Last week The ‘Wellness Warrior’ wrote a blog post which contained the following statements:
” it concerns me that many people who are my target audience are being presented with a false account of the state of my health, who I am and what I’m about.”
and;
“I’ve never claimed to have cured myself (if you’ve seen this written online or in the media it’s because I have often been misquoted – these kinds of statements are false conclusions made by the author, not misleading information from me).”
I’m not sure what happened here then:
Thanks so much guys! Dani, the book is about natural health and healing, living a Wellness Warrior lifestyle and how I cured my own cancer. I can’t wait until its done. x
If you happen to pick up the paper today, flip to the Body + Soul lift out and check out a story about a young girl beating cancer with food – aka ME!
she also said; “I need to increase the transparency I have with my tribe. If you ever looked at my website for anything other than ways to condemn me, you would see that authenticity is my highest value.”
In a token effort to address the issue of being misquoted, sometime between then and now Jess or someone on her team managed to sneak a small but still kind of misleading correction into this article in the Sydney Morning Herald. The description of her condition in the article has been changed from “in remission” to “in recovery mode” without any clarification. A correction brought about by pressure from outside no doubt, but its a start.
I’ve been waiting for her to be more transparent with her ‘tribe’ since that blog post. I’m sure she is going to stop claiming that the issue with her arm is lymphedema, or a ‘flare up’ (whatever that means) and tell her ‘tribe’ about the worsening condition of her arm and the progression of the cancer in it any day now. While I’ve been waiting I’ve been looking at articles where she has been ‘misquoted’ or where ‘false conclusions have been made by the author’, and I’ve made a list of them. By the way, do you like how she threw most of the people who have ever written about her right in the path of a bus there? ‘False conclusions made by authors.’ THWACK! That was the bus hitting you guys for writing about her without seeing through her inferences and lies by omission. Although, writing about the reality of the situation earns one the label of ‘bully’, so it’s a no win situation.
Before we move on to the list, it is worth reiterating here that Jess’ cancer, Epithelioid Sarcoma is a slow growing cancer and the fact that she is alive today is unremarkable. In fact, if she is still alive ten years post diagnosis that will be unremarkable too. It is even conceivable with such an indolent cancer that Jess will still be alive 15 years post diagnosis. (I actually hope she is, I don’t wish her to die young.) However, the length of her life will be a result of the type of cancer she has and not that of juices and coffee enemas. I’d also like to say that should Jess ever be able to produce evidence from a medical oncologist that she is free of cancer, be it next month or in 15 years, I will write RETRACTED all over the blog posts about her and issue a formal apology.
“Oh no! What have they found?”
So here is my list. These are the ‘misquotes’ and ‘false conclusions made by authors’ I found in a rather short time on google.
1. The first one is the introduction on Jess’ Google+ profile. I’m not sure if she has been misquoted here, or if the author has made a false conclusion. I think it might be the latter.
“Hey there! I’m Jess Ainscough and I’m a writer, blogger, holistic health coach, cancer survivor, and the creator of the online wellness sanctuary, The Wellness Warrior”
2. News.com.au. June 24, 2013 “The holistic health coach, who was in Byron Bay last week, follows a strict organic diet after overcoming cancer without using modern medicine.”
3. The Urban List. January 17, 2013 “I’m the creator of a website called TheWellnessWarrior.com.au, where I share my cancer recovery story.“
4. The Raw Food Institute of Australia. January 29, 2014 “…using the world recognized Gerson therapy with outstanding results.“
5. Wellness Mamma. She is a writer, holistic health coach, and cancer survivor (she did it naturally!).
6. Rock Stock Living. Febuary 5, 2014. “well not only by age 28 is she a cancer survivor, she predominantly treated it naturally.”
7. The Warwick Cancer Foundation. “As a young adult cancer survivor…”
8. Woman’s Day. September 7, 2011 “This therapy worked for me, and now it is working for my mother who was recently diagnosed with breast cancer.”
9. SMH Life & Style. Feb 2 2014 “…has been in remission for four years.” and ”In conventional language I’m in remission,” Ainscough says. “But I will be healing forever. It’s a permanent process.”
10. Natural News: Nov 6, 2012. “Cancer Survivor” and “Discover how Jessica has kept her cancer away and what she does now to ensure it doesn’t come back.”
11. Good Being. Sept 15, 2013 “Overcame Cancer”
12. whosyour.com. “I’m the creator of a website called The Wellness Warrior, where I share my cancer recovery story.”
13. Fertilise Yourself. September 24, 2012. “Jess is an ah-mazing woman who has healed herself of cancer.”
14. Pauline Hanuise Holistic Health and Recovery Coaching. January 9, 2013. “she shares her cancer recovery story.“
15. Alison Smith PhD. July 3, 2013. “Jessica, better known as The Wellness Warrior herself, is a beautiful Aussie, who fought cancer and won using the Gerson Diet: a protocol that cures cancer naturally”
16. Move, Nourish, Believe. Jan 24, 2013. “she is a cancer survivor who (by embracing health, wellness and love) saved her own life and inspired hundreds and thousands of others in the process.”
17. IUV. June 27, 2013 “I realized I was more than a ‘cancer success story’ — I was a leader, a role model, an educator, and a champion.”
18. Cancer Fact or Fiction. October 21, 2013 “Jessica Ainscough has a hugely successful Blog The Wellness Warrior, why not check it out to learn more about How to survive Cancer with the Gerson therapy.”
19. Earth Events. “… five years of lessons that have not only saved my life…”
20. Mind Body Green. July 12, 2010 “Conquering Cancer with Carrot Juice” and “The therapy gets some seriously amazing results and I cannot wait until I can count myself as one of it’s success stories.”
21. Salt. Winter 2013 “Now cancer free”
22. Motion Magazine. May 16, 2013 “faced and overcome one of the greatest evils in life, cancer.”
23. Organicness. June 2, 2013 “cancer survivor”
24. Farm Online. January 29, 2014 “Now 28, Jess has been in remission from cancer for almost six years“
25. Life & Style. January 30, 2014. “Jess’ cancer survival story is a controversial one, but it certainly worked for her.” and “Jess, now 28, has been in remission from cancer for six years…”
26. Love Driven Prints. Feb 8, 2012 “A blogger in Australia named Jessica Ainscough details how she saved her own arm from amputation using the Gerson therapy as well. You can read all about it on her site, The Wellness Warrior.”
I found this one is particularly upsetting. A woman with metastatic breast cancer in her lung, liver, spine, ribs, pelvis and brain is asking for donations to fund a $11,000+ expenses trip to a Gerson retreat and cites Jess as a compelling reason for going. She didn’t go to Gerson because they wouldn’t take her, so she tried another restrictive, nonsense diet and supplement regime to no avail. Sadly, Lillian passed away in June 2013.
Moving on from google, I looked at the online book listings for Make Peace With Your Plate, the book recently authored by Jess and published through Hay House. Within a few minutes I had found no less than six listings for he book that contained the following;
“Six years on, following a complete change in lifestyle, diet and mindset, she is cancer-free and thriving.”
