Gonzalez Therapy

On this tab, I will cover a variety of topics, including the following:

1. Dr. Gonzalez' Background
2. His Monograph
3. The NIH Study
4. Dr. Gonzalez' and Dr. Beard's Theory about Cancer
5. The Gonzalez Therapy

To learn more about The Gonzalez Therapy, visit

http://www.dr-gonzalez.com/index.htm


1. Dr. Gonzalez' Background

When I tell most anyone in the orthodox medical world that I'm using an alternative cancer therapy, the first question I get is "Is he even a doctor?", usually with attitude, as if I'm crazy.  I think it's also worth mentioning that I have spoken to a couple of doctors who are very supportive of my decision.  A doctor I met with recently said "we should always be humble in  the face of nature.  Keep doing what you are doing".  Still, the typical assumption in the conventional world tends to be that people in the alternative world are seedy, slimy and uneducated.  I suppose there are charletons in both the conventional and alternative worlds but I want to let you know that Dr. Gonzalez is the real deal.  He is extremely unique in that he is a true scientist.  He wants to find the truth and isn't interested in promoting drugs or being famous.

Dr. Gonzalez graduated with honors from Brown University and completed pre-med studies at Columbia.  He attended medical school at Cornell (after being accepted into every medical school he applied to) because Cornell was associated with Sloan Kettering and he planned to spend the rest of his life working in a lab, never meeting with patients.  At Cornell, he was named a Teagle Scholar and was awarded several honors for his work in internal medicine and research in cancer immunology.  He also received the Ernst L. Wynder Award from the Center for Mind-Body Medicine in 2000.

While in medical school, Dr. Gonzalez met Dr. William Donald Kelley, an eccentric dentist from Texas who was supposedly reversing late stage cancer with nutrition.  Dr. Gonzalez' research mentor, Dr. Robert Good, the president of Sloan Kettering at the time, encouraged Dr. Gonzalez to look into  Dr. Kelley's work. 

When Dr. Gonzalez traveled to Texas, Dr. Kelley was happy to open up his records to share his therapy and results with Dr. Gonzalez.  "All Dr. Kelley wanted was to have his work tested because he thought he was doing something valuable.   He felt that his therapy should be in the hands of conventional doctors."  For the next five years, Dr. Gonzalez investigated thousands of Kelley's patient records and found patient after patient whose late stage cancers had been reversed after they had been properly diagnosed at mainstream medical institutions.

When he completed his fellowship and investigation of Dr. Kelley, Dr. Gonzalez was offered a job working in research at Sloan Kettering but he turned it down to open a private practice in New York treating patients using Dr. Kelley's therapy.  He says that when you're a scientist, you have to follow the truth.

Now, if you google Dr. Gonzalez, you'll come up with some articles where writers refer to him as a "quack".  Pay no attention, the article is probably written by someone whose ego was damaged by the fact that some crazy dentist with no academic position and no funding outsmarted the entire cancer industry 60 years ago.

2. The Monograph

Dr. Gonzalez completed his investigation of Dr. Kelley while he was doing his fellowship under Dr. Good.  He completed a monograph of Dr. Kelley's work and attempted to get it published with the support of Dr. Good, who happened to be the most published author in the history of medicine with over 2,000 papers, 50 books (that he edited or co-edited) and 3 Nobel Prize nominations.  The monograph included medical records of patients who had been diagnosed at major medical institutions and given months to live.  Under Dr. Kelley's program, these patients were alive several years later.  Dr. Gonzalez interviewed the patients and included their names in the monograph.  The mongraph was as transparent as it could possibly be.

Even with Dr. Good's support, Dr. Gonzalez couldn't get the monograph published.  When Dr. Gonzalez spoke with publishers, he received two types of responses.  Half of the editors said that he was a quack and there was no way the results were real.  They simply couldn't believe that anything could be better than orthodox medicine and believed that Dr. Gonzalez was a sneeky, slimy guy who had hoodwinked Dr. Good.  The other half of the editors recognized that the results were real (after all, the names and medical records of the patients were included in the monograph) but weren't willing to publish them because the book was too controversial and they were afraid that the AMA and NCI would ruin their careers.

