BudwigScience

I observed an incredible response from my greyhound with osteosarcoma. It was this experience that was the impetus for further investigation and my absolute fascination of the Budwig Protocol. One can become the staunchest of believers, if one can see it with one's own eyes! I have. You may read about my greyhound's case by clicking on the right button. This protocol was developed by Dr. Johanna Budwig and basically is a nutritional approach on how to reverse cancer and other diseases by combining Flaxseed oil with the sulfur protein complex found in cottage cheese or quark. Though developed for humans, I feel this treatment could have very favorable implications for all mammals that are subjected to unnatural factory processed feed stuffs containing adulterated Omega-3s and 6s, including racehorses.

First, I want to say at the beginning of this page that Dr. Johanna Budwig was one of the historic pioneering researchers in essential fatty acid research. She first started working on this around 1949 and was the first person to develop a paper chromatography test in detecting fats, fatty acids, lipoproteides along with their types and volumes, ever! Before her, scientists could not detect the Omega-3s or 6s to any useful extent. This is over 70 years ago! There has been a lot of water under the bridge since then! New research in the polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) field and corresponding physiological mechanisms since her professional career ended has expanded the lipid scientific field. My point is that all too often, people will only look to their esteemed guru leader as the sole arbitrator of truth, discounting any modifications. Many Budwig followers are rabid adherents and will resist any deviations in thought from their master's orginal works. I assure you that such intellectual paralysis will stunt the progression of knowledge. I would like to suggest that even though I think Dr. Budwig was a genius and innovative for her times, times change and scientific knowledge evolves for a better truth. On this page, you will find some of the possible improvements which one might want to consider implementing into her protocol. So, let's delve into its science, history and founder:

Secret of Life:

Before we get into the nitty-gritty. Let's look at the big picture which medical practitioners seldom do as specialists. The main object of animal life (and accordingly, its health) is to absorb food nutrients plus Oxygen, rearranging the protons and electrons to a more stable configuration that ends in the production of carbon dioxide and water with a release of energy. The ultimate energy source for life on earth is the sun. It's photons. Plants on this earth with Flax being our focus here, capture the sun's photons, as so eloquently observed by Johanna Budwig via photosynthesis converting water, soil nutrients, photons into essential animal nutrients. It is Flax-seed's nutrients that are so vital in the electron chain of our cell's process to produce energy efficiently via the respiration process and the lack there of, the likely cause of so many of our animal's pathology, especially cancers.

Indications for the Budwig Protocol use:

Cancer, Arteriosclerosis, Strokes, Cardiac Infarction, Heartbeat (irregular), Liver (fatty degeneration), Lungs (reduces bronchial spasms), Intestines (regulates activity), Stomach Ulcers (normalizes gastric juices), Prostate (hypertopic), Arthritis (exerts a favorable influence), Eczema (assists all skin diseases), Old age (improves many common afflictions), Brain (strengthens activity), Immune Deficiency Syndromes (multiple sclerosis, auto-immune illnesses). One can see how many serious diseases are so dependent on a healthy cell and a healthy, efficient cellular respiration process.

The Science

First some background work:

Essential Fatty Acids

     Essential fatty aids (EFA) are as the name implies, essential to life and health! More over, they cannot be naturally synthesized in mammals and must be obtained from outside nutrition. The two EFA classes of interest here are the Omega-6 and Omega-3 groups which are polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs). The base EFA of the Omega-6 group is Linoleic acid (LA) and that of the Omega-3 group is α-Linolenic acid (ALA). The Linus Pauling Institute writes: "Omega-6 and omega-3 are important structural components of cell membranes. When incorporated into phospholipids, they affect cell membrane properties, such as fluidity, flexibility, permeability, and the activity of membrane-bound enzymes. In addition to endogenous metabolism, dietary consumption of fatty acids can modify the composition and molecular structure of cellular membranes. Thus, increasing omega-3 fatty acid intake increases the omega-3 content of red blood cells, immune cells, atherosclerotic plaque, cardiac tissue, and other cell types throughout the body." Johanna Budwig writes: ". . . the fatty acids that are recognized as vital with 18 links in the hydrogen chains (chain with 18 links) and with high electronic enhancement. It is scientifically known that the electronic energy, e.g. in the linoleic fatty acids, is so high-grade that this energy lifts off of the heavy mass and moves as an electron cloud."

     Dr. Budwig considered Flax-seed oil to be the best source of the essential fatty acids for her treatments. Flax-seed oil contains both Omega-6 Linoleic acid (LA) at approximately 16% and the Omega-3 α-Linolenic acid (ALA) at 57%.   Flax-seed oil at 1 tablespoon equals 7.3 grams of α-Linolenic acid (ALA). It is flax-seed's α-Linolenic and Linoleic acids that are the pillars to the Budwig protocol. There is confusion by Budwig students about which essential fatty acid she used, LA or ALA? Most of her writings and lectures seem to only prominently mention the omega-6 Linoleic acid (LA) which acts as a respiratory enzyme in cellular metabolism. However, she also usually mentions that Linoleic acid (LA) is most effective in the "linoleic-linolenic acid system" found in flaxseed oil. She felt both were needed. Interestingly, it is usually thought that α-Linolenic acid (ALA) will be most deficient in our modern diets with hundreds of researchers touting its supplementation while the Omega-6's of which Linoleic acid (LA) belongs, not so much. Budwig seems to disagree with the modern view that ALA is all important and writes this: "The highest electron collection is with the combination of linoleic-linolenic fatty acids in flax oil. The linolenic acid (ALA) as conjugated fatty acid is even more effective and is even more strongly effective in interplay with linoleic acid (LA) as it is present in the flax oil chain as essential fatty acids for oxygen absorption. This was relatively easy for me to verify in my experiments. I would like to emphasize this. The combination of double unsaturated linoleic acid (LA) with triple unsaturated linolenic acid (ALA) is particularly well-combined in flaxseed. Naturally the quality of flaxseed differs greatly. Naturally red flowering flaxseed and blue flowering flaxseed are naturally different; there is also a difference depending on whether flaxseed is harvested in the cold like in Siberia, or in Africa." Thus, I say to those questioning which Fatty acids are important, both, with the emphasis on LA! The fatty acid, α-Linolenic acid (ALA) generally is not considered a prime player in cellular respiration unlike the Omega-6's Linoleic acid (LA), but Budwig seemed to think that the combination of both LA with ALA is particularly potent in the oxygen absorption process. The take-away to this and I will harp on this theme throughout this page is that it is not only this synergistic combination of the two that are important--plus their ratios, but the quality of both LA and ALA that is key! Rancidity is to be avoided at all costs!

Brian Peskin is probably our modern day equivalent of Johanna Budwig in championing the (PUFAs) Polyunsatruated Fatty Acids as a therapeutic paradigm. I do not agree with everything he writes, but he does have some very valuable concepts that one should consider and which should bring more value to the Budwig protocol, if implemented. Much of Peskin's work smacks of the teachings of Dr. Budwig, yet he seems mostly to ignore her and even in a few places disparage her work as antiquated. For instance, he doesn't think that it is necessary to mix the PUFA oils with quark or cottage cheese for better bioavailability. I disagree with that, but to each his own. He also thinks that the primary PUFA of importance in cellular respiration is the Omega-6 group, Linoleic acid (LA)! I agree with him on that one and find it most perplexing to why Dr. Budwig felt that Flax oil was the best oil for supplementation when it was lopsidedly high in the Omega 3, α-Linolenic acid (ALA) at 57% and low in the Omega-6 Linoleic acid (16%). Her English translated text: "The combination of double unsaturated linoleic acid (LA) with triple unsaturated linolenic acid (ALA) is particularly well-combined in flaxseed." does not hold up to modern scientific scrutiny. However, her view that ". . . the linolenic acid (ALA) as conjugated fatty acid is even more effective and is even more strongly effective in interplay with linoleic acid (LA)" is still quite true, even in today's knowledge. Her concept of the most ideal ratio seems to be off. The omega-3 & Omega-6 ratio is very important, but not as it is found in flax-seed oil! Peskin writes that the best LA:ALA ratio would be from 1:1 to 2.5:1. Flaxseed oil has a 1:4.2 ratio in favor of ALA which, if anything, by today's science is backwards. A therapeutic oil should be reversed in favor of LA., not ALA!

If you do much research, you will find that the common view is that our modern diet is giving us way too much Omega-6 amounts with all of the experts saying what needs to be done is increased dosage of the Omega-3s to balance out this imbalanced ratio. Not true in reality! First, true, Omega-6s can be found abundantely in our modern diet, but the problem is, these are adulterated PUFAs. They have been treated with heat, chemicals, and oxidized by air--adulterating their healthy natural form. Adulterated Omega-6s as are the Omega-3s can be very toxic in these new forms. In essence, when one follows the Budwig protocol with flax oil with 2, 4 or more tablespoons per day, one is overdosing on the Omega-3s because we are not simultaneously also taking in a high quality Omega-6 supplement like unrefined Sunflower oil. The key is the word, "unrefined"! The Sunflower oils which can be purchased at the store is adulterated as are all of the vegetable oils on the shelf. They all do more harm than good. Back to the ratio, a 1992 medical text had this to say: " . . . the synergistic effect of Omega-6 and Omega-3 fatty acids at low doses which is greater than the effect of high doses of Omega-3 fatty acids alone." Dr. Budwig certainly would agree with this view of the synergistic effect of the two, but she placed ALA ahead of LA by selecting flax oil. She seemed not aware of the importance of ratios. A good indication of what the ratio should be is to consider what the natural ratio values are found in the various tissues. Muscle contains a 6.5:1 ratio in favor of the Omega-6 (LA) with many of the other tissues around 4:1. Brain and neural tissue favors Omega-6 at 100:1, the skin at 1000:1 which tells you how important skin health is to Omega-6 levels! Accordingly, one should supplement for ratios that are in the 1-2.5:1 ratio, if not much higher.

