Gerson diet almost killed a former model

It has been reported that a former model almost died trying to cure her cancer with a juice diet. Medics tried to get Irena Stoynova to use conventional cancer treatments after she was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma in June 2021, but she ‘shut them out’. Instead of chemotherapy, she sought out so-called alternative medicine (SCAM) online and took the advice of a social media influencer who claims the body can ‘heal itself’ with help of a radical lifestyle and diet changes.

Ms Stoynova thus followed various diets and holistic therapies for two-and-a-half years, which left her emaciated and with fluid on her lungs.

Doctors said she was on the verge of death when she was taken to Frimley Park Hospital by ambulance in May last year. She was told by Dr Clare Rees that she would likely die without treatment for her stage three cancer. But Ms Stoynova continued to refuse for a number of days before finally agreeing to receive chemotherapy. Ms Stoynova then spent 50 days in the hospital’s acute dependency unit.

She said when she was first diagnosed that she decided against traditional treatments after ‘reading about and watching many doctors and professors talk about the success rate of alternative therapies online’. The 39-year-old, who now works in sales, said she did a juice diet for two-and-a-half years, but also tried a raw diet, intermittent fasting, boiling herbs and special teas.

Speaking about her diagnosis, she said: ‘I was devastated, the whole world just closed around me and I felt really alone.’ She said that she was advised to start chemotherapy, but instead turned to the internet to find alternative advice. ‘I found an American guy who has millions of followers who promoted holistic treatment,’ she said. ‘He had a podcast where he interviewed very knowledgeable doctors and professors who are talking about holistic treatment and they called standard treatment “outrageous”. ‘They said that people who had chemotherapy are “lazy” and don’t want to put in the hard work of holistic treatment.’ Ms Stoynova continued: ‘The guy has three or four books on how to heal cancer holistically – how to make salads, use different herbs, juicing, intermittent fasting – there were so many testimonials, so many people that did it. ‘I spent £2,000 on juicers – one for smoothies, one for carrots, one for citrus and one for everything else. I spent two to three hours a day making juice for the next day.

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The ‘juice diet’ seems to have been the Gerson therapy or a variation of it. We have discussed this particular SCAM several times before, e.g.:

• The Gerson Therapy: possibly the worst cancer quackery of them all
• ‘Censored for curing cancer’: the Gerson therapy re-visited
• Gerson therapy: a treatment to avoid at all cost

I just wish Irena Stoynova had read my blog instead of following the criminal quackery of the ‘American guy’.

My conclusion:

reading this blog and telling others about it can saave lives