Booktopia blog Penguin Books Boffin Bookshop Angus and Robertson Fishpond and Bookworld.
In total, I found 32 instances where the takeaway message is that Jess has cured herself, and it took minimal effort on my part to find those. Something is very wrong here if so many individuals are getting the same incorrect message from what Jess says and the information she provides. If you know of any other examples that aren’t on the list, do post them in the comments and I will update the list.
So, Wellness Warrior team, there are 32 more corrections you need to make. I hope having them all detailed here with the relevant links will assist you in being able to do this.
You’re welcome.
The following examples have been provided by readers since this post was published. Thanks everyone for your input.
33. In this video, Jess herself says at 0.30 “For the past eighteen months, I have been curing myself of cancer using a natural healing modality called Gerson Therapy.”
34. delvespot.com. July 25, 2012 [Interviewer] “You cured yourself of cancer, naturally. It’s a “stop the press” kind of moment, yet, because we find it so amazing, what does it say about our relationship with our bodies?
[Jess] We definitely don’t trust ourselves enough, or give our bodies the credit they deserve when it comes to healing. We are designed to self heal – as long as we provide the right environment to do so.
35. Dolly. January 6, 2012 “I am ecstatic to report that it has worked for me.”
36. The Gerson Institute. January 27, 2012 “Why I owe my life to Gerson” and “I can visibly see the Therapy healing the tumors I had in my arm.”
37. thewellnesswarrior.com.au. June 12, 2011. “I will be getting up on my soap box to share my story about how I am curing myself of an “incurable” sarcoma.”
The View From The Hills 
why why why aren’t the mainstream media picking up on this ? You have even done the work for them ! I hope this blog is being sent to journalists all around Australia and posted on her blog as well. Well done and keep it up !
It is Liam, unfortunately with the media, a story about a pretty young lady struck down by cancer, but ‘beating’ it is more attractive.
Myself, and others have attempted to engage with Jess on her FB page, she sometimes responds, but ultimately all posts and comments are deleted and hidden (even the ones she responds to), so that her followers aren’t exposed to the truth.
When she did the ‘Clearing things up’ post, which resulted in 400+ comments mostly calling her critics bullies, I commented with a link to my first post, saying that it would only be fair for her followers to know what was said, and what they were commenting on. It was deleted. Jess is doing everything in her power to ensure her followers do not get to see this.
This was quite a thorough, reasonably skeptical piece.
Surely it’s time for a followup on how renouncing conventional medicine worked out for Jess’s mother, and how wonderfully Gerson has worked for Jess herself.
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/features/holding-out-for-a-miracle/story-e6frg8h6-1226476739168#
Howdy Rosalie. Love the blog and your ongoing series on Jess Ainscough.
I don’t know if you’ve seen this:-
…sorry if you have already, but 30 seconds in really blows her line about never having said she cured herself of cancer out of the water.
Keep up the excellent blogging.
Thanks Bryan, I hadn’t seen it. Much appreciated!
Interestingly, that video has now been made ‘private’.
Hi Rosalie, I remember hearing about Jess a long time ago, reading her blog, watching her videos and finding her whole approach, while intense, very interesting- however I never became a fan or followed. Hearing of her passing recently, I tried googling her however found nothing. I looked her up on facebook, googled her name and blog but found nothing, however I did find your blog and my eyes were opened- thank you for bringing our attention to that. I went on to click a bunch of your links to her blogs, posts and videos that you provide as evidence of her saying she was ‘cured of cancer’ however everything has been taken down! Is this just my computer playing up or has someone taken all of her content down? And if so I wonder why?
Thank you!
Hi Rowleyha,
Your computer is fine, an enormous amount of Jess’ web content has been taken down. Youtube videos, her website and blog and her social media presence have all been taken down. On one hand, I can understand the family didn’t want to deal with people making comment on these things, but it also looks suspiciously like trying to erase all her claims that have now proven to be misguided and false.
That’s outrageous! I’ve never seen a person misquoted so many times.
I wonder why she hasn’t alerted MediaWatch?
Yes, I wonder. And if she knows that she is frequently ‘misquoted’ why hasn’t she bothered to get corrections instead of let the ‘misquotes’ stand?
Hi Rosalie
Only 32 instances? I think that is a drop in the ocean.
I have been reading the WW blog now for about a year but only last night came across this post that floored me completely. It discusses why Mamamia pulled an article that Jess contributed – YAY for Mia Freeman. It really is worth scrolling and reading all the comments. You will be stunned!
http://www.thewellnesswarrior.com.au/2011/11/when-did-feeding-ourselves-become-so-complicated/
Here is a sample of what you will find. It gets a lot more interesting.
Jess | On Nov 22, 2011
Deb, if you were truly interested in learning about the effectiveness of Gerson Therapy and were willing to open your mind just a crack to consider it’s healing power, I would suggest you extend your research into it. I speak often on this site about how it is reversing my own “incurable” cancer, and by reversing I mean removing cancer cells from my body.
Also, this is an interview post Gerson Therapy. It doesn’t stop!
http://delvespot.com/2012/07/qa-jessica-ainscough-the-wellness-warrior/
“You cured yourself of cancer, naturally. It’s a “stop the press” kind of moment, yet, because we find it so amazing, what does it say about our relationship with our bodies?
[Jess] We definitely don’t trust ourselves enough, or give our bodies the credit they deserve when it comes to healing. We are designed to self heal – as long as we provide the right environment to do so.”
Also, many FB comments have been deleted!
Hi Rose,
We’re up to 37 now but I agree that is a drop in the ocean. Thanks for the additions.
At what point might she admit that using words like ‘healing/reversing/recovering from’ and ‘incurable cancer’ in the same sentence is usually taken at face value, as a claim that Gerson Therapy cured her cancer?
Comment below from what may be the most awful load of crap ever printed on her blog:
http://www.thewellnesswarrior.com.au/2011/10/cancer-is-not-a-disease-it-is-a-mechanism-of-protection-and-survival/
“26/10/2011. Jess:….. In the eyes of conventional doctors, I have an incurable, terminal cancer, yet I have managed to reverse it by taking control of my health and doing everything I can to get my body back in balance…..”
All carefully chosen weasel words, learned from her ‘alt med’ gurus no doubt. Gives the desired impression, but also leaves room for the defence of “But I didn’t say cured…” Except, people are paying attention, and she did. Fail.
Hope the links work ….
“her remarkable journey of self-healing from cancer..”
http://www.scienceofstillness.com/blog/health-wellness/theres-someone-id-like-you-to-meet/
“Jess has managed to get her body to a state that it now heals itself”
http://destwellnesswellbeing.blogspot.com.au/2012/09/an-interview-with-wellness-warrior-jess_18.html
“she committed to a two year intense healing process using the world recognized Gerson therapy with outstanding results. ”
http://therawfoodinstituteofaustralia.com/jess-ainscough-wellness-warrior/
Oh dear, she forgot to correct the interview question here…
Q:You cured yourself of cancer, naturally. It’s a “stop the press” kind of moment, yet, because we find it so amazing, what does it say about our relationship with our bodies?