That was in 1986.  Twenty-four years later, in 2010, Dr. Gonzalez had the monograph published and it is now titled One Man Alone, available on Amazon. 

http://www.amazon.com/One-Man-Alone-Investigation-Nutrition/dp/0982196512/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1322671371&sr=1-1

3. The NIH Study

The NIH decided to fund a study comparing the Gonzalez therapy to chemotherapy.  They allocated 1.4 million dollars and decided to hold it at Columbia University.  When Dr. Gonzalez agreed to the study, he had had good conversations with the director, Richard Klausner, who thought that The Gonzalez Therapy was promising.  Unfortunately, Klausner left the NIH in the middle of the study.

When the new group met, Dr. Gonzalez and his partner Dr. Isaacs could tell that something had changed.  The people who had initially been assigned to the study and who were supportive of Dr. Gonzalez' work had been replaced.  When Dr. Gonzalez tried to reach out to the initial research team, one of them told him that he couldn't speak to him or he'd be fired.  Another asked that Dr. Gonzalez call him at home as he was afraid that his work line was tapped.

Dr. Gonzalez was shocked.  He thought that this type of behavior was just something you see on TV.  He says "It was so unbelievable to see that the profession I respected and wanted to join could behave like this."

Dr. Gonzalez and Dr. Isaacs decided to continue with the trial and eventually felt that it was sabotaged.  Here's how:

1. The principal investigator, who is supposed to be neutral, had helped develop the chemotherapy that was being compared to the Gonazalez Therapy in the trial. 

2. A team of people, who selected the patients to be used in the trial, gave Dr. Gonzalez patients who couldn't eat.  This is problematic because his therapy is based on nutrition.  If you can't eat, you can't do The Gonzalez Therapy.  Dr. Gonzalez was given patients in the trial who he wouldn't even accept into his practice in New York because they couldn't eat.  According to Dr. Gonzalez "Initially, the patients that could do the therapy started to respond.  Then there was a sudden change around 2000 and 2001, when the Columbia group had total control of the entry of patients into the study.  We were excluded from that study, except during the inital months.  The thinking was that if we were involved in the admission process, we'd enter the dreaded bias, whereasif conventional doctors were in control, they couldn't possibly be biased."

Thirty-nine patients were entered for treatment using the Gonalez Therapy and Dr. Gonzalez believes that, at the most, 5 or 6 did the therapy.

The end result is chemo looked better and the study was published in a peer-reviewed journal. 

Dr. Gonzalez filed a complaint and, after two years of research, the OHRP determined that the majority of patients had been admitted inappropriately.  But, of course, this finding was never published.

So, the study was a big waste of $1.4 million and Dr. Gonzalez is currently writing a book about it.

Interestingly, the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) was involved in the study.  According to Dr. Gonzalez, "this organization (NCCAM) is not there to help evaluate alternative therapies; they're there to undermine them.  It gives the illusion that the government's interested in alternative therapies, when in fact that office is being used, as it was in my case, to help undermine promising useful alternative therapies. So any alternative practitioner who wants to work with NCCAM, my attitude is you stay as far away as you can.  Take the first train out of Washington and never go back.  Stay away."

You see, the government creates these organizations to make it look like they are serious about studying alternatives when all they really want to do is destroy them and keep big pharma happy.

Here's where you can listen to or read the transcript of Dr. Gonzalez' story:

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2011/04/23/dr-nicholas-gonzalez-on-alternative-cancer-treatments.aspx

4. Dr. Gonzalez'/Beard's Cancer Hypothesis

The cancer mystery was solved over 100 years ago by Dr. Beard, a Scottish embryologist, in his first paper in 1902.   He recognized that pancreatic enzymes, which are known to have a digestive funtion, are also the body's main defense against cancer.  He published his book in 1911 called "The Enzyme Treatment of Cancer".  According to Dr. Gonzalez, "Beard's book should have changed cancer medicine forever.  If cancer researchers had followed up with Dr. Beard's work, cancer wouldn't be an issue today.  But, the cancer establishment ignored it because it doesn't quite agree with their model and Beard died in obscurity in 1924."

How did he come to realize that the body's main defense against cancer is pancreatic enzymes?

Dr. Beard recognized that when the placenta, the connection between the growing embryo and the mother's uterus, is being developed, the earliest placental cells (trophoblasts) look and act like cancer.  The cells grow wildly, are primitive in appearance and are very invasive.  Actually, the entire purpose of the placenta is to invade the uterus and it spreads into the uterus much like cancer would. Beard discovered that the difference between cancer and the placenta is that at some point, around day 56 of development, the placenta changes character and becomes a mature placenta that stops invading and dividing and producing blood supply.  The placenta begins to serve as the focus of life for the growing embryo.