Lets study the conundrum that has plagued me for years when reading the English translations of Dr. Budwig. She seems to have favored the omega-6 Linoleic acid (LA) over Linolenic acid (ALA) in many ov her statements. Here are a few examples from, Cancer, The Problem and the Solution):

" . . . in the linoleic fatty acids, is so high grade that this energy lifts off of the heavy mass and moves as an electron cloud." (page 17)

"Linoleic acid rich in electrons is considered vital. There is a particularly high amount of energy in this double double bond of the linoleic acid."    (page 19)

"I found out that the oxygen deficiency in living tissue is overcome through linoleic acid, ideally in conjunction with linolenic acid (ALA)." (page 50)

"I recognized and proved the significance of cis linoleic acid in the function of respiratory enzymes for the first time. The linoleic acid as partner to the sulfhydryl group as creator of the lipoprotiens are recognized, proven and discussed in its fundamental important effect for each vital function." (page 99)

Dr. Budwig mentioned that Torsten Thunberg supports her views writing: "Linoleic acid proved to be the great unknown." A.I. Virtanen did the same and wrote that ". . . linoleic added to the drop of blood inhibits the criteria that are typical for cancer. " (page 100)

"The pairing of thee sulfhydryl group for all cell constituting substances with cis-linoleic acid, possibly combined with linolenic acid, which is more rich in electrons, are substances of high physiological interest for all vital functions." (page 102)

"This great unknown in the cytochrome oxidase function was defined by me for the first time as linoleic acid (LA). I proved it with numerous experiments, later shown to be particularly effective in the linoleic (LA)-linolenic acid (ALA) system."

So you see from all of these quoted comments that highlight Linoleic acid of Dr. Budwig's, it sure gives the impression she views the Omega-6, linoleic acid (LA) as the key respiratory compound, yet she chose Flax oil as the best treatment oil! I do not get it. Modern science is behind Linoleic acid as being the paramount PUFA involved in cellular mitochondrial health. A 2010 study writes: "Cardiolipin, a phospholipid located at the level of inner mitochondrial membrane is known to be intimately involved in several mitochondrial bioenergetic processes as well as in mitochondrial‐dependent steps of apoptosis. Cardiolipin seems to facilitate the association and stabilization of respiratory chain complexes into supercomplexes.. Cardiolipin is particularly rich in unsaturated fatty acids, (approximately 80% represented by linoleic acid in heart tissue) and in addition it is located near to the sites of ROS production." She was right about how important Linoleic acid is in mitochondrial health.

My improvement to the Budwig protocol would be to supplement for Linoleic acid (LA) far more than Linolenic acid (ALA). Sunflower oil is very high in LA, around 65% and has basically no Linolenic acid (ALA) in it. I would go with a combination of unrefined sunflower oil and flax seed oil with something like 3:1 in favor of sunflower oil or even higher sunflower amounts!

Sulfhydryl Group & Lipoproteins

    To be more exact, we are interested in the sulfhydryl (thiol) group in proteins. This is the primary form in which sulfur is found in the body along with the disulfide groups. The importance of this group in the physiology of cellular respiration is vital in the oxidation-reduction processes and enhancement of other mechanisms to the well being of a healthy cell. Most herbalists are big fans of organic sulfur. We highly regard such herbs as garlic as very wonderful medicinal plants because of its high sulfur content. Garlic's active compound is allicin (diallyl thiosulfinate, a thiol group). Cottage cheese contains the amino acids, methionine and cysteine which also contain a sulfhydryl group. Thus, these sulfhydryl amino acids in the form of cottage cheese when linked to the Flax-seed's α-Linolenic acid & Linoleic acid complex creates an easily bio-available lipoprotein (fat + protein) that our cells can easily absorb. This is the key component of the Budwig protocol which makes the PUFA water soluble! The two must be taken together and properly combined! One needs to use a mechanical blender to cause this chemical reaction to occur. Mere spooning won't do it. Don't blend any longer than you have to as this tends to introduce oxygen into the volume hastening oxidation and degradation. Once the yellow oil disappears into the white cottage cheese, you are good to go.

    Lipoproteins are amazing structures vital for life. We all know what happens if you try to mix an oil (fat) with water. The oil floats to the top with the two not mixing no matter how hard you try. As an example, try mixing a simple herbal tea made from water with flax-seed oil together in a saucer. You will quickly see this happening. The oil floats to the top. In contrast, try first mixing a tablespoon of Flax-seed oil with 2 tablespoons of cottage cheese, combining with an electric immersion blender. The result is a homogenous creamy emulsion with no signs of the yellow oil. Next, add your herbal water-based tea to this emulsion. The tea will easily mix after some stirring, producing a thinner homogenous emulsion. This would be impossible without lipoprotein formation first occurring. Lipoproteins are molecules that combine lipids (oils, fats) with proteins into one structure that is water-soluble forming a nutrient vehicle that is easily transportable within the body which is characteristically made up of approximately 60% water. Of all things unique about the Budwig protocol, this flax-seed oil/cottage cheese aspect is it! Plain flax-seed oil ingested will not have the same effect as Johanna has pointed out. Fresh flax-seed oil must be combined with the sulfhydryl proteins!

Dr. Budwig writes: "When you mix together Quark or cottage cheese and flaxseed oil in your blender, the fat becomes water-soluble. If you prepare the same mixture with (saturated) fat from the pig which has been fattened on totally wrong feed, the fat no longer combines with the protein. It separates. You can see this as an illustration of chemistry, in vitro, of what takes place in all the organism's vital functions, and in its capillary activity, or in the rising of a plant's sap that fat and protein do combine. That fat does become water soluble--but only when protein is in combination with highly unsaturated fats. Those highly, unstartuated fats are, essentially, rich in electrons."

Spectrofluorometric Determination of Sulfhydryl Groups in Cottage Cheese
( Journal of Dairy Science, Volume 51, Issue 8, August 1968, Pages 1166-1168)

Abstract

The spectrofluorometric method for the determination of sulfhydryl groups in milk proteins and milk has been adapted to apply to Cottage cheese. The method was used in measuring sulfhydryl content of Cottage cheese. Cottage cheese from normally pasteurized skim-milk contained 7.40 ± 1.12 μmoles of sulfhydryl per gram of cheese protein, while cheese from highly heated skim-milk contained 21.30 ± 1.68 μmoles per gram of protein. These data derived from the statistical analysis of a relatively large number of samples, indicate that high-heat skim-milk Cottage cheese contains approximately three times as many spectrofluorometrically measurable sulfhydryl groups as that made from pasteurized skim-milk.

Note: Johanna Budwig used what the Europeans call, quark, for cottage cheese. Quark is very similar to cottage cheese, but lower in sodium. There should be little difference between the two as far as the sulfhydryl proteins are concerned. However, you can make your own quark here in the USA! It is really very easy! If you have access to raw goat or cow milk, that would be even better, but you can use store bought milk. Simply first make a kefir out of the milk by adding kefir grains. This will produce kefir which then can be used to make quark. Look at the YouTube video to right.

Lets examine Johanna Budwig (pronounced: Yaw-hun-nah Bood-vig) and her Flax-seed formula and the biological mechanism which might be behind her treatment. Dr. Budwig's only commonly available book, Flax Oil as a True Aid Against Arthritis, Heart Infarction, Cancer and Other Diseases, 3rd Edition, is a small booklet containing a collection of three of her lectures. This text is rather inadequate as books go. Plus it is a 1992 English translation of the German which seems to make it much harder to understand. Hopefully, I can do a better job of explaining her ideas on this web-page and compare what she wrote to what is being done out on the Internet where there are many variations, along with the method I used with my dog. Her book can be read online free at:

Flax Oil as a True Aid Against Arthritis, Heart Infarction, Cancer and Other Diseases

      Another book of her's as narrated by Lothar Hirneise, Cancer - The Problem and The Solution, is rather hard-to-find and very expensive for a 127 page booklet when found. It is a more technical book describing how she evolved her theories along with more details. Lastly, there is her, The Oil-Protein Diet Cookbook .

     Dr. Budwig's theories were formulated in the 1950's which could mean they are quite out-dated. We shall see! She died in 2003 at the age of 94. She was a licensed Naturopath, pharmacologist with doctorates in both Chemistry and Physics and studied medicine at Göttingen. She was nominated for the Nobel prize 6 or 7 times. As late as 1994 in a written foreword to her 3rd Edition, she still believed in her theories and felt vindicated by current work at that time with fat systems. Dr. Dan C. Roehm, MD in 1990 wrote: "What she (Dr. Johanna Budwig) has demonstrated to my initial disbelief but lately, to my complete satisfaction in my practice is: CANCER IS EASILY CURABLE, the treatment is dietary/lifestyle, the response is immediate; the cancer cell is weak and vulnerable; the precise biochemical breakdown point was identified by her in 1951 and is specifically correctable, in vitro (test tube) as well as in vivo (real)..."     These are pretty powerful words coming from an M.D. as late as 1990, and I agree. I have seen it first-hand myself and I am stunned by how fast it can work! Essential fatty acids seem to be at the core of cellular health as Dr. Budwig theorized in the 1950's! I have always been leery of holistic scams online and elsewhere. One of the first clues to knowing how legit a formula might be is price and the second, its list of ingredients. It is a sure sign to be skeptical when promoted "magical" health-giving products have exorbitant prices with secret ingredients. The Budwig remedy is cheap, commonly available and there are no secrets. Always follow the money trail first as an indication of creditability! Dr. Budwig had this to say: "I have the answer to cancer, but American doctors won't listen. They come here and observe my methods and are impressed. Then they want to make a special deal so they can take it home and make a lot of money. I won't do it, so I'm blackballed in every country." She had never tried to patent her formula or sell it to corporations for profit! However, after her death in 2003, her nephew, who she never had a close relationship with, took her proprietary ideas, books, formulas--commercializing them. He also was behind a Budwig clinic that currently operates in Spain.

