr. Budwig’s original German-language writings, Dr. Budwig’s work contains many details and scientific intricacies. Browsing the internet for websites offering free Budwig information, alternative cancer treatment advisors who sell such information as well as for forums and groups discussing the Budwig diet/protocol made me keenly aware that there is a certain amount of (doubtless largely well-intentioned but) partially incorrect information on the Budwig Protocol offered to the English-speaking public. To help dispel the misinformation / misinterpretation / misrepresentation shrouding the genuine Budwig Protocol and to implement and spread the word about Dr. Budwig’s authentic discoveries and "teachings", I have published the authentic central details (a number of which translated by me) gleaned from Dr. Budwig’s original works as well as from my contacts with Budwig patients, Budwig cancer carers and Dr. Budwig’s former associate, using the platform of Healing Cancer Naturally’s Budwig pages.
It is to be hoped that eventually correctly translated editions of more of her books will allow all parts of Dr. Budwig’s work and the full details of her thinking and experience with the healing of cancer to become known and accessible in the English-speaking world.
The following non-exhaustive list shows some "grassroots" forums discussing the use of Dr. Johanna Budwig’s oil-protein protocol (or parts or "free-style versions" of it) to treat and control cancer as well as other diseases.
http://curezone.com/forums/f.asp?f=55
Flax Seed Oil & Virgin Flax Oil Cottage cheese Forum - Dr. Budwig
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/flaxseedoil/
This flax oil/cottage cheese group is inactive but carries several thousand messages in its archives which are freely accessible without needing to subscribe.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/flaxseedoil2/
Budwig approach for cancer healing discussion group (moderated)
http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/flaxhealth/
"This group focus is to spread the good word about the postive benefits of utilizing flax in your diet"
(The complete Budwig protocol for healing cancer and other diseases calls for the daily addition of freshly ground flaxseeds.)
Flaxseed Oil Sources: Buying Quality Flax Oil
There are several companies and outlets which offer quality flax oil. Barlean's is known to offer a discount to (verified) cancer patients but you may also find bargains on quality flaxoil elsewhere including at Amazon. I’d make sure to go for organic, fresh, cold-pressed and unadulterated flax oil (no Vitamin E or other preservatives added) and read the customer reviews before deciding on any one brand. Also be aware that Dr. Budwig did not use flaxseed oil with lignans (in fact, lignan-added flax oil to this day is not even available in Germany). This factor may however be of little consequence.
To find flax oil at Amazon, you can enter Amazon via one of these links, then type "flax oil" or "flaxseed oil" into their search box:
- US visitors
- Canadian visitors
- UK visitors
- Amazon France
- Amazon Deutschland
- Amazon España
- Amazon Italia
By shopping (any items) via Healing Cancer Naturally's above Amazon partner links you help support its humanitarian work at no extra cost to you, for details see Support this site.
Dr. Johanna Budwig’s Works in English
FlaxOil As A True Aid Against Arthritis, Heart Infarction, Cancer, And Other Diseases
by Dr. Johanna Budwig
"Every home library needs to have a copy of this book."
At the time of most recent publishing of this page, Amazon.com had the following offer: List Price: $6.95, used & new from $4.45
More Info (US visitors)
More Info (Canadian visitors)
More Info (UK visitors)
Read excerpts from FlaxOil As A True Aid.
The Oil-Protein Diet Cookbook
by Dr. Johanna Budwig
How to use flax, even including ice-cream! "[I]ndispensible to someone serious about closely following the Budwig Protocol." "I have found that one of THE MOST VALUABLE, yea NECESSARY items one should get for following the Budwig diet is Dr. Budwig's ‘Oil Protein Cookbook.’ It demystifies all kinds of things for you, and has OVER 500 recipes in it to make sure [you] will oil plus cottage cheese in many varied tasty vegetarian dishesbe getting all the things Dr. Budwig wanted her clients to get in their diet." "I recently received my copy of the Oil Protein Diet Cookbook by Dr. Budwig. I am so glad I ordered it! It is much more than a cook book, it helped to really understand the use of flax oil and seeds, and how to portion our food intake throughout the day. The suggested ways of preparing food also were wonderful, and allow for using your imagination in ways to prepare the food to be tasty as well as healthful. This book is way [more] than
a cook book....should be entitled more like, "practical applications of the oil protein diet in your everyday life". (Users’ comments)
Read excerpts from her book FlaxOil As A True Aid.
More info (US visitors)
More info (Canadian visitors)
More info (UK visitors)
Cancer - The Problem and The Solution
by Dr Johanna Budwig
This is the last book Dr. Budwig published. You can read here an Extract from Cancer - The Problem and The Solution.