For years, Dr. Beard studied and tried to figure out what change takes place that makes the placenta change character.  He thought that if he could figure out what causes the placenta to change character, he might be able to figure out the answer to cancer.

He eventually discovered that the day the placenta changes character is the day that the embryonic pancreas begins producing enzymes in large amounts.

Over time, Dr. Beard theorized that not only do the early placental cells, the trophoblasts, act and look like cancer, he believed they are cancer.  Dr. Beard believed that cancer develops from trophoblastic cells left over from embryonic development.  The cells migrate through the embryo and end up in all the tissues and organs of the body.  They lie in our bodies quietly until abnormal stimulus such as inflammation and toxicity cause them to start growing and produce a tumor.  Dr. Beard believed that cancer is a placenta growing in the wrong place and the wrong time. 

Interestingly, molecular biologists today are beginning to confirm that cancer comes from trophoblasts but don't reference Beard's work.  Dr. Gonzalez is in the process of re-publishing Beard's book to ensure that Beard gets the credit he deserves. 

Pancreatic enzymes are the cornerstone of The Gonzalez Therapy.  They are a naturally targeted, non-toxic cancer killer with no side effects.  As of today, November 18, 2011, I have been on the therapy two and a half months and my cancer is melting away. 

Fascinating, isn't it?  

But here's what I find really surprising.....  Dr. Gonzalez and the conventional world completely disagree about what cancer actually is.  You see, conventional doctors believe that cancer is a nasty, foreign invader that attacks from the outside.  Dr. Gonzalez believes that cancer is a placenta growing in the wrong place at the wrong time.  He believes that there is a cooperation between our tissue and this group of cells that is attaching to it.  He says it absolutely has to cooperate; otherwise, we would never be able to reproduce.  Our bodies don't view cancer as a foreign invader, our bodies actually welcome cancer and make space for it. 

Given his high rate of success, I can't help but believe that Dr. Gonzalez is right.  I realize though, that if his theory is right, then we are spending over $40 billion per year in cancer research and thousands of PhD's are running around scratching their heads, trying to fnd the solution to cancer when, in fact, they may not  know what cancer is. 

According to Dr. Gonzalez "Dr. Beard put this thesis and supporting evidence in a book in 1911 that should have changed the course of medicine, but it was so far ahead of its time that people thought it was insane."

Sadly, one hundred years later, it seems that it is still ahead of its' time.

5. The Gonzalez Therapy

Dr. Gonzalez approaches cancer as a chronic disease that patients manage for life.  Patients start out on the full therapy until they are well.  Once well, they transition to a slimmed down version.  For a whole bunch of reasons, Dr. Gonzalez won't use the word "cure" but his patients can expect to live a long, healthy life unless they get really careless with the therapy. 

If I can have long term quality of life and great health, I'll be thrilled.  Call it whatever you want.

His patients say the ancillary benefits of the therapy are terrific.  The therapy optimizes efficiency in the patient's body and many of Dr. Gonzalez' patients are leading active lives in their 90s.  His patients say that it is an anti-aging program as well and that they look at least 10-15 years younger than their peers.

Before I was diagnosed, I was on a constant search for the best way to optimize my health; that's why I was seeing a naturopath.  I didn't have any major health issues, I just wanted to feel the best that I possibly could and I felt that a naturpathic doctor could help me achieve that goal.  As I looked around me, it was easy to see that everyone was suffering from one ailment or another and I didn't want that to be me.  I hope to be active with my children and grandchildren and I really want to feel great. 

In a weird sort of way, I'm getting the optimal health that I always wanted.  It's certainly not the path I would've expected or requested, but I am getting what I desired so badly.  I think that God has a plan. 

I'd be remiss if I didn't point out one last difference between The Gonzalez Therapy and conventional cancer treatments.  Dr. Gonzalez treats the patient, not the disease.  Dr. Gonzalez works to get all the systems (immune, digestive, endocrine, etc.) and organs (liver, gallbladder, pancreas, stomach,  intestines, etc.) working properly.  When the patient body starts functioning efficiently, it helps get rid of the cancer and the inflammation that caused it.

The Gonzalez Therapy has three components including diet, supplements, and detoxification.