[Jess]: We definitely don’t trust ourselves enough, or give our bodies the credit they deserve when it comes to healing. We are designed to self heal – as long as we provide the right environment to do so.
http://delvespot.com/2012/07/qa-jessica-ainscough-the-wellness-warrior/
Here, she somehow misquotes herself….
“I am ecstatic to report that [gerson] has worked for me. I have had no cancer spread, no more lumps pop up (they were popping up rapidly before) and I can actually see some of my tumours coming out through my skin and disappearing.”
http://www.dolly.com.au/your-space/reality-reads/2012/1/im-healing-myself-from-cancer-naturally/
…and again…
“I can visibly see the Therapy healing the tumors I had in my arm.”
http://gerson.org/gerpress/why-i-owe-my-life-to-gerson/
Thanks Lisa. I’m sure we could do this all day if we had nothing better to do!
I do not see any “weasel words” here – she is blatantly and expressly saying that she cured herself of cancer using Gerson.
considering she has been giving health advice which could be deadly are there grounds for legal action? A class action lawsuit perhaps on behalf of people who followed her advice.
Australia has federal laws to protect patients from unethical or unsafe practices by registered health practitioners, however, NSW is the only state to provide similar protection from unregistered health practitioners. NSW patients adversely affected by unregistered practitioners may seek redress through the Health Care Complaints Commission (HCCC).
For Australians outside of NSW, health consumer protection laws in relation to unregistered practitioners laws are dismal and there are no mechanisms to protect the public unless the practitioners commit criminal offences such as assault, theft or fraud, which can be dealt with by police; or misleading or deceptive conduct which might come under the authority of the state Offices of Fair Trading.
In other words, an unregistered health practitioner (eg. naturopath, massage therapist, Esoteric healer, unregistered counsellor/psychotherapist etc.) may claim to be able to cure serious illnesses, advise you against seeking medical advice, advise you to quit vital pharmaceutical medications, practice while intoxicated, ignore standard precautions for infection control, make unsubstantiated therapeutic claims, misinform and financially exploit clients and transgress personal boundaries and invade a patient’s privacy with impunity.
In Queensland, for example, you could make a complaint about such a practitioner to the HQCC and they can file it and offer some advice, but they have no powers to act on complaints, because there is no health care consumer protection legislation against unregistered practitioners.
http://universalmedicineaccountability.wordpress.com/2012/11/22/accountability-complaints-against-unregistered-health-practitioners/
Thanks for that Jane. Hopefully the other states will follow N.S.W.’s lead, something needs to be done.
Watch this vide here the words cured leave her lips
Thanks Bill!
Thanks for this. Also on facebook a few days ago she posted about an unfinished documentary called ‘The Food Cure’ and even suggests people donate money to help get it finished. Seriously Jess, after everything that’s happened in the past few weeks, you want to endorse something called ‘The Food Cure’??
Some people never learn.
Some salient and very pithy points made recently on the GOMI (Get Off My Internets) forum – the calamari recount is a scream
http://getoffmyinternets.net/forums/healthy-living-bloggers/wellness-warrior-needs-to-gomi/
Great Piece of investigative writing Rosalie. It ups the ante of your last blog. By the way the title that previous blog – Denial, Delusion or Dishonesty – speaks to the psychological state and similar methods used by those claiming alt/med cancer cures. Are they deluded? Do they believe they are being honest? Are they in denial? Ainscough, Gawler and increasingly the raw vegan marathon runner, Janet Murray Waiklin, (Raw Can Cure Cancer book) all are bent on creating high media profiles so they hold great influence over vulnerable cancer patients. Their tools are spin, inference, gimmicks or downright inaccurate claims.
Oncologists and doctors are left to clean up the wreckage but not enough oncologists speak out on this issue. When they do they are attacked and discredited by the alt/med folk.
I hope your blog can galvanise action so that in the future people like the trio above and those who plan to follow them, should be mandated to provide solid medical evidence that they – 1. Had the cancer they claim – and – 2. Have the remission they claim. and 3. That it was diet or the alt/med protocols that brought about their remission.
It should be that simple!
It should be Pip. We can only keep plugging away and hope to create awareness and change I guess.
Yes, agreed. The only way to deal with this is to present the facts – what the ‘Wellness Warrior’ actually said. I can confirm that Jess Ainscough’s claim to have adopted the name ‘Wellness Warrior’ was not her idea – my research confirms the ‘Wellness Warrior’ had already existed before Jess. Please see the response I received from the person who created and purchased the domain name of Wellness Warrior. Unlike Jess, this individual is not promoting her survival from cancer – advocating a balanced and healthy life. We all know why Jess’s blog is more well known.
Hello Julie
I launched “wellnesswarrior.com” in early 2010. In 2009 I registered the domain names “Wellnesswarrior.com”, “wellnesswarrior.com.au” and “thewellnesswarrior.com.au”. I decided not to renew the latter and within 6 months was aware of a fellow Australian adopting the name “The Wellness Warrior” and snapping up the very domain name I had let go to share her cancer recovery story.
I am not surprised by this. The thing that sets Jess apart from every other ‘wellness’ blogger trying to make a dollar in the ‘wellness’ industry is that her business is built on the foundation of a cancer ‘survival’ story. It is a shame that story is not as it seems.
This video is a humorous take on the wellness industry – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HMGIbOGu8q0
The url for the wellness warrior is now jessainscough.com, interesting….
Very. I wonder what could be behind that?
She has now completely erased her post about her mum’s “flare ups” (read tumours) when you visit the link here you get an error message:http://www.thewellnesswarrior.com.au/2011/08/the-mum-report-flare-ups/
Thank god for google cache you can still read the post here:
http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:kjAITX8_ONsJ:www.thewellnesswarrior.com.au/2011/08/the-mum-report-flare-ups/+&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=uk
I wonder how many other posts she’s franticly deleting?
Yes, it is a shame the internet never forgets!
June 2011: “I’m making it my personal mission to start up The Wellness Warrior Foundation and raise money for people who want to treat cancer with Gerson or another holistic therapy.”
Wonder whatever happened to this idea?
http://www.thewellnesswarrior.com.au/2011/06/get-by-with-a-little-help-from-my-friends/
I’m guessing her own wants, and the realisation that the Gerson didn’t work got in the way.
Keep up the good work Rosalie! Surely she has to address this all on her blog soon? I will be watching with interest!
I would hope so, but she won’t unless she can find a way of addressing it without alerting her followers to the main issues here.
Good morning everyone
I have sent the following to Jess via her email. I note that today she has posted a blog about her change of diet. She can’t help herself – she’s making claims about cancer and sugar. Please consider posting directly onto her blog…..