     Dr. Budwig was the first to warn against the industrial practice of using the hydrogenation process to extend the shelf-life of fats in the huge food industry for years before that topic became fashionable. "Fats that have industrially been made stable against oxygen acceptance, also oppose the oxygen uptake by the living tissue through auto-oxidation. Our diets often lack the highly unsaturated fatty acids and contain an excess of man-made oils known as trans fats (or partially hydrogenated oils)." She is referring to the cooking oils sold in grocery stores and the processed oils and fats used in producing a wide array of factory processed foods and this includes dry dog feeds as well! This industrial processing causes toxic by-products to form from the naturally occuring Omega-6 Linoleic Acid as well as the Omega-3 Linolenic Acid. After all, dry dog feed does not last weeks or months in a sack not for good reason!   If you only feed your dog processed dry or wet foods, undoubtedly they are not getting the essential oils needed. No wonder there is so much cancer out there in the canine world! Most companies extract the oil from corn, sunflowers, and other plants by using extreme heat and chemicals. The resulting oils and fats may be a major factor in hastening death to the user. These oils are very harmful to life in that they have a many-year shelf life which means even common microorganisms cannot utilize them let alone our own bodies. These oils are absorbed into our cell membranes destroying the electrical charges needed for proper respiration. Without the charge, our cells start to suffocate due to a lack of oxygen. Accordingly, we and our animals are all very deficient in the proper fats that can donate the electrons we need for health.

     When investigating a protocol or theory, I have always found it extremely illuminating to learn how that person came up with their ideas, seemingly out of the blue! I was interested to learn how Johanna Budwig did it as well. She was working with pharmaceuticals for the German Federal Health Office (German FDA) in the early 1950's. In 1951, she was in charge of looking over a number of applications for Federal approval from companies for the use of sulfhydryl group (sulfur-containing protein compounds) in treating cancer. She was struck by how important fats were in this paradigm. The sulfhydryl group can be detected in all breathing tissues and is a key player in the automatic oxygen absorption in cells. Yet the sulfhydryl group is not the only story. Budwig writes: ". . .rather it (oxygen absorption) occurs in an interplay between the positive electrically-charged sulphur compounds in the protein and some kind of fatty substance that we cannot detect, because no verifications for it are available. This fatty substance however plays a major role in the Warburg's respiratory enzyme." This 1951 undetectable "fatty substance" eventually became known as Linoleic acid (LA). Budwig pioneered a method of paper chromatography, which could analyze 0.1 mg of linoleic acid (LA) and linolenic acid (ALA). She writes: "Warburg and Thunberg were unable to isolate or understand this mystery substance of the cell biocatalysts in tissue. Likewise the Japanese in their study [of] the ferment 'laccatase' in plants, and the French in studying 'philothion,' or in the lecithin-type substances of phosphatide combinations. Von Euler wrote that the substance seems to be very unstable. Szent-Gyorgyi wrote the same thing prior to 1951. This substance they all sought was responsible for electron displacement and for the fact that not only protons, but also electrons flow over the hydrogen bridge. This great unknown in the cytochrome oxidase function was defined by me for the first time as linoleic acid (LA). I proved it with numerous experiments, later shown to be particularly effective in the linoleic (LA)-linolenic acid (ALA) system."

     This brings up Otto Warburg, who had a large influence on Johanna Budwig! Otto Warburg was a German physiologist, medical doctor and Nobel laureate. He is most famously known for his 1920's Cancer Hypothesis: "Cancer, above all other diseases, has countless secondary causes. But, even for cancer, there is only one prime cause. Summarized in a few words, the prime cause of cancer is the replacement of the respiration of oxygen in normal body cells by a fermentation of sugar."   This premise is the backbone of most all holistic cancer protocols even to this day. Cancer and tumor growth are caused by the generating of energy by the non-oxidative breakdown of sugar/glucose, known as glycolysis. This is in contrast to healthy cells which mainly generate energy from a pyruvate oxidative breakdown (aerobic process).   Pyruvate is an end-product of glycolysis and is oxidized within the mitochondria. According to Warburg, cancer should be interpreted as a mitochondrial dysfunction. Mitochondria act as control centers regulating whether a cell becomes cancerous via glycolysis or stays aerobic and healthy. It also regulates the all important apoptosis (programmed cell death). In contrast, the main-stream medical profession seems to feel this is far too simplistic with their new holy chalice being genetics with all the complexity and obscurity and mystery which that field holds in science. So far, I am not impressed with the promise of genetics despite the wonderful predictions to the eventual cure of cancer.   A 2014 study, entitled:   Cancer as a metabolic disease: implications for novel therapeutics   pretty much backs Warburg's 1920's theories on cancer cause. They found: "Emerging evidence indicates that cancer is primarily a metabolic disease involving disturbances in energy production through respiration and fermentation."

     Warburg writes this: "Because no cancer cell exists, the respiration of which is intact, it cannot be disputed that cancer could be prevented if the respiration of the body cells would be kept intact. Today we know two methods to influence cell respiration. The first is to decrease the oxygen pressure in growing cells. If it is so much decreased that the oxygen transferring enzymes are no longer saturated with oxygen, respiration can decrease irreversibly and normal cells can be transformed into facultative anaerobes. The second method to influence cell respiration in vivo is to add the active groups of the respiratory enzymes to the food of man. Lack of these groups impairs cell respiration and abundance of these groups repairs impaired cell respiration - a statement that is proved by the fact that these groups are necessary vitamins for man. To prevent cancer it is therefore proposed first to keep the speed of the blood stream so high that the venous blood still contains sufficient oxygen; second, to keep high the concentration of hemoglobin in the blood; third to add always to the food, even of healthy people, the active groups of the respiratory enzymes; and to increase the doses of these groups, if a precancerous state has already developed. If at the same time exogenous carcinogens are excluded rigorously, then much of the endogenous cancer may be prevented today."

     He continues in his 1967 publication, The Prime Cause and Prevention of Cancer : "There are prime and secondary causes of diseases. For example, the prime cause of the plague is the plague bacillus, but secondary causes of the plague are filth, rats, and the fleas that transfer the plague bacillus from rats to man. By a prime cause of a disease I mean one that is found in every case of the disease. Cancer, above all other diseases, has countless secondary causes. Almost anything can cause cancer. But, even for cancer, there is only one prime cause. Summarized in a few words, the prime cause of cancer is the replacement of the respiration of oxygen in normal body cells by a fermentation of sugar. All normal body cells meet their energy needs by respiration of oxygen, whereas cancer cells meet their energy needs in great part by fermentation. All normal body cells are thus obligate aerobes, whereas all cancer cells are partial anaerobes. From the standpoint of the physics and chemistry of life this difference between normal and cancer cells is so great that one can scarcely picture a greater difference. Oxygen gas, the donor of energy in plants and animals is dethroned in the cancer cells and replaced by an energy yielding reaction of the lowest living forms, namely, a fermentation of glucose."

     And finally he writes of the application of these theories: "Of what use is it to know the prime cause of cancer? Here is an example. In Scandinavian countries there occurs a cancer of the throat and oesophagus whose precursor is the so-called Plummer-Vinson syndrome. This syndrome can be healed when one adds to the diet the active groups of respiratory enzymes, for example: iron salts, riboflavin, nicotinamide, and pantothenic acid. When one can heal the precursor of a cancer, one can prevent cancer. According to Ernest Wynder of Sloan-Kettering Institute for Cancer Research in New York, the time has come when one can exterminate this kind of cancer with the help of the active groups of the respiratory enzymes. It is of interest in this connection that with the help of one of these active groups of the respiratory enzymes, namely nicotinamide, tuberculosis can be healed quite as well as with streptomycin, but without the side effects of the latter. Since the sulfonamides and antibiotics, this discovery made in 1945 is the most important event in the field of chemotherapy generally, and encourages, in association with the experiences in Scandinavia, efforts to prevent cancer by dietary addition of large amounts of the active groups of the respiratory enzymes. Since there can scarcely be overdosage, such experiments can do no harm."

    Back to Budwig and her statement that a fatty acid plays a major role in the Warburg's respiratory enzyme. So what is the Warburg's Respiratory Enzyme? Warburg's yellow enzyme (Atmungsjerment) is a flavoprotein that catalyzes an oxidation-reduction reaction and it is the last enzyme in the respiratory electron transport chain of mitochondria . This reaction is necessary for the cells to normally "breath". It is now thought that his Atmungsjerment is the same as the enzyme, Cytochrome c oxidase. This fundamental enzyme converts the oxygen you breath into water at a cellular level by using electrons provided by cytochrome c and protons found in the body. Because oxygen is a very reactive, unstable molecule, Cytochrome oxidase takes electrons from nutrient oxidation and attaches them to an oxygen molecule, then a few hydrogen ions forming two water molecules causing a release of energy. Cytochrome c oxidase utilizes the reaction of oxygen to water to power a molecular pump. As oxygen is consumed, the energy is stored by pumping hydrogen ions from one side of the membrane to the other. Later, the energy can be used to build ATP. ATP is the end product of cellular respiration though it goes without saying here, this is a very complex chain of many events. Linoleic acid (LA) is known to be positively associated with cytochrome c oxidase (COX) activity.

     So what happens in mitochondrial dysfunction, if we don't have enough right fatty acids (Linoleic Acid) for optimum cellular respiration? The energy-generating capacity of the cell diminishes until the cell can no longer function properly. Defects in cellular respiration are dangerous and likely. As far as cancer, programmed cell death or apoptosis may cease, not to mention that a decreased cellular respiration will be conducive of cancer. Let's take a look at what it is said the Budwig protocol can help, if not cure: Cancer, Arteriosclerosis, Strokes, Cardiac Infarction, Heartbeat (irregular), Liver (fatty degeneration), Lungs (reduces bronchial spasms), Intestines (regulates activity), Stomach Ulcers (normalizes gastric juices), Prostate (hypertopic), Arthritis (exerts a favorable influence), Eczema (assists all skin diseases), Old age (improves many common afflictions), Brain (strengthens activity), Immune Deficiency Syndromes (multiple sclerosis, auto-immune illnesses). One can see how many serious diseases are so dependent on a healthy cell and a healthy, efficient cellular respiration process.