Diet

There have been several studies over the years investigating the diets of isolated cultures around the globe.  The studies consistently report that the natives that live in these secluded pockets are free of disease.  There's no heart disease, diabetes, cancer, etc.  None! Zero! Zip!  This simply proves that being sick is not "normal" for humans.  When these natives move towards civilization and start consuming white flour, white sugar, and processed foods, they become sick.  Within one or two generations, their bones are deformed and they start having all kinds of health issues.

You're probably wondering, what do these healthy people eat? 

Well, this is where it gets interesting.  The fact is that they all live off the land and, as a result, they all eat differently.  The eskimos eat a diet of 80% saturated fat (you know, the stuff your doctor tells you to avoid) and 20% protein, the Polynesians eat fish and fruit, the African Masai drink full fat, raw cow's milk and cow blood.  It's worth noting that there has never been an isolated culture that lived on a vegetarian diet.  They all have some source of animal protein  and they all consume large amounts of fat.  They do the opposite of what we are told to do today.  In addition to enjoying excellent health, these people also have straight, strong, healthy teeth and they don't brush or floss their teeth or use flouride.

If you'd like to learn more about a notable study, you can read Nutrition and Physical Degeneration by Weston A. Price.  Or, just check out the web site:

http://www.westonaprice.org/

In each of these geographical regions, the people have adapted to the environment and it has affected their genetic codes.  In American, we are each the result of a lot of intercultural mixing and, as a result, we each have different dietary needs.

Dr. Gonzalez has 10 different diets and 9 variations of each for a total of 90 different diets.  They range from the pure carnivore who eats red meat two or three times a day to the vegetarian who only eats eggs and yogurt for animal products.  Dr. Gonzalez does not believe that a vegan diet is optimal for anyone, nor does he believe that a plant based diet or raw diet is right for everyone.  Because this diet is based on lineage, I am often asked if this is the same as the blood type diet and Dr. Gonzalez says that he does not find the blood type diet to be accurate.

As someone who has been studying wellness for years, I could not wait to find out what my optimal diet was.  At the same time, I was worried about how Dr. Gonzalez would figure out what my needs are.  If he expected me to know a lot about my family tree, I knew I was in trouble. 

Well, he figured it out from a hair sample.  He has a very specific test he uses that is administered by a former patient of Dr. Kelley's.  He says it's extremely controversial and extremely accurate.

Based on my hair sample, I am a balanced carnivore.  That means that if you visualize the spectrum with carnivore on one side and vegetarian on the other, I am slightly off center, leaning towards the carnivore side.  I am happy to say that I am absolutely thrilled with my diet!!  More importantly, my first couple weeks on the diet, I felt 10X more energy than I had felt since I was diagnosed over two years ago.  I was tired the entire two years on the Gerson Therapy eating fruits and vegetables all day long and it changed over night when I adopted my new diet.  I called Dr. Gonzalez to tell him this and he was unfazed.  He said "yes, you should feel better.  You're eating the diet that is right for your body." 

Dr. Gonzalez often uses the analogy of cows and lions.  Cows are natural vegetarians and lions are natural carnivores.  If you put a plate of meat in front of a cow and a plate of grass in front of a lion, they'll starve before they'll eat their food.  They need to eat very specific foods in order for their bodies to run properly and they'll only eat what is right for them.  Our food is our fuel.  You wouldn't put gas in a steam engine so why would you put the wrong type of fuel in your body?  Sadly, most people treat their cars better than they treat their bodies.    

Dr. Gonzalez says that he can often tell what diet a patients needs by appearances.  He says that vegetarian patients are often lean, have narrow facial structure, don't put on weight, have lots of engergy and don't need a lot of food.  They can eat fruit for lunch and get through the day.

He says that carnivores often have rounded faces and need heartier meals.  A carnivore cannot eat a salad and fruit for lunch and make it through the day.

Balanced patients are somewhere in between and usually don't get cancer.  I'm just one of the lucky few.  :)   Apparently, balanced people have to try really hard to get cancer, meaning I had to be exposed to some major toxicity. 

Dr. Gonzalez says that you naturally gravitate towards food that is good for you.  It's the academic experts that mess us up.  If salad and fruit is enough for you for lunch or if the thought of meat makes you gag, you're a vegetarian.  If the thought of steak and bacon makes you drool and if you love fat more than chocoloate, you're a carnivore.  Balanced people tend to like a little of everything (this is true for me).  