Good morning Jess
I note your posts entitled ‘The arm has spoken’ (no Jess, the cancer is speaking), your endorsement of ‘The Food Cure’(a ringing endorsement of Gerson) and ‘I need to clear up a few things’ (more correctly, I need to now change what I have said). It disturbs me that you have made explicit claims about the role of diet (most explicitly the Gerson diet) in your cancer ‘recovery’. No-one is disputing the role of diet in a healthy life but this is not what is disturbing about what and how you are promoting yourself Jess. If you had a blog about wellness and dietary issues it would be absolutely fine but it is your cancer story woven into the diet that has drawn people in. This is what is not OK. Additionally I now note you are into the promotion of at least two businesses for which you receive kickbacks. You are entering the ethical grey area here Jess.
By lies of omission and inference you continue to make the connection between your diet and ‘recovery’ from cancer. Do you really think without any medical intervention your outcome would be the same? It is absolutely tragic that your mother in all likelihood died needlessly from a cancer that has a very high rate of survival due to research and evidence. Sure many people living with cancer address dietary issues BUT diet alone is not responsible for their survival. It would be highly unethical to do this but the only way this could be tested would be for people to ONLY do the Gerson, for example, and track their survival. Such data does not exist, even from the Gerson Institute. As a leading Australian oncologist has said ‘coffee enemas don’t cure cancer’. Further Jess, it disturbs me that you have made yourself the self-appointed ‘expert’ on countless aspects of medical science on your blogs. The intricate functions of the liver being one of many examples. A cancer experience is a very different matter to being a cancer expert.
You can craft your words all you like and have your PR machine ‘airbrush’ out any criticism that doesn’t support your claims and wrongly accuse people who are calling you to account ‘bullies’. It seems you are more than happy to have a huge following and fawning ‘tribe’ members but when called to answer what is genuine critical enquiry you Jess are on the attack. You make claims and these must be held up for scrutiny and account. In the scientific field if a person makes claims they must be supported by EVIDENCE and my research on all you have said and done doesn’t ‘stand up’ to any real scrutiny. From a scientific point of view you, Jess are on very shaky ground indeed.
You have explicitly claimed through the media that Gerson not only offers hope but a cure. ‘The Food Cure’ by its title implies that cancer can be cured by diet and you are endorsing this. You embarked on your non-traditional journey Jess in the full belief that your investment was for a cure (as was your mother’s decision to opt for the Gerson diet). You have not had the outcome you desired to support what you have claimed so you are reinventing and ‘morphing’ the story to fit the reality you find yourself in right now. Simply placing a disclaimer on your web or changing one word does not abrogate your moral responsibility to tell the truth.
By the way, your idea to call yourself ‘The Wellness Warrior’ isn’t your idea. A British company already had the name and domain for several versions of the name. They simply didn’t renew the domain name with ‘The’ in front of Wellness Warrior. I have no doubt you would have known when you researched this that you would have seen it had already been conceptualised. I contacted the company to verify when they took up the Wellness Warrior concept and name and they were in business before you Jess.
I have been watching the ethics of business leaders for almost 20 years now Jess and I have learned one thing. Individuals building empires based on dubious claims and practices which are questionable, eventually come ‘unstuck’ and it happens very quickly. The irony is, the very tool (social media) that has made these individuals public figures sets the scene for their downfall.
So the ‘experimental physical treatment’ she was talking about previously is not eating sugar? Good god.
I’m beginning to think that there is no nonsense she reads on google that she doesn’t accept as true. Great email, addressing some of the important issues here. Do let us know if you get a response.
The ‘Healing Cancer Resource Guide’ Link on the right hand side of her site has been deactivated.
Last week Jess announced that she was slowing down to heal her arm by trying new treatments which she will unfold in due time. I wonder if this new sugar/grain diet is
the “new’ treatment – to see how her body responds!. The cancer/sugar debate is an old one and with all her investigative prowess, I thought she would have deemed Gerson Therapy to be very high in (natural) sugar – all those orange, carrot and apple juices over 2+ years!!!! The therapy is also grain heavy with oats that she has also cut out. Spinning it every which way now!
Oh, but Charlotte Gerson is ‘God’ and anything she says is the truth!
Sugar feeds cancer is one of many myths being recycled. They have come before and unless we come to our collective senses, will come again. On Grace Gawler’s weekly radio show – Navigating the Cancer Maze. Grace interviews leading researchers in cancer medicine. http://www.voiceamerica.com/episode/68615/special-encore-presentation-grace-gawler-and-dr-ioannis-papasotiriou-unlocking-the-mysteries-of-dna The sugar question is addressed by Dr Ioannis Papasotiriou who holds double PhDs in Genetic and Molecular Medicine. In short the cancer is clever and changes the DNA to make sugars even when none exists in the diet. Generally promoters of alt/med cancer cures do not understand the nature of cancer which comprises of at least 200 diseases.
For those who are time poor, the section on sugars and cancer occurs at precisely 44 minutes 47 seconds into Grace Gawler’s interview of Dr Ioannis Papasotiriou. http://www.voiceamerica.com/episode/68615/special-encore-presentation-grace-gawler-and-dr-ioannis-papasotiriou-unlocking-the-mysteries-of-dna – Dr Ioannis Papasotiriou is head of molecular medicine department of R.G.C.C – Research Genetic Cancer Center Ltd.
Grace’s weekly radio show is designed to help patients interface with researchers, doctors, oncologists driving advances in cancer treatment. The show provides a balance to widespread myths promoted by people like Ainscough that result in desperate patients making choices that may harm their health or cause their death.
Navigating the Cancer Maze is a big commitment requiring about 10 hours work each week and more than $22,000 each year to produce. (Which Grace’s charity has to raise) I’d like more patients to know about the show as a source of sensible science based cancer information. In her show Grace also interviews patients, cancer authors and celebrities like TV’s Fran Drescher..
Back to the sugar issue. In short cancer cells have large energy demands and thus consume large amounts of sugar or carbohydrates but as Dr Papasotiriou says, cancer cells can recruit energy from many sources if the carbs are shut off. However healthy cells don’t have this capacity and are harmed when carbs are reduced. MD Anderson in the USA has this to say on the topic. http://www.mdanderson.org/publications/focused-on-health/issues/2012-november/cancersugar.html
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, MA, is a world leader in adult and pediatric cancer treatment and research. I have posted an extract from an article on their website. http://www.dana-farber.org/Health-Library/Sugar-and-Cancer-Cells.aspx
Extract: Should cancer survivors avoid eating oranges because they have natural sugar? For comparison’s sake, let’s consider that one medium orange contains 12 grams of sugar and a small donut contains 10 grams of sugar. The difference is that the orange also contains fiber and phytonutrients, both of which may play a role in fighting cancer, whereas the donut is just 200 empty calories, devoid of any potential nutritional benefit. Eliminating foods that contain sugar, such as fruits, is not wise for cancer survivors as this limits intake of cancer-fighting nutrients that are important for energy and overall health.