Mitochondria & Electron Transport Chain

Mitochondrial dysfunction can be the precursor for cancer. For those of you not well versed in biology lets examine Mitochondria. Mitochondria are the energy power stations of the mammal's body. We would not produce body heat without them! It is estimated that the human body has about 1000 mitochondria per cell and they produce almost all the energy the body requires. They are our nuclear power reactors! Amazingly, they were at one time individual primitive bacteria that were consumed by a larger cell and life being what it is, a symbiotic relationship was discovered and nurtured through evolution. These once primitive bacterial cells had the unique trait of using oxygen to make energy. This was not the case of the bigger cell that consumed it. This larger cell found that it benefited from the bacteria it consumed and life as we know it was initiated. Mitochondria has its own unique DNA and is only handed down by mammals from mother to daughter. We all owe our mothers our machinery for energy and respiration. Oxygen respiration as utilized by mitochondria allows it to take food nutrients and oxygen in the air and produce ATP the primary energy source for our body's life processes. This is accomplished by our consumed food's electrons being ripped off and fed to oxygen by the electron transport chain. Electrons can be transported in the form of the hydrogen atoms. Enzymes (dehydrogenases) in the mitochondria rip hydrogen atoms off food transporting them to the cytochromes passing them on to cytochrome oxidase. These electrons at the other end of the chain are now used to drive what is called proton pumps. Proton pumps pump electrons pass the mitochondria membrane creating ATP, the general energy source of the body. In other words, respiration is simply the inverse of photosynthesis. Plants utilizing photosynthesis absorb sunlight (photons) from the sun combining it with atmospheric carbon dioxide and water to produce plant nutrients. With respiration, the electron rich substances made from both plants and animals are consumed by other animals where the electrons are stripped by the hydrogenases as previously discussed in conjunction with all important oxygen to eventually produce ATP. So you see how important it is to have a efficiently functioning electron chain for respiration. Without it, cancer can form along with other pathologies.

Lastly, mitochondria are widely thought to be the centers of cell apoptosis (controlled cell suicide) or cellular necrosis (sudden death). Again, this is an important function vital to the control of cancer. If you do an online search of the scientific journals, there are hundreds of studies that support the importance of the mitochondria in the cancer process. Warburg may have had a few things wrong, but he seems to be dead right even to this day on cancer being a mitochondrial dysfunction. Apoptosis is a vital mechanism for protecting any cell. In 1996, it was discovered that the mitochondrial induced apoptosis in a cell was stimulated by a release of cytochrome c which is normally a prime component of cellular respiration; but in this case, cytochrome c can be suddenly released by the mitochondria to activate the deadly caspases that initiate cellular death, apoptosis. Remember, it is widely believed, we all have cancer cells but in most cases, thanks to cellular apotosis, cancer ceases to exist, never becoming a threat.

Discussion:

    My mother died from ovarian cancer and my paternal grandfather from bone cancer despite modern medicine and accordingly, I have studied every alternative cancer protocol imaginable. I must say, even if in a very subjective way, that the Budwig protocol seems to have produced more patient satisfaction than any other method that I have ever studied. Not to mention that Dr. Budwig, herself claims a 90% or better! Not that there are not published failures but often, these failures go without analysis and we are left suspecting that the patient may have not had the discipline or knowledge of the true program, but who knows? The successes and simplicity makes Budwig worth serious study and a trial. Certainly the success of my dog on this page has made me a believer! Moreover, Otto Warburg's theory about cancer seems to this day to basically hold true. What other therapy out there directly attacks the cellular respiration aspect of disease? I dare say, none!

     It is only human to want to modify and make something our own and certainly the Budwig protocol has had its share of modifications. Nothing wrong with that, but one should obtain successful results. If one does not, then one had better go back to Johanna's original plan, closely studying her principals to discover if something is amiss. Many followers of her protocol have declared her directives as unapproachable. I don't necessarily believe that, but her startling success rates are a testament to the fact that she must be doing something very right! In her book, she writes: "In the future, cancer research--I am firmly convinced of this -- will become a very simple matter, clearly and easily understood by everyone. The best and greatest thinkers, not least those from the realm of physics, have, like Max Born, emphasized: There is no better method of determining the basic laws which govern us than by the ideal one of using the greatest possible simplicity." So true! Her cancer protocol is elegantly simple and is based on the equally elegant Warburg's cancer hypothesis of cellular respiration dysfunction. Her four base principles of her protocol:

1) Reverse the impaired cellular respiration of the patient by suppling the missing respiratory enzyme activator, Linoleic acid (LA) as not only found in Flax-seed oil's linoleic-linolenic acid system, but also supplement with an even higher Linoleic seed oil like a cold-pressed sunflower oil at around a 3:1 ratio or higher. Plus make these essential fatty acids easily bioavailable by linking them to sulfhydryl amino acids found in cottage cheese.

2) Avoid all respiratory poisons that may have likely caused this deficiency in the first place, i.e. rancid fats, processed hydrogenated oils, trans-fats, animal fats/proteins found in most all processed food products. Likewise avoid toxins that may stimulate the cancer such as rancid oil by-products, insecticides, pesticides, fluoride, and a wide host of other modern chemicals. Avoid sugar as it seems to feed cancer. Basically eat unprocessed plant foods with a few exceptions. Avoid synthetic anti-oxidants.

3) Avoid the common synthetic pharmaceuticals and common cancer treatments of radiation/chemo. They tend to destroy the immune system which must be kept in the upper most efficiency at all times. Avoid all types of undue physical and emotional stresses as they have a deleterious effect on the immune system. Lastly, the patient's digestion in regard to immune system health is not to be overlooked. Make sure the digestion of the gut is as efficient as possible with the supplementation of various plant enzymes and probiotics and the right food.

4) Sunlight exposure is important and should be utilized every day. It works hand-in-hand with the essential fatty acids and cellular respiration.

     Make sure the flax-seed oil (along with my suggested high Linoleic seed oil) you buy is fresh, cold-pressed and organic, 100% pure with nothing added. Lignan-free oil is probably preferred but not mandatory. This point can never be over-stressed! Flax-seed oil along with high Linoleic seed oils all can go rancid very, very quickly. If your flax-seed oil or high linoleic seed oil has varying degrees of a burnt or bitter taste, a fishy taste, disagreeable---chances are it has become rancid or is heading that way! It is generally thought that fresh flax-seed oil should have a pleasant, mild nutty taste. As one Flax seed farm wrote: ". . . taste is your best test of the quality and condition of linseed/flaxseed oil. Good flax seed oil should be mild, creamy, nutty, grassy, i.e. characteristically taste of linseed (flaxseed), with no off or rancid butter notes. Linseed (flax seed) Oil should not be bitter or smell strongly." Heat, sunlight, and oxidation are its natural enemies. Refrigerate, buy only in colored opaque bottles and do not shake vigorously as this can cause oxygen to diffuse into the oil. If it is bottled in a pliable plastic bottle, one can squeeze out the air after each use before securing the lid tight. This helps minimize air in the bottle. Probably the best and cheapest place to buy it is online from large popular companies that seem to have a lot of turn-over in product sales. You do not want to buy flax-seed oil from local shops that are expensive and who's supplies may be old and not refrigerated. Pay close attention to manufacturing date and expiration date! One (biased) Flax seed farm had this to say about Flax-seed oil characteristics and storage: ". . . even as much as a few weeks at ambient temperature doesn't really have much effect on the oil; it simply shortens the time it takes to lose its optimum freshness by, at the most, no more than a few days. Which is why it is not critical to keep it refrigerated and it doesn't spoil the quality. It continues to be nice and just as good for you as linseed oil has ever been - and bear in mind linseed oil has been used as a "health food" for thousands of years before refrigeration was available. This means that the few days between pressing and receipt of the oil makes effectively no difference to the flavor, quality or effectiveness of the oil. However, just as the fridge is the best place for freshly ground coffee (for the same sort of reasons as above; it keeps it just a bit fresher for just a bit longer) as you will probably be storing it for several weeks we recommend the fridge, or even the freezer . Properly produced Linseed oil is actually far more heat stable than it is given credit for. We have tested it extensively. However it is very sensitive to strong light. Left in strong sunlight linseed oil (flax seed oil) can go rancid and bitter in less than an hour. So always avoid it being left in direct light, store it in the dark." I want to add a note of warning here! The Flaxseed farms and companies tend to proclaim the previous mantra that their flax-seed oil is much more impervious to rancidity than is commonly believed over and over again. I suspect this to be very untrue no matter how much they would like to protest! As some proof, there are sure a lot of people out there that hate the taste of their purchased flaxseed oil! Merchants can get by with this claim since most oil buyers really have no idea what fresh flax-seed oil should taste like. As one European user wrote, most all USA sold oil is rancid to some extent. I agree and this became very evident to me after tasting my freshly expressed oil as I now make it. I suspect that my dog's set-back about a month after I started her on the Budwig may be due to me using a second bottle of sub-quality oil as I have described on my Budwig case study webpage. In closing, always utilize the freshest materials as possible. So many people seem to find the commercially purchased flax-seed oil very disagreeable. It should not be! One cannot cure cancer with a rancid oil! Perhaps this is one glaring reason why those who have not seen success with Budwig have failed? The same applies to whole flax seeds. You must buy them organic, fresh and whole. Grind them only when they are to be used in minutes, otherwise store in freezer or refrigerator. As a side note, the flax-seed farm's comment about how sunlight is so reactive to flax-seed oil is quite interesting and telling! This seems to give credence to Dr. Budwig's view that the flax-seed oil inside of the human is very reactive to absorbed sunlight and brings about an increased health vigor!