One of the benefits of eating the right diet is that it balances the autonomic nervous system, the collection of nerves that control our organs and glands.  People with solid tumors of the breast, lungs, stomach, pancreas, colon, liver, prostate, uterus and ovaries need a vegetarian based diet because they are  genetically too acidic, while people with the immunological cancers such as leukemia, lymphoma, myelomas and sarcomas need more meat and fat because they are genetically too alkaline.  (note: many of the "vegetarian" diets on The Gonzalez Therapy include fish, poultry and red meat).  I find this interesting because most natural health practitioners and books will tell you that we are all too acidic and we all need to eat fruits and vegetables to make us alkaline.   This simply can't be true because the day I started eating acidic red meat is the day my cancer began melting away.

My diet must be almost entirely organic and the beef must be grass fed.  Here are my food quotas:

- red meat 4-5 times per week
- poultry 1-2 times per week
- fish 2-3 times per week
- unlimited vegetables and at least 3-4 servings per day
- unlimited fruit and at least 2-3 servings a day (note: fruit does not feed cancer!)
- 2 glasses of carrot based juice per day
- 20 almonds per day
- 1T flax oil per day
- one salad per day (no more, or I'll be too alkaline)
- unlimited fat, including butter, the more the better (honestly, I would be embarrased to tell you how much butter I consume on a daily basis.  It's ridiculous and indulgent and I love it.  :)  )

Of course, I can't have white flour, white sugar, soy or processed foods but I can have pasta, grains, and pizza as long as they are organic and made with whole grains.  Sweets are limited but if they are made following the rules, I can have a small amount.

This is similar to how I ate when I was diagnosed so it's relatively easy for me.  Heck, after the Gerson Therapy, anything would be easy.

Supplements

The supplements include pancreatic enzymes (natural cancer killers) as well as a variety of vitamins, minerals, trace elements, anti-oxidants, and animal glandular concentrates.  For example, I have a disease of the bone marrow so I take beef bone marrow supplements three times a day. 

I take about 160 pills a day.  The first couple days it seemed so hard I was wondering if I could do it long term.  By day four, I was used to it and it didn't seem like such a big deal.  I have freedom to leave the house and lead a normal life, popping supplements is just a part of my day.  I actually enjoy taking the pills because I picture a sledgehammer killing off my disease when I swallow them.  I am still amazed at how easy it was to embrace this therapy.

The general theory is that pancreatic enzymes are the body's main defense against cancer, not the immune system, as so many practitioners believe.  All of Dr. Gonzalez' cancer patients take them to kill off all types of cancer.  You see, there's no need for a specialist for every type of cancer because all the cancers respond to pancreatic enzymes.  The best part is that there are no side effects whatsoever.  So, I'm building my body up while the enzymes fight the disease rather than breaking it down with some toxic conventional treatment.  I love it.

The pancreatic enzymes that patients take are made from the pancreas of pigs in New Zealand, where the strictest laws are in place for raising animals.  A pigs' pancreas is almost identical to a human pancreas.  Like us, pigs are omnivores and need to have a strong pancreas break down the variety of foods they consume.

Interestingly, doctors are taught in medical school that pancreatic enzymes, which are used for digestion, are broken down in your stomach with hydrochloric acid.  This is simply not true.  If it was, The Gonzalez Therapy wouldn't work.

Detoxification

Detoxification is a controversial topic but Dr. Gonzalez says that it is very helpful in helping the body mobilize the toxic waste we take in from the environment or our own inefficient metabolism.

The conventional world doesn't acknowledge toxicity in the body and I believe they are overlooking a huge contributor to all disease.  Then again, as we discussed on the "Why Alternative" tab, the majority of money is spent researching and developing drugs to suppress symptoms rather than understanding the causes of disease. 

The toxins I'm referring to are coming into our bodies from the chemicals in our food, pharmaceutical drugs, the chemicals in our environment and elctromagnetic contamination (think cell phones).  In one of Dr. Gonzalez' interviews, he discusses a leukemia patient he had who was puzzling him.  He knew his therapy was working because her disease was stable, but he couldn't figure out why it wasn't regressing.  When he learned that she could see a cell tower out her window,  he sent someone to her home to run some tests and found out that her house was like a toaster oven from all the electromagnetic energy.  She and her family picked up and moved and her disease regressed, her husband felt better, and her children began sleeping through the night.

On the therapy, patients do a number of detoxification procedures including coffe enemas (otherwise known in our house as "coffee breaks"), skin brushing, vinegar baths, liver flushes, intestinal cleanses, and juice fasts.