In fact, many cancer patients are led to believe they must follow a restricted sugar diet for fear of causing cancer growth in themselves if they do not adhere. This fear and rigidity often promotes a very stressful experience. The stress will actually lead to an increase in blood sugar as well as compromised immunity. These negative health effects are actually the exact opposite of the purported benefit of such a plan.
At our institute we’ve seen cancer patients who have lost 20 kilos in a month from following the Gerson diet. Sadly many are no longer with us. We are quite concerned by this dangerous trend. As I stated earlier we suspect there are thousands of deaths caused by patients experimenting with alt/med fads while delaying or abandoning conventional treatments.
Perhaps there should be a government inquiry!
I think in her world if you don’t believe that everything you read is true then you are closed minded and negative. Everything is sunshine and unicorns is wellness land.
I think you are correct about that, Ryan.
I’m just not sure at which point she was so convinced the therapy was working. From day one she appeared to be talking this way. Why would you do this with no proof? At least give the therapy a chance to prove itself (or not as is the case) or risk the fall out. I just can’t believe she would go around telling the world it had worked when it hasn’t. Now she just looks like an idiot
I can’t help but wonder if the Gerson institute teaches them to spout this nonsense also
I can’t see this ‘The Arm has spoken’ blog post? has she taken it down?
Hi Filly,
It wasn’t a blog post, it was her email newsletter from 28/2, subject heading ‘the arm has spoken’. This is the text (I have left out the screeds of ‘buy my shit and B-school’s shit’ that follows it!):
“Awesome friend,
————————————————————
It’s no secret that my arm has been flaring up lately. You only have to look at photos from the last stop on my tour to see how swollen it was after three weeks of flying around the country. Plus, after all of stress I was under last year, it hasn’t been faring too well. Last year was pretty much focused on my mum and doing everything in my power to try and get her well. After she passed, I was both physically and emotionally exhausted. When I’m exhausted, the first place it shows up is in my arm. My arm is like my body’s communication tool with me, and I’m hearing it loud and clear.
So, I’m listening. I’m scaling things right back to give my body, mind and soul what they need. Particularly my soul. I feel like I’ve done so much work physically and that it’s time to pay more attention to what my soul needs. It’s time for less work and more soul medicine. Less doing, more being.
I’m also experimenting with some new physical treatments that I can’t wait to share with you. I just want to have sufficient time to experience their benefits before I write about them. Stay tuned for a series on that though!
In the meantime, I ask that you are patient with me. I’m not disappearing from the blog again, but I am going to honour myself and not push myself too much. Some weeks I may post five days, some weeks it may just be one. I don’t want to lock myself into anything at the moment. I know that you will understand, being the incredible, loving tribe member that you are. I’m so grateful for you!
Have a wonderful, restful, soul nurturing weekend.”
Oh no – here’s another Australian Gerson devotee embarking on a bit of a talk circut on how she cured her bowel cancer. She had surgery, but refused chemo even though she says lymph pathology came back positive for cancer.
http://katsroad2heal.wordpress.com/2013/12/11/how-am-i-doing/
“What is left to heal? Well, I’ve stray cancer cells circulating in my system via the colon lymph nodes that tested positive in the pathology lab and there is currently no way of testing to see if they are dead, alive, active etc. The Gerson Therapy heals the body so it can detect and destroy these cells like a normal person’s immune system would. Iron serum levels can go up quite a bit more, the skin on my legs is sometimes dry and scaly like a lizards (I use no products on my skin anymore) but Charlotte Gerson tells me that will go forever at some point. I have some internal scar tissues to heal from the operation. “
Talking at a crunchy cafe near you…
Of course,/i> a little digging finds the Wellness Warrior has been an influence…
http://katsroad2heal.wordpress.com/2013/12/09/coffee-enemas-the-hows-whys/
Thanks JaneD form this. Another Gerson devotee and Jess is right up there too. The only difference is she has build a very healthy empire in the process.
There is a ‘qualified’ doctor on the Gold Coast who has visitied the Gerson Institute. In her infusion rooms (which are always full) non stop videos of Gerson are played. Patients report feeling trapped.
I saw jess in person recently out as I’m also a Sunshine Coast local. She was wearing a long sleeve shirt but had the sleeve pulled right over her left hand and fingers and seemed extremely conscious of it. I can’t help but feel a mixture of horror at what was being hidden and extremely sorry for her at the same time 😦
Pip – I am an avid fan of Navigating the Cancer Maze and the podcasts are my ‘walking’ friends. This episode explains the place that CAM has in cancer treatment and vastly differs from what Jess promotes. It’s scary that cancer scams are estimated to be worth about 40billion in the USA and probably not too far behind in most western countries. So much for the ‘Big Pharma’ that Jess goes on about. Also, Gerson and coffee enemas are mentioned as being useless and actually dangerous. Well worth listening to:
The role of Complementary Therapies in Cancer Care -Grace Gawler in conversation with MSKCC’s Dr Barrie Cassileth.
http://www.voiceamerica.com/episode/71935/special-encore-presentation-navigating-the-cancer-maze-the-role-of-complementary-therapies-in-cancer
Thank you so much for writing this article. Say we were to believe Jessica Ainscough, that she has simply been misquoted about curing her cancer. Then why would it take FOUR YEARS of this going on before she decided to “clear it up?” Even if we were to give her the benefit of the doubt, she would still be a highly unethical person for letting this misinformation persist.
Alas, Ainscough knew what she was doing the whole time. She has no business to market and sell without the “I cured myself of cancer” story. It is her bread and butter and she well knows it. She is back peddling now because her cancer is obvious and visible to even a casual observer.
I think this blog is a very important counter to Ainscough’s lies. I will continue to visit and support it. I know, I know, there are no pretty pictures of Australian beaches with “inspiring” slogans scrawled across them. But I manage to like it all the same.
I’m not sure if someone else has posted this already, but in May 2013 Jess did a post about flu vaccines. In the comments, someone asked Jess if she ever gets Pap smears. She wrote ”since I’m on a cancer-healing program that heals the body of ALL cancers, I don’t see the need to have pap smears” and ”Gerson Therapy is a therapy that heals the body as a whole – it doesn’t heal one disease and leave others. If I’m healing one cancer there is no way I can have another one.”
These quotes don’t quite fit with her recent statement – ”From the beginning, I didn’t think Gerson Therapy alone would heal me.”
In February this year when she wrote ”There was a time when it appeared that everything I had been doing physically had stabilised my condition, but in recent months it has flared up again”. I think this is her way of admitting that she thought Gerson had worked for her but now realises it didn’t. But instead of admitting she was wrong, she has had to backpeddle on her original message.
Hi
Interesting piece but is consistent with Jess reinventing her history to fit in with the reality of her condition. She did indeed embark upon Gerson and totally believed it would ‘cure’ her and of course now that this has not happened (and her mother has in all likelihood died needlessly from breast cancer) she is in a corner and can’t get out – there has been too much invested in her chosen Gerson journey to ‘come clean’.