     Dosage is much more important than many people realize, but it can be tricky in that one has to avoid creating a food aversion which is much easier to do than one may think in dogs as well as humans! If you don't administer enough, it will not work properly! This may be one of the key pitfalls with the Budwig treatment in those patients that experience failure. People may dislike the taste of flax-seed oil because it is turning rancid and for whatever other reasons, do not take enough! If you go back to my discussion about Otto Warburg, he had this to say about dosage: ". . . dietary addition of large amounts of the active groups of the respiratory enzymes" may be the key to preventing and curing cancer. "Large amounts" may be the key word here! It looks like the traditional therapeutic Budwig dosage is approximately 6 tablespoons of oil per day in a corresponding 12 tablespoons of cottage cheese. This is given in the form of 3 tablespoons of oil and 6 tablespoons of cottage cheese, every 12 hours. Some say as high as 8 tablespoons of Flax-seed oil per day may be appropriate. Note that this suggested dosage is for the average sized adult of the 1950s, probably around 150 pounds. Naturally, a heavier person would need more, a lighter one less. In veterinary terms, my greyhound weighs 60 pounds, less than half the size of the "average" 1950's human, yet I gave her initially, 4 tablespoons a day which in human dosage terms would be equal to more than 8 tablespoons a day. A pretty massive dosage! Why not flood the system with omega-3s as Otto Warburg advised? So as far as dosage, I say, "it all depends" and never underestimate that individual patients may need much more than the typical dosage. The good news is that fresh Flax-seed oil is relatively non-toxic and can not be easily over-dosed when given in the cottage cheese/oil complex. Rancid Flax-seed oil is another story and can be toxic! After all, fresh flax-seed oil is an herbal nutrient and as I have written on my web-site before, when prescribing herbal dosages, the best way is to keep increasing dosages (within reason) until one sees a favorable response. As is characteristic of herbal medicine, dosages are always hard to pin down. This is one reason why herbal medicine became obsolete in the modern world of industrial style medicine. In modern medicine, one needs chemically pure compounds to be prescribed in specific accurate doses. Scientific trials document the dosage ranges to narrow limits. Herbal medicine is a completely different animal when compared to our modern synthetics where often precise dosages are the norm using precisely measured and produced chemicals. If one gives too much or too little, then one can often quickly get in trouble with the pharmaceuticals. On the other hand, herbal medicine by it nature cannot operate this way. Any individual plant will have varying amounts of the active medicinal compound within itself depending on a host of factors, i.e. temperature, drought, rain, soil properties, how it was processed and stored, etc, etc. When one wonders how much to give of any herbal remedy, it all depends! The beauty is that for the most part, herbal remedies are non-toxic and there is a wide safety range. So one must always treat the individual patient as a new patient with an herb remedy that may vary in strength and, if no response is seen, rise dosage and/or frequency. Start low and rise dosage as needed.

      This is sort of like prescribing Vitamin C: Dr. Levy points out in his book, Curing the Incurable , that Dr. Klenner "....always based subsequent dosing on the degree of general clinical response and the extent of which an elevated temperature had been lowered from the previous vitamin C dose." This may exactly be another reason why modern physicians tend to ignore Vitamin C protocols along with many herbal remedies; and it is why most scientific trials on the efficiency of Vitamin C results in poor out-comes, because researchers do not consider dosages important or ever utilize mega-doses. They do not want the intensive labor of continually monitoring the patient for future adjustments in C dosages. This is very much like how herbs should be prescribed and why herbs lost popularity for the modern synthetic medicines. The current dose's response dictates the next dosage level. Not a good paradigm for a factory, cookie-cutter medical practice! As an example, some viral infections can easily burn up 300-400 grams of Vitamin C daily. One must give that much to stay even with the fight for health! Levy writes: "The rule of thumb in vitamin C treatment of viral diseases is to continue increasing the dose as long as the clinical response is inadequate or unsatisfactory and to continue the treatment period until all clinical symptoms have disappeared." This same rule in many cases befits Budwig flax-seed oil prescribing as well! It all depends! Be smart and observant and know your patient!

     Back to the possibility of creating a food aversion. The last thing we want is either a cottage cheese or flax-seed oil aversion when both are needed for treatment. Food aversions come to us from our primitive evolution as a means of avoiding becoming poisoned again. Humans, as well as our dogs will subconsciously associate an eaten food with nausea/sickness and automatically create an aversion to that substance. Dogs can create food aversions, if they get sick after eating whether it be by chemotherapy or some other means. No doubt, some of our own individual food aversions can be traced back to our childhood relating that food to nausea or other negative stimuli. Just be aware that food aversions are a possibility and should be guarded against.

     Dr. Budwig as mentioned above was against the use of mega-dosing of anti-oxidants in conjunction with her protocol. I would somewhat disagree with her on anti-oxidants. The body is made up all types of compartments. Some compartments need a different environment than others, i.e., pH, oxygen saturation, etc, etc. Looking at this from a body compartmentalized angle, I see no reason why mega-doses of anti-oxidants could not be used if one allows a number of hours between the administration of the flax-seed oil/protein complex and the application of those anti-oxidants. One would not want them in the stomach/digestive tract at the same time for obvious reasons voiced by Budwig. The same would hold true for the circulatory system, our great highway of nutrient transport. Avoid simultaneous administration of ozone, vitamin c and other intravenous therapies while you are consuming the needed essential fatty acids. One only needs to juggle this with hours without avoiding a complete ban.

    Dr. Budwig's ELDI oils mentioned above are suppose to be a secret formula with the only thing that is known, wheat germ & Flax-seed oils are the main ingredients. Dr. Budwig used spectroscopic measurements to obtain the light absorption data of those oils as it corresponds to the sun's photon rays. I have been an herbalist for years and I have always found the so-called "secret ingredients" and secret volume ratios are more hype than not to surround a product with mystery. I suspect if you want to simply mix up some Flax-seed oil + wheat germ oil (3:1), one can come pretty close to achieving the medical benefits that Johanna did. She often used topical applications of her oil along with a ruby red laser on the skin for added affect. I might also suggest that adding DMSO to this oil may help in the skin absorption of the omega-3 and 6's! Since the Omega 3 and 6s have molecular weights well below 1000 daltons, DMSO can easily absorb and transfer the essential fatty acids more efficiently past the skin layers.   Plus DMSO has some unique therapeutic virtues as well.

     What about substitution of either Flax-seed oil or cottage cheese for something else? Over 60 years ago, Dr. Budwig championed Flax-seed oil as the best source of Omega-6 & -3's and Quark (cottage cheese) as the best source for the sulfhydryl amino acids, but many people seem to want something else. Personally, I would advise not to try to substitute these two ingredients but instead, buy the freshest available, plus add a very high Linoleic seed oil (like Sunflower oil) to the mixture which will give the patient higher ratios of the all important PUFA, Linoleic acid.

The combination of a high Omega-6 Linoleic oil + the high Omega-3 Linolenic oil found in Flax seed are very easy to mix together in a cottage cheese/quark base. However, some seem to personally dislike the taste of Flax-seed oil (probably rancid) and others say they are lactose intolerant (again, perhaps another sign of a bad oil being mistaken for lactose intolerance) or dislike eating animal products though Dr. Budwig writes that she has never had a patient whose digestive system has rejected the combination of her flax-seed oil and cottage cheese. Granted, perhaps in veterinary applications of the Budwig, another substance would be better in livestock feed other than cottage cheese? But I doubt it! Cottage cheese supplies high levels of the sulfhydryl amino acids which are required to make this protocol work. Are there other foods that can supply the same and as much? Methionine and cysteine are the two main sulfhydryl proteins we are interested in here. They can be found in nuts, cold-processed whey, beans (1 cup of kidney beans = 1/3 cup of cc), legumes, egg yolk, rolled oats, oat bran, wheat germ, wheat bran and quinoa. There is an isolated account of MSM (methylsulfonylmethane) being used successfully in a case of cancer in ferrets. Ferrets do not tolerate dairy products well and adrenal cancer is common in many of them. A breeder added MSM to their ferret's diet of Omega-3 and high protein diet and saw a rapid recovery. Supposedly MSM's sulfhydryl group was the missing link needed. No mechanical mixing was done and I am not sure how efficient that would be in converting MSM + high protein ration into a sulfhydryl amino acid complex and then continue to combine with the Omega-3 fatty acids? In this case, it seemed to work. At any rate, it may be something to think about. MSM is a common equine supplement and might have an interesting application in this regard. Duncan Crow, a holistic Consultant, suggests that cold-processed whey would be superior to cottage cheese and that wild salmon oil, wild fish oil, or cod liver oil are better than flax-seed oil. His arguments seem compelling on not very close research, but you need to make up your own mind. I will not debate his views here. I do know his sources are much more expensive to purchase than Budwig's. Basically, his sources are designed to give larger dosages of the longer chained essential fatty acids: EPA and DHA than Budwig's which I think misses the point:

Number one: the Budwig is not designed to supplement specifically for DHA and EPA essential fatty acids. DHA and EPA are not pivotal as a respiratory activator like Linoleic Acid (LA) and ALA which is after all, the whole point of the Budwig. EPA and DHA can be synthized in one's body from the base Omega acids.

Number two: even if one wanted higher concentrations, why not just increase the High Linoleic oils/Flax-seed/cottage cheese dosages, if that is what one is after?

    Budwig was not in favor of fish oil supplementation and warned that one needed to stick with the parent 18-link structures found in Linoleic acid (LA) and α-Linolenic acid (ALA). The fish oils mostly consist of the larger chained Omega-3, essential fatty acids, EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid) and DHA (docosahexaenoic acid). For some reason, all of the experts seem to suggest that LA and ALA are not useful and that a short-cut to supplementation with EPA and DHA is very desirable in the form of marine animal oils. This would be all well and good if Budwig wanted EPA and DHA supplementation. She did not! The precursors, Linoleic acid (LA) and α-Linolenic acid (ALA) can not be equated having the same physiological utilization to those later evolved essential fatty acids of EPA and DHA down the pathway chain. Even though ALA can be converted into EPA and DHA, they don't do the same things in the body. If they did, why on earth would evolution need a pathway for their eventual conversion? One needs LA and ALA for certain tasks which EPA and DHA cannot be utilized for. Of course, there are tasks that EPA and DHA can only be utilized in as well, but it ain't respiratory activation! Why this is overlooked by Budwig detractors is a crime. Johanna appreciated this distinction! Evolution is based on each pathway level being useful for the organism's task at that time of its development as well as in the future even with evolutionary change. Just because evolution creates a more complex pathway over time does not in any way lessen the need for the more primitive, parent elements of that pathway to still exist and maintain their original tasks. Linoleic acid (LA) and α-Linolenic acid (ALA) seem to be vital in cellular respiratory metabolism, while EPA and DHA are designed more directly for anti-inflammatory processes and cell membranes viscosity benefits.

