The Grape Diet Cancer Cure. Fact or Fiction?

There have been many claims of diets that could cure cancer throughout history. Last week I came across one of the most absurd one to date. This cure stems from the 1920s- a time when not a lot was known about cancer. And a time when many of our current day treatments were not available. So let’s have a closer look at the Grape Cure.

Johanna Brandt invented the grape cure in the late 1920s. He was a naturopath from South African, who later moved to America. He published two books, one in 1928 called The Grape Cure in 1928, it was later republished in 1989 as How to Conquer Cancer, Naturally (The Grape Cure). This book included 22 testimonials from clinicians and patients- strangely they were only identified by their initials.

Brandt claims in the book that she was diagnosed with stomach cancer in 1916. The book described that this diagnosis was based on an x-ray examination- there was no mention of a biopsy. This lead some to believe that she may not of had cancer at all. She then spent 9 years self experimenting to try and cure her cancer. She states that her cancer growth was in check every time she fasted, but resumed went she went back to eating normally again. In 1928, she claimed a cure for her alleged cancer after fasting and then eating only grapes.

Although Brandt claims to have developed the cancer cure, she states in her book that this cure has been previously published in various languages in Europe as far back as 1556. The book then goes on to claim that the grape cure could be beneficial for other afflictions ch as arthritis, diabetes, gallstones, cataracts, stomach ulcers, tuberculosis, and syphilis.

Brandt claimed that, “The grape is highly antiseptic and a powerful solvent of inorganic matter deposits, fatty degeneration, morbid and malignant growths. It acts as a drastic eliminator of evil while building new tissue.”

The original Grape cure is simple. It consists of five steps

1. Start of with fasting for two or three days, consume only water, with a daily enema as well.
2. After the fast- start on a grape only diet for one to two weeks. 90 grams of grapes every two hours, seven times a day. Water is to be consumed as well.
3. Expand the grape diet after one to two weeks by including other fruits, tomatoes and sour milk.
4. After a week the diet is again expanded further with various raw foods
5. After another weeks expand the diet further to include a cooked lunch and salad.

The whole treatment last between 4 to 6 weeks. So after reading all that you can see why I am skeptical of this so called “cure for cancer”

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Another “Grape Cure”

Brandt’s Grape cure is, surprisingly, not the only claim of a grape based cure for cancer. William Kelsey in 1892 was first to market a remedy called “Dr, Baker’s Grape Cure”, discovered by some “fat and jolly Germans”. This cure offered a medicine which contained water, wine, various herbs and 60 grains of acetanilid. Acetanilid is an analgesic and antipyretic which can have dangerous side effects. He became a very rich man selling this cure.

……Where’s all the evidence……..

Surely if a cure had existed from 1928 there would be evidence proving its effectiveness? Indeed, the American Cancer Society have conducted many reviews on the grape cure to determine if there was any iota of true to its claims. It conducted reviews in 1965, 1971,1974, and 2000. They found no evidence of “benefits against human cancer or any other disease”

That being said, grapes do contain some chemicals that are being studied for possible preventive effects, but there is no reason to believe that the grape diet will ever be useful for this purpose. Even with these chemicals present they are in such a small quantity they would have no effect whatsoever.

The sad thing about this laughable grape cure is that there are people out there convincing patients that the grape cure will help them in their situation. They are taking advantage of vulnerable people and profiteering from them- truly shameful!

Here is an extract from one of these websites, where they justify the grape diet below.

“In any case, due to the lack of individual testimonials on the internet for the grape cures, I pondered whether I should even write my grape cure article. The justification for doing these things is based on several sources:

1. Scientific evidence for the cancer-killing nutrients in grapes, coupled with the evidence that it is known that some of these nutrients bind with glucose, and thus MUST get into the cancer cells in large quantities
2. The Grape Cure by Johanna Brandt (she had no vested interest to lie about her experiences). The fact that she is the one that developed the 12-hour fast, and in hindsight it was such a fantastic idea for any type of juice, is proof she was no fluke.
3. The testimony of Shackleton, who also wrote a book,
4. The fact that the grape cure meets all of the requirements of a vegan diet which uses ONLY foods that are known to treat cancer,
5. The testimony of Walter Last, a HIGHLY respected cancer expert in Australia, who stated that thousands of people (I assume in Australia) had been cured with the grape cure, and
6. The fact that cancer cells steal all types of nutrients from normal cells (thus they steal the cancer-killing nutrients in the grapes as well)
7. I have a cousin who is a retired chiropractor. One of his patients told him he had cancer. My cousin told him to go to a bookstore and buy the Brandt book. He went on the treatment. Six months later he died of causes totally unrelated to his cancer. At autopsy, they could find no trace of his cancer.”

The first sentence in this excerpt should be a dead giveaway that the grape cure is totally false. The reason there is insufficient individual testimonials on the internet is because it does not work. Let’s look at the other points

1. There are no cancer killing nutrients in grapes- if there were- they would have been extracted and concentrated to make an effective cure for cancer- rather than having to consume large quantities of grapes.
2. One book from 1928 does not prove anything- I could write a book about absolutely anything but it does not prove that what I wrote is true.
3. Testimony is not evidence. Testimonial evidence exists for pretty much any claim ever- alien abductions, demon possessions, miracle and the “Grape cure”. Let’s be clear testimonials are not real evidence, even if they wrote a book. I am not sure why writing a book gives you credit.
4. No foods are known to treat cancer! And what does a vegan diet have to do with anything. Again, if there were foods known to treat cancer there would be significant scientific evidence available.
5. Again, testimony is not evidence!
6. Cancer cells steal nutrients from normal cells??? Cancer cells obtain nutrients just like normal cells, through their normal pathways because cancer cells are just slightly mutated normal cells. They do not go around and steal nutrients from other cells.
7. This is my favorite justification by far in terms of how ridiculous it is- a personal testimony from a family member is not evidence. I have a few family members with stories like these.

The bottom line is that there is no scientific evidence to support the grape cure. Even worse than that though is that the diet is highly deficient in most essential nutrients. This can cause constipation, diarrhea, cramps, and weight loss. This is not a good situation for a cancer patient.

Personally, I know the grape cure is a load of ….. I hope I have convinced you of this as well. There is no way that the grape diet developed in the 1920’s, originating from the dark ages, that has not gained wide scientific acceptance, and claims to cure a multitude of other afflictions, could be a cure for cancer!

But hey, I will let you be the decided on this one.

To read a bit more about the grape cure go to Dr. Barke’s Grape Cure: The curious business ventures of William Kelsey

This is just one post from a series of posts looking into myths around cancer and radiotherapy. If you know of any myths I would be interested in reading about them.

Thanks for taking the time to read this post! Please share this with your friends and family. This mis-information must be stopped.

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Originally published at www.radicalradiationremedy.com on January 10, 2017.