All you can do is to post your comments on her webpage and Facebook page and pose the question….’Jess in May 2013 you said this……what is your position now?
Ensure you take a screen shot of what you post – she has a team of minders who airbrush out any criticism
What is troubling is that Jess A is not the only bending the truth and making lots of money on the “I healed my cancer trail’ At this site – http://www.thejourney.com/about-us/ – about multi millionairess Brandon Bays says – “In 1992 Brandon was diagnosed with a basketball-sized tumor. Having a background and strong belief in natural medicines and holistic healing, Brandon put into practice everything she had learned about nutrition, herbology, kineasiology, meditation and guided visualization with a carefully planned natural healing regimen.
Amazing herself and her doctors, Brandon intuitively listened to her body wisdom and completely healed in only 6 ½ weeks. No drugs, no surgery, no pain! This got her on ‘Oprah”.
On this site http://www.iangawler.com/iangawler.html – the site of Dr Ian Gawler – Well this is a lie in the beginning – He is not a doctor just a retired veterinary surgeon – guess how many other lies there might be in the folllowing paragraphs. “A long-term cancer survivor, Dr Gawler was diagnosed with bone cancer and his right leg was amputated in 1975. However, the disease recurred later that year. Drawing upon an integrated approach, he experienced a remarkable recovery. However 2 MJA articles about him are factually incorrect (lying) – ‘implyin’ I cured my cancer with vegan diets and meditations.
There is more – at this site – you can check out – Breast Cancer Recovery and Prevention – Using Psychoneuroimmunology? by Dr. Talia Miller (another lie Tania had a PhD in English Lit) But her work says … From Survivor to Thriver – The Breakthrough Program for Beating Breast Cancer™ Trademarked eh?
She says Have you ever wondered how body, mind and spirit integrate to make total wellness possible? The Breast Cancer Recovery Coach, Dr. Talia Miller, has developed such a program which is now used by phone, to empower women struck with cancer, to heal.
Sadly Tania’s cancer progressed and she took a suicide pill. But her lie live on via the internet. Most who knew her said she was a ‘nice’ lady.Like Jess and Jess’s mum.
Working 7 days a week with cancer patients I know how desperate they are for a ‘quick cure’ It sickens me that there are so many fakes preying on them and I’m just grateful that this blog exposes some of them.
You are right Pip and seeing such despair every day, you would be continually scratching your head. As a cancer sufferer, I have been battling my breast cancer for 15 months and now find myself in the midst of a new scare. I may have to just stop reading Jess’ site as the ‘cancer is a gift’ and all the pretty pictures and warm and fuzzy posts are really starting to grate me. I remain eternally hopeful and my medical team all have the dedication and scientific knowledge to give me the best chance of beating this.
One of the sites that is often hailed by the ‘alternative’ mob is that terrible ‘Chris beat Cancer’ site. http://www.chrisbeatcancer.com/
Here you will find every form of woo and quackery imaginable. The Donate button and the Product Shop really get my blood boiling. Of course not one of the ‘success’ stories attribute the surgery or conventional treatment they may have had before claiming some form of quackery cured them.
Chemo, surgery and radiation all suck but cancer sucks more!!!
The sad irony is the end stage appearance of her arm will be the exact opposite of the filtered instagrammed prettiness saturating her current internet presence. I suspect her long sleeves and bandage may be covering more than oedema.
(Links to graphic pic of advanced epithelioid sarcoma)
http://robgrimshaw.blogspot.com.au/2011/06/this-picture-was-taken-few-weeks-ago.html
http://pathtowellness.com.au/make-peace-with-your-plate/
“Kicked cancer in the butt” – that by her bestie
I have a follow up about number 34 from DelveSpot. I’ve had a rather irritating conversation with Lucie d’Alessandro recently regarding her interview with Jess. Lucie has conceded ‘it pays to remember that at the time I did the interview, I believe she was doing incredibly well’ and ‘Jess didn’t correct me when I said that she was cured and I’m not sure why that was.’
I wonder how much influence Ainscough has had on Lucie as far as her identical decision to reject evidence-based scans, preferring instead the usual mishmash of woo :
Instead of scans I do the following:
+ Blood work every three months for my Gerson Therapy doctor in Mexico. This indicates if the systems in my body are functioning, so we know my body can do its thing and heal.
+ pH tests to check my pH balance; disease doesn’t like alkalinity. I’m usually alkaline, but if I’m a bit acidic I get more sleep, amp up my green juices, have a glass of warm water + apple cider vinegar a day, and de-stress.
+ Visit an integrative doctor visits every three months. Dr G. is a partner in my healthcare, like any doctor I see now. I love that she pays special attention to how I feel emotionally and spiritually; stress, support, emotional expression, plus the results of the complementary therapies I do, like cranial sacral therapy + massage.
+ Regular self-check ins. I simply ask myself how do I feel? No one knows better than me. Am I tired? Energized? Happy? Stressed? Sad? Excited? I adjust accordingly: do more of what makes me feel good, or get more sleep, or have a big venting session.
That’s it.
At the end of my two-year therapy, maybe I’ll do a thermogram; a non-invasive, heat-sensitive screening. I’ll make that decision then.
http://delvespot.com/2012/08/1-question-about-my-cancer-diagnosis-my-surprising-answer/
Lets hope her original lumpectomy was 100% successful.
Did Lucie have a lumpectomy? She keeps that pretty quiet. If caught early enough, breast cancer can often be cured with surgery alone.
And on the subject of the Gerson blood tests – I wonder what results they gave Sharyn Ainscough during her treatment? Did the Gerson ‘doctors’ tell her the blood tests showed the treatment was working? Was Jess told that her treatment was working?
Yup – in a post about healing reactions (sounds familiar right)
http://delvespot.com/2012/07/weirdly-wonderful-world-of-healing-reactions-what-i-experienced/
” I chose not to get any kind of diagnostic because I’d committed to the Gerson Therapy, and whether the lump was or wasn’t cancer wouldn’t change that. I kept in mind that my body had to commit much of it’s resources to healing from the lumpectomy, so wasn’t able to concentrate solely on healing the imbalance that created cancer, which could have led to another lump [as Charlotte Gerson says, the lumps and bumps aren’t the cancer; the underlying imbalance is]
Is anyone else having trouble connecting to the Wellness Warrior website? I’ve been trying on and off over the past day.
The URL has been changed to http://www.jessainscough.com but I don’t know if that makes any difference really. I can get to it fine today. Maybe a temporary glitch?
Well, this is disturbing – if you haven’t already “liked” Ainscough’s page, try accessing it from the FB icon on her blog. I’ll post the link here (You’ll have to unlike her page or be logged out of FB to see it) : https://www.facebook.com/thewellnesswarrior?sk=app_153284594738391&app_data=dlt
So this is what people will see as a first contact with her FB page.
You’ll get a “welcome” pic of Jess with the assurance that if you “like” her page, you will get , among other things “info about how I healed my cancer naturally with Gerson Therapy”.