      Lastly, what about cottage cheese? Must we always use a low-fat, organic version or will others work like plain old 4% fat? Everyone seems to declare that one must always use an organic low-fat cottage cheese. In the case of my dog, I did not. I purchased a 5 pound bulk cannister of 4% cottage cheese from Sam's Club for approximately US$6.00. It seemed to work quite nicely! Exactly what did Dr. Budwig say? From what I can tell, her only recommendation was a quark, Europe's version of cottage cheese. The organic label was not used back in the 1950's, nor was there such a thing as "low fat". Common sense says that organic would be better and preferred, but if you can not afford it or find it, I say any type of cottage cheese is better than nothing. Another view is that low fat cottage cheese will absorb more flax oil than a higher fat cottage cheese variety. I doubt this is really a factor in the greater chemistry of combining the two. It is also written that some dogs may be more likely to succumb to pancreatitis, if fed foods containing high fat content. Again, I doubt seriously that a 4% cottage cheese should really be considered "high fat", but you be your own judge. Ricotta cheese is comparable to cottage cheese as it is low fat and high in the sulfhydryl proteins and could be a logical substitute.

Equine Application of the Budwig Protocol

     It seems apparent that most any essential fatty acid deficient mammal could benefit from the Budwig Protocol with the racehorse being no exception. The essential fatty acids are just as important to the horse as they are man. Horses in nature received their Omega-3s allowance from grazing on fresh green grass which normally contains extremely high Omega-3s levels. Their Omega-6's come from the grain rations. The problem occurs in our racehorses when they are fed sub-quality cured hay with a high grain ration often consisting of processed feeds that contain rancid or hydrogenated fats which were so warned against by Dr. Budwig. Some trainers supplement their horses' rations even further with a hydrogenated vegetable corn oil or a rancid equine flax-seed oil on top of all this. Fresh grass, depending on maturity, will vary between 3-5% fat of which 40-55% are the omega- 3's. Hay, depending on quality, can contain 1-3% fat, of which 18-35% are the omega-3's. Both green grass and hay have more omega-3's than omega-6's, but cured hay depending on how it was harvested, processed, and stored could be exceedingly low in the Omega-3's. If you have read this page to this point, you know how fragile the Essential Fatty Acids can be to sunlight, heat, and all types of oxidation and you also know how toxic hydrogenated fats and oils can be!   If your horse is not on fresh grass at least 18 hours a day, then Omega-3 supplementation is probably advantageous. Veterinarian, Eleanor Kellon writes: "If we look at horses in peak grazing season on green grasses, a 500 kg horse is taking in around 200-264 g/day of omega-3 in the form of alpha-linolenic acid. Levels drop with extremes of weather (including heat, drought) and are very low in cured hay. Horses on hay, hay & grain, vegetable fat-enriched diet have very high omega-6 intakes, minimal omega-3." Dr. Joe Pagan of Kentucky Equine Research Inc. wrote this in 2008: "Omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids must be in balance within the body in order for both to be effective. The natural diet of horses - primarily fresh and dried forages contains more omega-3 fatty acids than omega-6 fatty acids. Domesticated horses are often fed concentrated sources of energy in the form of cereal grain and added vegetable oil. Most grains and vegetable oils contain much higher levels of omega-6 fatty acids than omega-3 fats, thus creating a balance of omega-3 to omega-6 fatty acids that may be inappropriate."

    It should be clear that our racehorses that are stabled mostly 23 hours out of the day, in dark stalls and often fed hay that may not be the best or freshest are lacking in Omega-3 levels. Compound this deficiency with the probability that the processed performance feeds often fed may contain rancid oils and/or hydrogenated fats of some type or another that really can gum up the cellular works of an already omega-6 & -3 deficient horse! Perhaps, the ideas of racehorse trainers have changed since I plied the trade over 20 years ago, but when I was racing, many trainers seemed to consider the grain ration to be the most important aspect of equine nutrition. On top of that, if an oil supplement was added, it could easily be rancid or consist of hydrogenated oils. Many trainers were very skimpy on feeding expensive hays with most trying to get by on the cheaper, less nutritious grass hays locally available or make it up with a larger grain ration. God forbid, their horses waste any hay in their stalls--that would result in even less hay being fed to them! Is it any wonder that many deficient racehorses are prone to all types of barn infections, lung infections, EIPH, skin infections, and a host of other problems which most horsemen will never associate with low Omega-3 & -6 levels? I doubt things have changed much since I was training, but back then, racetrack horses didn't get much fresh green grass, ever. If one was lucky enough to be at a track where there were large green expanses, then the grooms often could be seen grazing them during some part of the day for a few minutes. Most of the time that never happened, because the trainers had their groom's schedule filled with just enough time to get their horses out-and-in within a day with nothing allotted for the luxury of grazing horses. Not only that, but there has been a long taboo on the race track to not graze racehorses on fresh green grass up close to a race. It was felt that green grass dulled a horse's performance and affected their breathing. This was sort of like the myth when I was running track in High School of drinking milk before a performance. I am sure there is nothing to it and any amount of green grass will probably produce a much better race performance than none at all, but so goes life and superstitions.

     Omega-3 fatty acid supplementation has received much publicity these last few years in the equine nutrition world with the Omega-6 Linoleic acid (LA) supplementation, none. Lets examine what horsemen and feed companies are talking about? There are a number of studies that show the horse can benefit from such supplementation. Just in the last few months, Juliet M. Getty, Ph.D., equine nutritionist, wrote an article extolling the virtues of a higher fat diet in the equine. She wrote: "Researchers at Virginia Polytechnic Institute noticed that horses fed a high fat diet are less reactive to startling stimuli and had lower levels of excitability and anxiety than horses fed a more traditional grain-based diet. But from a health perspective, it is best to steer clear of animal fats, as well as oils that have too many omega 6s (which increase inflammation) in relation to omega 3s (which have an anti-inflammatory effect). Oils high in monounsaturated fatty acids are a good source since they neither increase nor decrease inflammation. Ground flaxseeds and flaxseed oil: Has a 4:1 ratio of omega 3s to omega 6s, making it an ideal choice." (Note: She basically has a good idea of the horse's need for fats, but she is not appreciative of how harmful man-processed hydrogenated fats can be as pointed out by Budwig.) Most of the Omega-3 equine supplements are advertised for their improvement of allergies, skin conditions, decreasing inflammation, supporting immune system function, increasing red blood cell flexibility, etc. A 2013 Purdue University thesis supports the idea that Omega-3 supplementation can improve and manage Chronic lower airway inflammatory diseases (i.e. recurrent airway obstruction) and inflammatory airway disease. Texas A&M University research showed omega-3 fatty acids reduced joint inflammation in both yearlings and older arthritic horses. Omega-3 supplement fed horses exhibited lower synovial fluid white blood cell counts than the control group. Kansas State University performed a study showing a reduction of EIPH (bleeding) in Thoroughbreds after they were fed a diet enriched with fish oil for 83 days. So it is generally considered in the veterinary literature that horses can benefit from Omega-3 supplementation.

    Unfortunately, no one seems to have the clinical depth of knowledge or experience with the Omega-3 & -6's as did Dr. Johanna Budwig. She is an unknown entity to many. Her knowledge and appreciation drawfs what many think they know today about the essential fatty acids and to think she pioneered this original work over 50 years ago! One never hears about the basic importance of the Omega-3 & -6's in cellular respiration or how it can be made much more bioavailable by uniting it with the sulfhydryl proteins. I do not believe in performance enhancers as advertised in today's world of sports as I explained on my webpage on Injectables, but I do know that an omega-3 & -6 deficient racehorse will be a better racing proposition when properly supplemented! If Linoleic acid (LA) along with α-Linolenic acid (ALA) can revert cancer cells so wonderfully, how could it not give a racehorse better oxygenation? Cellular energy and respiration is the basic unit of athletic performance.

    Certainly we don't have to normally worry about cancer in racehorses, but an optimum cellular metabolism is imperative for a top performance. No way around it! We seldom consider a racehorse's performance on a cellular level, but we should! Otto Warburg distilled the cause of cancer down to an impaired cell respiration cycle. I will do the same for a winning race performance. It all boils down to efficiency of cellular respiration as well. Winning races is about the horse that can muscularly move its mass fastest from point A to point B. Muscle contraction is powered by ATP, but simply a lot of available ATP is not the answer. Back in the 1970's, it was common for vets to inject ATP into horses as a pre-race. This was a pretty useless practice, and I never had a bit of luck doing it to any of my horses. So, it is not the amount but how our cells can utilize ATP that matters. As Dr. Guy Brown writes in his book, The Energy of Life: "If the fuel supply does not limit our energetics, what does? Usually it is the machinery of the cell that transform that energy into ATP or the machinery that uses that ATP to do work such as muscle contraction or nerve impulses." It is the horse with the less fatigue at the end of the race that will win, presuming all things are equal. Dr Brown points out that the lungs are not the limiting factor, since they seem to have excess capacity under maximum exertion. This is proven by the fact that oxygen and CO2 levels in the blood typically remain constant at maximum exercise. If lungs were a limiting factor, one should see a plasma decrease. One does not. A tell-tell sign of this being true is that training does not increase lung efficiency. What training does do is increase heart muscle efficiency which accordingly allows the heart to pump more blood with less work. The lung is not a muscle, the heart is! At maximum exercise, the heart is working at about 90% capacity. The limit of the heart corresponds very closely to the limit of performance. The heart pumps oxygen to the cells and it is how efficient the cells are in completing its respiration chain with that available oxygen from the blood that probably is one of the keys to winning races. Certainly, blood doping and EPO has been used to boost oxygen in the blood at the red blood cell level, but we are going much more deeply here, directly to the cellular respiration metabolism throughout the body. Training racehorses does many things to prepare an animal for a race, but one of the major results is an increase in the mitochondria in the muscles. Mitochondria are "power stations" of the cell which require a healthy respiration cycle to efficiently generate ATP and use it efficiently. Mitochondrial functionality is vital in over-coming cancer and vital in winning races and the omega-3s are a key!