More Info (US visitors)
More Info (Canadian visitors)
More Info (UK visitors)
(The following title is not written by Dr. Budwig but on the subject of her healing diet & protocol for cancer and other disease:)
How to Fight Cancer & Win
by William L. Fischer
William L. Fischer has been involved in medicine, health care, and natural healing for over 30 years. After working with several of the largest pharmaceutical manufacturers in his native Germany, he moved to the United States and began publishing books on natural healing. For him to obtain the most comprehensive information available, his research has taken him around the world to such diverse places as Iran, the Far East, Europe, and Egypt to study natural healing techniques... Fischer, too, arrived at the conclusion that Dr. Johanna Budwig’s easy-to-implement protocol is the number one choice in healing cancer... Read excerpts from Dr. Budwig’s book FlaxOil As A True Aid.
More Info (US visitors)
More Info (Canadian visitors)
More Info (UK visitors)
Amazon and Abebooks seem to regularly offer most of the above titles at discounts (such as offering brand-new copies at "used" prices). Support this site by buying any of these books or other products through my Amazon or Abebooks links (US, UK, Canada, France, Spain, Italy & Germany) and take advantage of their (often) low prices.
Dr. Johanna Budwig's books in German
Krebs - Das Problem und die Lösung [Cancer - The Problem and The Solution] by Johanna Budwig
Sensei-Verlag, Germany (September 1999)
Öl-Eiweiß-Kost [The Oil-Protein Diet Cookbook]
by Johanna Budwig
Sensei-Verlag, Germany (November 2000)
Kosmische Kräfte gegen Krebs [Cosmic Forces Against Cancer]
by Johanna Budwig. Hyperion-Verlag, Germany (1966)
(possibly available second-hand in bookstores)
Krebs, ein Fettproblem. Richtige Wahl und Verwendung der Fette [Cancer - A Fats Problem, on the right choice and use of fats]
by Johanna Budwig, Hyperion, Freiburg, Germany (1967)
(possibly available second-hand or in bookstores)
Fette als wahre Hilfe gegen Arteriosklerose, Herzinfarkt, Krebs u. a. Drei Vorträge. [published in English as FlaxOil As A True Aid Against Arthritis, Heart Infarction, Cancer, And Other Diseases. Three Lectures]
by Johanna Budwig, Hyperion, Frbg. Germany (1972)
(possibly available second-hand or in bookstores)
Die elementare Funktion der Atmung in ihrer Beziehung zu autoxydablen Nahrungsstoffen [The Elementary Function of Respiration in its Relationship to Autoxydable Foodstuffs]
by Johanna Budwig
(possibly available second-hand or in bookstores)
Das Fettsyndrom [The Fat Syndrome]
by Johanna Budwig
Hyperion, Frbg., Germany (1972)
(possibly available second-hand or in bookstores)
Fettfibel
by Johanna Budwig
Hyperion, Frbg., Germany (1979)
(possibly available second-hand or in bookstores)
Der Tod des Tumors, Bd. I,
by Johanna Budwig
1977
(possibly available second-hand or in bookstores)
Der Tod des Tumors, Bd. II
by Johanna Budwig
1977
(possibly available second-hand or in bookstores)
Laserstrahlen gegen Krebs
by Johanna Budwig
Hyperion, Frbg., Germany (1968)
(possibly available second-hand or in bookstores)
Fotoelemente des Lebens
by Johanna Budwig
Resch Verlag, Innsbruck (1979)
(possibly available second-hand or in bookstores)
Inaugural Disputation
by Johanna Budwig
(November 1979)
"Dieses Manuskript mit Einleitung liegt dem Karolinska MedicoKirurgiska Institut Stockholm vor, in englischer Sprache.
Der Nobelpreis für Medizin wurde für die Autorin vorgeschlagen
von mehreren Vertretern der Medizin aus dem In- und Auslande."
(possibly available second-hand)
Mensch sein. Atmung, Immunabwehr im Würgegriff
by Johanna Budwig
(1986/87)
A very personal book describing both her scientific work and inventions and the relentless suppression of her research findings & work
Dr. Budwig had to face.
(possibly available second-hand)
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Related sections
For the most comprehensive coverage world-wide of the oil-protein diet & protocol developed by Dr. Budwig, see
- Dr. Johanna Budwig’s Healing Diet & Protocol incl. excerpts from her books Flax Oil As A True Aid and Cancer - The Problem and The Solution.
For further healing suggestions, see
- Diet & Nutrition
- Detoxification
- Juicing & Juicers
- Gerson Therapy (apparently well compatible and possibly mutually enhancing with the Budwig protocol)
- Healing with Light
- Herbs & Supplements
- Emotions
- Healing Cancer & Your Mind
- Spirituality
- Lothar Hirneise’s Cancer Research
Related content
- Healing Cancer
- The Cure For All Cancers (Dr. Hulda Clark): Parasites and/or pollutants as purported cancer cause
- Always bear in mind that healing may be a very individual journey, with individual needs varying from one person to the next. Compare these introductory notes on healing and disclaimer.