Major oversight in view of her admission of the continuing existence of her cancer and her other rampant back-pedalling and modification of her online claims.
Someone has just mentioned this on Jess’s FB page and now it is being corrected by someone on her team. It’s frustrating that they admit these things need to be corrected, but don’t say how the mistake happened in the first place. I think at one point she thought she was ‘healed’ and now realises she isn’t, but doesn’t want to admit she was wrong.
I simply can’t get my head around thinking you are healed. What criteria is used to come to that conclusion? How is 2+ years on Gerson therapy
the magic formula? I believe that no ‘medical’ testing is done except for blood
tests via the quack doctors in Mexico so how can Jess or anyone on Gerson know they are healed? In the last 18months even after surgery, chemo, radiation, 12months on Herceptin (IV targeted therapy) and 12months (out of a 5 year course) on Tamoxifen, I can say I don’t have cancer in my body at the moment but my doctors still test me regularly and will continue to do so for as long as we need to.
I think Jess has/had blind faith in Gerson Therapy and Charlotte Gerson is like her idol and even not being cured, Jess saw a marketing opportunity for her blog/FB and it sure did pay off financially. I doubt that there were many questioning
the efficiency of the therapy until recently which pretty much gave The Wellness Warrior a good start into the wellness empire. Its astounding how many similar sites are on the net, all similarly constructed and with the same yadda yadda yadda.
They must have all done the same E-Business course Jess and her bestie push.
I think coming clean would do more for Jess spiritually than any soul medicine and medical intuitive can do for her.
She’s definitely not authentic. For someone who supposedly loves herself so much why does she continue to hide the arm?
One of Jess’ guest bloggers, Dr Greg Schreeuwer, made this comment on Oct 26, 2011:
“Hi Jenny,
It is very challenging and confronting when children have to go through and experience things like cancer. Each cancer is unique and each person is unique. I would have to answer this question more specifically.
As I mentioned earlier, signs and symptoms manifest in certain areas of the body to reveal an underlying imbalance. Cancers are an aggressive, in your face, indicator to that imbalance. One thing I also mentioned to an earlier comment is that cancer isn’t always a lesson for the one experiencing it. Sometimes or often, the lessons are for others too. Occasionally when other people develop cancer, it can be their mothers’ or fathers’ or siblings’ tragedy or crisis point too.
There is always a reason why certain things happen to certain people. Kids are largely influenced by the world around them, having to deal with injected belief systems and societal expectations. Kids who are born with cancers or other illnesses are influenced in utero by their environment, as has been documented in pre and peri-natal psychology journals. We too, as adults, deal with the same influences. Some of us can handle those and others have more a challenging time. Kids are the same. They are far more impressionable and definitely more sensitive and open to the world around them”
If this man is a legitimate Dr, where are his citations and where is the evidence that it is the child’s experiences in utero that has caused his or her cancer? What an awful thing to blame a mother when a child is born with this disease. Or to suggest that a child has developed cancer in order to teach a sibling or parents a lesson. Where did Jess find this guy?
It’s *always* the fault of the patients with these people.
Absolutely. There is undoubtedly no way of attaining the the perfect standards required by the woo-meisters. I see an analogy in the marketing of women’s fashion. Hang the clothes on individuals that 99.9999% of the population have no chance of emulating, airbrush the reality out and you can keep your customers vainly trying to attain the goal, and subsequently blaming themselves for their failure to measure up. Unsavoury in the fashion world – but despicable when you are messing with the heads of cancer sufferers.
The more I learn about the “Wellness Warrior” the more frustrated I feel… and angry. The entire website is full of misinformation, it’s dangerous. When I was diagnosed a few months ago now with an aggressive
breast cancer I immediately looked up Jess’s site to see how I too could cure myself ‘naturally’. Yes, I admit I’d been an organic smoothies girl and was already a ‘Liker’ of her Facebook page. And that’s the irony – I’ve never smoked, never drank, breastfeed all my babies, vegetarian, organic eating, no cancer in family, blah blah… my cancer was found whilst breastfeeding my tiny baby – literally. With a baby and 2 other small children I had actually read Jess’s first page about how she had cured her cancer without chemotherapy… well, not in those words but that is absolutely the intended meaning. Of course the message has morphed into ‘surviving with cancer’. Blah blah.
Thankfully I have a brilliant oncologist, this blog, and I’ve also been following the Grace Gawler radio segments (thank you Pip Cornell for posting the link on this site).
As a young mother of 3 (including a small baby) who is choosing surgery (done) chemotherapy (current) then weeks of radiation so I can watch my children grow up, comments such as this one from Jess’s blog are just plain scary:
Kristine and Lyall | On Oct 8, 2012
Hi L. Thomas,
That’s wonderful that you have survived cancer, and have a husband and a beautiful daughter. Jess doesn’t give advice. She shares – she shares her life, her knowledge and from her heart. You would be one of the lucky ones (maybe blessed ones), of the low percentage of cancer victims who has survived longer than say 5 years after taking conventional treatment.
Jess doesn’t share, she advertises for profit. And she certainly doesn’t share the truth about her arm. Thank you Rosalie for starting this blog. If I hadn’t cottoned on, I might have done something silly.
Sarah, I’m glad you find it helpful. I do hope you are managing ok with the treatments, and hope everything goes well for you.
Rxx
I’m glad that someone is doing the work to call her out on her dangerous misrepresentation of the efficacy (or lack thereof) of “natural” cures for cancer. It seems that things may be going downhill sooner than expected with her recent post about taking time off for her health. Every recent picture is in long sleeves, even when all the other people are dressed for hot weather. It doesn’t take much to connect the dots. It’s going to be very interesting when her condition reaches a point where she can no longer claim to be “thriving with the cancer” and finally has to confront the reality of the situation.
Yeh her latest post is very worrying. Maintaining a blog can’t be that hard, so the fact that she has to take time off for health reasons is a bad sign. The crazy thing is the comments on the blog post though. Her followers are basically just telling her to enjoy her time off – nobody has expressed any concern about the state of her health. They are as delusional as she is if they don’t realise her health is deteriorating. Or maybe there were some uncomfortable questions about her health and Jess deleted them?
I’m in the same climate and very rarely do I wear long sleeves! The latest natural health mag has an interview with her which again states Jess is cancer free. Does she tell them this I wonder? Is she deluded? possibly. She’s certainly not being honest with her followers. From what I gathered Polly Noble never eluded to how unwell she was either. While I admire parts of what these people do, and I do think they inspire healthy changes in many people, like everyone else on here I can’t support this extremist attitude they seem to also possess – especially when it seems to include covering up the real state of their conditions.
I think she will just quietly exit now. Polly Noble her friend and fellow cancer wellness blogger died recently and it had a big impact on jess. Her health is clearly bad now – the recent image of her on instagram shows her left arm to be quite damaged. If she kept blogging it would only continue to draw attention to the elephant in the room so I think she will wind the blog down and retreat into her private world and enjoy what time is left. No apologies, no admission that gerson did nothing just silence.