    How are the Omega-3 & -6's currently being supplemented to our horses? Well, the Omega-6 Linoleic acid (LA) isn't being marketed at all while the the Omega-3's seem to be mostly sold to us in powders, feed meals, oils and whole seeds.

1) Whole flaxseeds . . . . . . . . they have been fed both whole and ground in horses' rations for a long time. I would avoid feeding the whole seed as horses tend not to do a very good job at cracking them with their molars. If one is going to spend the time and money for a quality seed product, grind it! The problem is, one has to grind the seeds right before feeding. Anything over 15 minutes in the open air will subject the newly ground seed to oxidation which will start a degradation process on the omega-3 & -6's! For a large stable, this could be a problem! One never wants to subject the seeds to sunlight and/or high heat as sunlight and heat will destroy the Omega-3 & -6's as well. Avoid any seeds that are said to be processed in such a way to stabilize their content! It will destroy the nutritional value in the horse. Every horse is different, but it is said that flaxseed up to a pound a day can be fed.

2) The Oils . . . . . . . there is a debate about which may be better, fish oil or flax-seed oil. The popular spiel is that fish oil is better because it contains the desirable, proper omega-3's, EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid) and DHA (docosahexaenoic acid). They also say that flaxseed oil contains only the omega-3, ALA (alpha-linolenic acid) which is not immediately available to man or the horse, but it can be used to a limited extent to make the EPA and DHA ones, once inside the body. I would stick with flax-seed oil for all the reasons why Dr. Budwig preferred it; as well, as it being much less expensive to feed. Fish tend to be magnets for various toxins leached into the waters which may be carried into their oil upon extraction. Moreover, Budwig criticized fish oils for being subjected to boiling heat temperatures during the initial oil extraction process which can easily degrade the essential fatty acids. There are vacuum-distilled fish oils out there that subject the fish oil to much lower temperatures, but they tend to be expensive and involves the creation of ethyl esters which may be later re-esterified producing a synthetic triglyceride. Commercial fish oils are either made of the ethyl esters or the natural, synthetic triglycerides. The triglycerides are preferred whether synthetic or natural. There seems to be a marketing trend for the "concentrated" fish oil formulas which probably are not good for many reasons. The concentrating process often involves heat and the transformation of the desirable EPA and DHA fatty acids (triglycerides) into more stable longer chained ethyl esters which are not naturally found in mammals. Concentrated fish oils tend to go rancid quicker which is why manufacturers will add anti-oxidants to their concentrate formula. As you have previously read, Budwig warned against combining anti-oxidants with the omega-3's. Again, we find big business modifying the natural essential fatty acid chemistry to make it last longer for commercial purposes! If it is processed to avoid rancidity, the body will likewise find it much less useable as Budwig has pointed out again and again. It is also felt that the highly concentrated fish oils only consist of the two essential fatty acids, EPA and DHA. In reality, fish oils contain many symbiotic compounds that add to the biologic value of these two which are lacking in the highly concentrated products. In the end, the bioavailability of most fish oils are not what it should be for these reasons. Lastly, one big reason is horses do not naturally eat fish and it seems to be less palatable to them. Often picky racehorses have enough problems as it is without giving them something they may not find pleasing. Lastly the kicker to this debate is this: For some reason, all of the experts seem to suggest that LA and ALA are not useful and that a short-cut to supplementation of EPA and DHA is very desirable in the form of marine animal oils. I say Bull-shit to this! The precursors, Linoleic acid (LA) and α-Linolenic acid (ALA) can not be equated to the final essential fatty acids of EPA and DHA. Even though ALA can be converted into EPA and DHA, they don't do the same things in the body. One needs LA and ALA for certain tasks which EPA and DHA cannot be utilized. Why this is often overlooked is a crime. Johanna appreciated this distinction!

     Plants are their natural food stuff and that should be a clue what to feed. The commercial Flax-seed oils out there could be a problem as well. They go rancid rapidly and must be used quickly. Refrigeration will help. It would probably be best to press one's own flax-seed oil rations rather than buying it and more economical, too. It isn't that difficult to press out of the whole seeds. Again, this all shows how the best product is the one that is least processed. Pressing flax-seed oil basically consists of heating it to no more than 120 degrees F and then mechanically cold-pressing it. Yield can be any where from 28-33% or in other words, a pound of whole flaxseed will produce approximately 5-6 ounces of fresh oil.

3) Flax-seed (linseed) meal . . . . . . . this form is commonly sold by livestock feed dealers and probably should be avoided. Not only is it highly processed in multi-steps, but storage and other factors continually degrade this form.

4) Omega-3 supplements . . . . . . . . for the same reasons as flax-seed meals, the cannistered equine omega-3 supplements are highly processed, of dubious essential fatty acid value, and of debatable storage life--saying nothing of being expensive.

Suggested Equine Modification of the Budwig Protocol

It is obvious that omega-3 & -6 supplementation can be very good in deficient racehorses whether one is fighting diseases or optimizing racing performance, but can we do better upon how the omega-3 & -6's are traditionally administered? Simply feeding flax-seed in your horse's ration in the form of whole seed or ground meal is really not the best way to go; nor is the feeding of the specially processed oils and omega-3 supplements efficient either. Horsemen do not appreciate how fragile the Flax-seed omega-3 & -6's are outside of the protective whole seed shell! They go rancid so fast, if the processing technique or storage conditions are not favorable which is not only a waste of substantial money, but it is believed that the rancid forms can be quite detrimental to health. A double whammy! I dare say that most all of the omega supplements found in tack shops are worthless. At the same time, the flax-seed ground meals which can be purchased from your feedman is equally very sub-quality simply because grinding destroys the whole seed protection of the omega-3 & -6's opening it up to swift oxidation. Johanna Budwig combined the flax-seed's all important Omega-6, Linoleic acid (LA) with the Omega-3, aα-Linolenic acid (ALA) into combination with the sulfhydryl proteins found in quark or cottage cheese to make a readily bioavailable complex superior to simple digestion of the flax-seed oil or the flax-seeds, themselves. The equine can benefit from the incorporation of flax-seed oil with cottage cheese, too. Horsemen may bulk at the idea of feeding cottage cheese to their horses, but whey protein, casein and powdered cottage cheese have been fed to sick horses in the past. It can be beneficial and even more so, if you incorporate fresh flax-seed oil in it. Why spend a ton of money on the traditional flaxseed supplements that may do more harm than good! Careful selection and storage of a large bag of high quality whole flaxseed, ground minutes before fed and combined with cottage cheese is really the only way to go.

MORE TO COME, STAY TUNED!

The Success Rates

What was Dr. Budwig's clinical success rates? How good was her system? Lothar Hirneise writes that Dr. Budwig stated: " I decided to straight way go for human trials and enrolled 600 patients from four big hospitals in Munster (Germany). I started to give flax oil and cottage cheese to the cancer patients. After just three months, patients began to improve in health and strength, the yellow green substance in their blood began to disappear, tumors gradually receded...I treated approximately 2500 cancer patients during the last few decades. Prof. Halme of surgery clinic in Helsinki used to keep records of my patients. According to him, my success was over 90%." And note that this success was achieved in cases where modern medicine had failed. She also felt that those patients that didn't improve, did not follow her protocol strictly. She wrote: "I often take very sick cancer patients away from the hospital where they are said to have only a few days left to live, or perhaps only a few hours. This is mostly accompanied by very good results. The very first thing which these patients and their families tell me is that, in the hospital, it was said they could no longer urinate or produce bowel movements. They suffered from dry coughing without being able to bring up any mucous. Everything was blocked. It greatly encourages them when suddenly in all these symptoms, the surface-active fats [flaxseed oil and Quark (cottage cheese) with their wealth of electrons, start reactivating the vital functions and the patients immediately begins to feel better. It is very interesting to ask how this sudden change is possible. It has to do with the reactions patterns, with the character of electrons." My remarkable experience with my greyhound shows change can indeed happen in mere hours!

Here is a rather disturbing note of warning. Dr. Budwig wrote: "With persons who previously suffered from cancer and who feel well again - having even lost their tumors and metastases - after strictly adhering to the oil-protein diet, I've observed the following: if they re-change their diet within the first months [after their recovery], such as by eating sausages and cold cuts or eating on a holiday whatever the usual hotel cuisine will serve, all of a sudden, their erythrocytes will be heavily re-infested by these 'cancerobes'. In these constellations I am no longer able to help and such patients will often die within a few weeks. After five years or so, a gradual broadening of the diet is no longer dangerous to this degree. When a person who had previously had a cancer diagnosis abandons the oil-protein diet, death occurs appallingly quickly. Both my own observations and those of other MDs have been able to confirm that straying from the diet leads to death, and frighteningly fast." Dr. K. Bischoff also agrees and writes: "Like with any serious condition, the strict rules must be maintained for three years before they can be relaxed. A return to the former, cancer-causing lifestyle must be avoided since a second bout of cancer does not hold much promise regarding healing success even when a rigorous dietary change is re-implemented. I have experienced this with rectal cancer, stomach cancer, and breast cancer." Jan Roehm, MD wrote this: ". . . you should follow this diet for about five years. By that time, your tumor should have completely disappeared. Persons who stop the diet too early (by eating meat and sweets) sometimes see their health rapidly deteriorate and cannot be saved after such a bodily torture." Budwig never mentioned in her literature that once a terminal illness has been brought into remission that the patient may reduce the daily amount of flax oil ingested by going on a maintenance dose of one tablespoon per hundred pounds of body weight which is so commonly and erroneously stated on the Internet.

