Budwig Diet
Disease will never overwhelm you if your determination to be healthy is strong enough.
The Budwig diet is a diet plan that support the treatment of cancer.
Standard medical treatments for cancer include surgery, chemotherapy, and radiotherapy. Some people also look for complementary therapies that can support the treatment process.
One such therapy is the Budwig diet. This diet involves the consumption of a flaxseed oil and cottage cheese mixture, as well as the avoidance of processed foods and animal fats.
Flaxseed contains omega-3, a healthful fat that may reduce the levels of certain chemicals that contribute to cancer. It also contains lignans and phytoestrogens, which have anti-cancer effects.
In this article, we consider whether there is any evidence to support the use of the Budwig diet and discuss the possible risks and side effects.
What to eat on the Budwig diet
People who follow the Budwig diet eat a mixture of flaxseed oil and cottage cheese.
According to Dr. Johanna Budwig, who developed the diet in the 1950s, eating a lot of polyunsaturated fat from these specific sources will help prevent cancer cells from spreading.
The diet plan also focuses heavily on the following foods:
- fruits
- vegetables
- foods that are high in fiber
Dr. Budwig also recommended spending 20 minutes a day outdoors to:
- increase sun exposure and boost vitamin D levels
- help balance blood pressure
- manage cholesterol and pH levels in the body
She recommended following the diet strictly and consistently for at least 5 years.
Foods to avoid
A person who follows the diet should avoid:
- pork
- cold and processed meats
- sugar
- refined grains and cereals
- shellfish
- butter and most other dairy products
- margarine and other refined and hydrogenated oils
- tea and coffee
Why follow the Budwig diet?
Dr. Budwig designed this diet to support the treatment of cancer, but proponents claim that it can also help with other conditions, including:
- arteriosclerosis
- stroke
- heart attack
- stomach ulcers
- prostate problems
- eczema
- arthritis
- immune deficiencies
Making the mixture
The basis of the Budwig diet is a mixture of flaxseed oil and either cottage cheese or quark, another bland cheese. A person may also use low fat milk or yogurt.
To make the mixture, a person should combine the following ingredients and mix them well until the oil is no longer visible:
- 2 tablespoons of flaxseed oil
- 4 tablespoons of 1% cottage cheese or low-fat quark
People on the diet should aim to eat 2 helping of this flaxseed and cottage cheese mixture per day. They should eat these at different times throughout the day but always as a mixture.
Mixing flaxseed oil with cottage cheese makes the flaxseed oil more water soluble in order for your body to absorb its goodness faster and easier.
Flaxseed
A 2017 study found that mice with lung cancer that consumed flaxseed had fewer new lung tumors compared with mice that ate a diet without flaxseed.
Other research involved hens with ovarian cancer. The hens that ate flaxseed had fewer late stage tumors and better outcomes after a year than hens that did not eat flaxseed.
However, there is not much recent research available about the effects of flaxseed in humans with cancer.
In one small trial from 2001, the researchers recruited 25 men with prostate cancer and found that enriching the diet with flaxseed might lower the levels of the male hormone testosterone. Decreasing the amount of this hormone may help reduce the size of the tumors.
Budwig diet
One case study followed an individual with breast cancer who used the Budwig diet in addition to traditional treatments, including chemotherapy.
Her cancer went into remission, but it is not clear whether this was due to the Budwig diet or the conventional therapies.
However, eating plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables and limiting the intake of animal products — especially processed meats — is likely to benefit a person’s overall health. In turn, this may boost their chances of recovery and their well-being.