I have actually been concerned for awhile. The posts were getting fewer and most were featuring others. Replies to questions are either ignored or directed to ask via email. It also looks like her site may have been hijacked as porn links often show up. I know its wrong to assume but I don’t have a good feeling about Jess at the moment. Hopefully she is in the care of a medical doctor and not of intuitive doctors and naturopaths.
With the help of Google translate, I read this Italian blog piece done very recently, critical of Ainscough’s deception.
Fuggire dalla realtà: la storia di Jessica Ainscough
http://medbunker.blogspot.com.au/2014/06/fuggire-dalla-realta-la-storia-di.html
Escape from reality: the story of Jessica Ainscough
This line says it all really:
“Jessica si trova di fronte ad un mostro che ella stessa aveva creato”
“Jessica is faced with a monster that she herself had created”
Thank you for the link: it is (as far as I can discern from Google translate at any rate!) a pretty good synopsis of the psychology of denial of which Jess Ainscough is pretty much an exemplar. I only wish I understood Italian better as what Google translate threw up (due mainly to confused declensions I guess) was the intimation that Jess Ainscough did NOT deliberately set out to defraud and misinform others via a “cult of personality” in order to pay for her alternative “therapies” & lifestyle – you know, the line that “people are free to choose either Medical or alternative treatment”. I paraphrase however: it was about “freedom of information” – which leads me to my next point.
Of course, this is true. People are, and should be, free to choose whatever course of treatment or lack thereof they desire. I just wish that those responsible for our legislation would seek to protect people from pernicious health-related misinformation via the Internet where it is most virulent, particularly if it is accompanied by ethically dubious “business practices”. I accept that this may only be possible at a domestic level, if at all.
If you examine some recent tragic events it becomes clear that social networks (particularly “wellness” blogs etc.) can lead to the reinforcement of some appallingly pathological behaviour:
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-06-11/mother-poisoned-daughter-with-cancer-drugs-for-attention/5515952
http://doubtfulnews.com/2014/06/mother-suspected-of-poisoning-son-with-lethal-doses-of-salt/
These are just two examples I heard about over the past month which happened to really stick in my memory. Aside from them both concerning children, the common factor was that each person was seeking online “advice” &/or approbation (even donations in the Australian case) & it seems they received these in spades. In other words, it would seem to be human nature to not even question the motives of any stranger who either is (or claims to be) affected by illness over the internet, no matter what they claim or ask for.
And people are still spreading the rose-coloured story. This from 30th June:
http://www.holisticdad.net/tag/jess-ainscough/
“Jess it is so fantastic to be able to have you here today! You have an amazing journey that you share on your website about how you overcame a major health issue.Tell us a little about how you felt during those years of discovering you had cancer and using natural healing to make your way out.“
To her credit she actually admits to still having cancer, but of course follows it with “I’ve dedicated the past six years to healing my body with natural methods which is ludicrous considering the one and only condition she set out to heal is still clearly on a rampage.
Seems her recent book is not clear at all about the fact she is still living with cancer…Another recent quote by another Ainscough/Gerson advocate :
“I first learnt about coffee enemas after watching various Gerson Therapy videos and reading ‘Make Peace With Your Plate’ by Jess Ainscough, who does coffee enemas daily after curing herself of cancer naturally.”
http://tayswayblog.wordpress.com/2014/08/19/talking-crap/comment-page-1/#comment-26
Good on you for finding another misled follower so that they can be enlightened. That blog has now been updated to read “I first learnt about coffee enemas after watching various Gerson Therapy videos and reading ‘Make Peace With Your Plate’ by Jess Ainscough, who does coffee enemas daily.” Rather less inspiring, but a lot more truthful.
I agree. Unfortunately I don’t know just how much enlightenment went on, given that everyone who has contributed to or commented on this site is considered to be engaged in a “negative, personal in depth attack on Jess Ainscough and the Gerson Therapy”.
Which is extraordinary – considering the claim that “so many people have been cured naturally at the clinic in Mexico over the past 40 years” despite the lack of any actual evidence…
Kudos, by the way to Rose T. for standing her ground in the face of such smug condescension & the arrogance of ignorance.
Thanks Peta. I posted on taysway blog stating that there has in fact not been any clinical trials on Gerson Therapy, well any that are conclusive and published. I listed facts, not garbage from Gerson’s own website.. The post was quickly deleted. I have lots more information that I would like to post but of course it won’t make it very far.
Such a typical head in the sand response. Honestly, the lack of scientific literacy and lack of critical thinking skills in these “wellness” advocates scares the cr@p out of me more than any coffee enema ever could.
Yeh it’s very frustrating. I have pointed out to several bloggers that Jess is not cured and her mother has died. Then whoever is writing the blog gets annoyed with me for ‘being negative’ when really they should be annoyed with Jess for misleading them.
it just infuriates me when these wellness bloggers claim their pseudoscientific scribblings are the result of researching, their particular bandwagon ideology.
Research, really?? I do not think that word means what you think it means. Legitmate research skill requires full time study for 4 or 5 years! Not knocking out a couple of blog posts after a few months of Googlefu-ing quacky websites. Fine if you want to plug the “Eat food, not too much, mostly plants and go for a run ” message – but dare try and publish dangerous pseudoscience masquerading as legitimate medical advice, and you will get called out on it.
I also had a comment deleted. I explained that the references provided only led to a book published in the 1950s, and some interviews with Charlotte Gerson. I listened to one of these interviews and can understand how Charlotte’s declarations of ‘chemotherapy doesn’t work’ could persuade vulnerable viewers to abandon conventional therapy. Of course what is missing is any member of the Gerson audience questioning these statements or requesting relevant, accurate, evidence-based data or decent references. I asked if the author could please provide links to any information detailing Gerson’s success rates with various types of cancers. Of course, in asking the question I was hoping the author would endeavour to provide such links and realise that she can’t, because they don’t exist (and have the courage to reply as such).
Just came across this quote from 2012: ‘I stand by my statement that we have total control over our health – I have healed my cancer, my mum is healing her cancer, and many many others have done the same by using therapies that include juicing and enemas. It’s not as simple as drinking juice and you will cure cancer, but juicing is a vital part of it. I urge you to do a bit of research into Gerson Therapy, or watch DVDs like Food Matters, Dying To Have Known, The Beautiful Truth, and The Gerson Miracle. I’m not making this stuff up or trying to lead anyone down a malicious path. When you learn about this stuff, it is empowering. If someone has cancer, and they take responsibility for their health by giving their bodies and their minds what they need to heal, it is 100% possible to create a miracle.’
I wonder what she thinks about that now??
Well, it’s no surprise that Gerson have scrubbed the site of her: she’s a Gerson non-person. But they didn’t clean up properly. A site search reveals her 2012 appearance at the Healing Cancer World Summit. I reckon that’s a pretty clear implication that she was ‘cured’. http://www.donotlink.com/framed?17954
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