The Patients, Johanna Budwig Generally Refused to Treat:

Dr. Budwig held little success for a few patient categories which may be worthy of note here. Though keep in mind, there is always hope in all cases with no two patients ever alike. She had no trouble accepting patients full of metastases and with liver involvement or those with brain tumors. She had no problems with patients diagnosed as incurable by the establishment either. She did bulk at accepting patients with an impaired G-I track, particularly those with artificial portions added or removed by surgery. She specifically stated that she rejects breast cancer patients whose symptoms had advanced to swollen edematous arms with tumor tissue behind the shoulder blade. To summarize, Budwig felt that a patient needed an intact gastro-intestinal tract and a functional lymphatic system for her protocol to work. That makes sense. One needs a patient with a G-I tract that can absorb nutrients and one needs a functional lymph system that can also nourish and remove toxins. I would like to go further here than Johanna did in her lectures and suggest that older humans and animals nearing their species expiration dates are not good candidates for success. By all means treat them, but do not blame the protocol if failure occurs. We all have to die some time!

Johanna Budwig's Way

Online, every holistic health practitioner seems to have their own "improved" version of the Budwig protocol, but let's examine exactly how Johanna did it resulting in such spectacular results. Only after such study, should we then adjust her ideas to our own and our patient's individual needs and then only do such modification with extreme care, if at all! Her success rates are legendary and often unbelievable by today's standards. It was said over-all, she obtained around a 98% "cure" rate while with terminal cancer patients which modern medicine had given up on, 90%. These were often patients that had taken the full course of radiation and chemo and were given up for dead. Yet she could bring many back! So, it behooves us to try to appreciate what she did and what she warned against. Plus, let me say, I am mostly interested in Budwig as a veterinary protocol on this page and since Budwig only dealt with human patients, we will need to make a few modifications for animals such as the horse and dog. Nevertheless, I think Budwig can be quite beneficial for all mammals.

Her protocol was not simply cottage cheese (quark) and flax-seed oil as it is so often fractionalized down to in today's modified protocols. I am not saying this is not an important or a keystone aspect of her method, but it is not the full story. We being human tend to over-simplify and go for the easiest solution which is not necessarily the best. Also, I am not saying that a simple dosage of cottage cheese and flax-seed oil has not in itself produced miracles. Certainly that is all I did with my dog and I saw a miraculous recovery, but life is imperfect and many times, it may take a more holistic approach on difficult cases. There are plenty of successful testimonies on the web that will vouch for the potency of such a simple protocol; however, likewise there are a certain number of failures to be seen as well. We must suspect that perhaps these failures may be more a fault of technique, discipline or use of rancid oils rather than any major weakness in her protocol but as I keep saying, everyone is different and we must make allowances and adjustments for that individuality, plus only use the freshest oils. Healing is very much an art! I have come to the conclusion later in my study of Johanna's writings that her Flax oil should not be used alone in her cottage cheese/quark mixture. One should also supplement with a high linoleic seed oil along with flax oil to give higher dosages of Linoleic Acid (LA) to the patient in effecting mitochondrial health. Johanna did not seem to appreciate that one needs to supplement with oils that are higher in the Omega-6, linoleic acid over the 16% found in Flax oil! Simply using Flax oil that has around 16% Linoleic acid in it is not enough! Truth be known, it may be this meager amount of Linoleic acid found in Flax oil that was creating the cancer cure miracles that Budwig saw and not so much the Omega-3, Linolenic Acid.

Some of the principles of the original Budwig protocol (human):

1)    The basis of Dr. Budwig's protocol is the ingestion of a cold pressed, organic flax-seed oil with a protein mixture in the form of cottage cheese or "quark" (a dairy product readily available in German-speaking countries made from various types of milk and roughly similar to cottage cheese) to balance what is often an over-supply of rancid omega-6 fatty acids in the modern industrial diet--providing an immediately bioavailable supply of omega-6 and -3 essential fatty acids. It is thoroughly mixed by a mechanical hand immersion blender. Dr. Budwig said to use 100 grams quark (or cottage cheese) in her oil/protein recipe. Her 100 grams equals approximately 6 U.S. tablespoons of cheese. Dr Budwig also recommended 3 tablespoons of flax seed oil. That's a ratio of approximately 1:2. Only make enough to use immediately in minutes. Also, freshly grind in 2 Tbs whole flaxseeds, adding them to the mix afterwards. This is taken twice a day within 15 minutes of mixing.

2. Dr. Budwig's instructions are very strict and include no supplements apart from brewer's yeast flakes and possibly plant-derived enzymes for fat/protein digestion with herbs in their natural form. Dr. Budwig insisted on her instructions being closely followed by the patient with no deviations.

3. She favored 6 to 8 ounces of sauerkraut juice to start the day, an hour before breakfast. This is raw sauerkraut that has gone through a juicer. Sauerkraut has cancer-fighting benefits and improves digestion. Homemade is best in order to get the digestive enzymes back to normal. Herbal teas were also employed.

4. Dr. Budwig was not only against processed foods and supplements (no pills) but also against chemotherapy, radiation and drugs, and generally, surgery.

5. She considered sunlight exposure to be of critical importance. It was just as important as her oil/protein supplement! The two must work together! Few medical professionals remotely appreciate the power of the sun in giving health. It is really a no-brainer! Most all life needs the sun and only prospers with it. Why we moderns have so demonized the sun, urging the masses to avoid it at all costs and if we can't, we must use sun-screens, is a mystery. Intuitively, I think we all know the sun is good for us, but we are brain-washed by current thinking. Dr. Gabriel Cousens, M.D writes: "She has concluded that not only do electron-rich live foods act as high-powered electron donors, but electron-rich foods act as solar resonance fields in the body to attract, store, and conduct the sun's energy in our bodies. She asserts that the photons of the sunlight are attracted by the sun-like electrons resonating in our biological systems, especially in the double bonded electron clouds found in our lipids. These sun-like electrons are termed pi-electrons. This pi-electron system within our molecular structure has the ability to attract and activate the sun photons." Now, consider how we are generally very deficient of sunlight in everyday life and that includes our racehorses and many dogs who tend to be stabled or kenneled inside for most of their lives!   To conclude, Dr Budwig wrote this: "We should never forget that we are heliotropes who require light with its electrons (photons). The human tissue is exceptional insofar as it is capable of storing exactly these electrons and release them again as required. The absorption happens through the so-called resonance, which means, that our tissue vibrates in the same bandwidth as the incoming rays. You can compare it to a TV antenna which must be tuned. In order for this to happen, our cells require unsaturated fatty acids like linoleic acid and linolenic acid. These fatty acids form a combination together with sulphur proteins, whose dipolarity and inherent resonance allow the human body to accept these electrons, store them and release them as required."

6. Flax oil/cottage cheese must be optimized by a sugar-free diet devoid of respiratory poisons (substances which inhibit cellular respiration) such as the hydrogenated oils and fats in processed foods. Only eat raw organic food. One should avoid cancer stimulating foods, such as hydrogenated oils, trans-fats, animal fats/proteins, processed sugars of all types, animal meats, foods heavily laden with preservatives, highly processed foods, and avoid all obvious contact with toxins i.e. pesticides, household, cosmetic chemicals, etc.

7. She formulated and used "ElDI" oils topically for massage mainly for patients that had trouble eating and for very seriously ill cases. Massage (twice a day) to stimulate the lymphatic system. Her ElDI oils were formulated in the 1960's and are a blend of mainly flaxseed oil and wheat germ oil.   She named it "Eldi-Öl" (Electron Differentiation Oil or ELDI oil in English). Her instructions: "Two times a day, i.e. morning and evening, rub Eldi Oil R into the skin over the whole body, a bit more intensely on the shoulders (armpits), breast and groin (where the lymphatic vessels are) as well as the problem areas, such as the breast, stomach, liver, etc. Leave the oil on the skin for about 15-20 minutes and follow with a warm shower without using soap. Follow up with another shower, this time using a mild soap, and then rest for 15-20 minutes. The purpose of the shower, once the body has been oiled and the Eldi Oil has penetrated the skin, is to allow the warm water to open the pores so the oil can penetrate the skin even more deeply. The second shower, where one washes with soap, cleanses the skin so that clothes and linen will not become overly soiled." These oils are expensive to buy and I suspect one can economically make them yourself. Dr. Budwig's instructions: "The sun is a preferred treatment modality, as is Eldi oil, used externally to stimulate the absorption of the long-wave band of the sun. ... I have used ELDI oils extensively since 1968 for massaging the entire body as well as in the selective (targeted) application of oil packs. Where required I use these ELDI oils rectally (as enemas/infusions). ... Cancer treatments which inhibit growth and are thus "hostile to life" as well as dietary fats which impede respiratory function cause pain in the sick. The ELDI oils I invented produce the opposite effect. ... As a matter of fact, the practical application of the oils both on the inside (flax oil/quark) and on the outside (as Eldi oils) allows to largely eliminate all narcotic substances. ... US pain institutes report: 'What this lady does with her ELDI oils, none of us manages to do via painkillers'."
     Dr. Budwig also often employed a ruby red laser in conjunction with the topical ELDI oils on many serious cancer patients. There isn't really much online about using cold lasers in conjunction with the Budwig protocol and I will be delving into this segment of her protocol on a different page. Click on the right button, DIY LASER, for more information on how lasers may benefit the Budwig treatment.

8. All types of physical and emotional stress was to be avoided when fighting a serious illness. Never underestimate the body under stress in regard to its affect on successful outcomes. I have long found it interesting that many cancer cases are precipitated by emotional trauma. A 2008 study showed: "Results. For both men and women, the death of a predecedent spouse from almost all causes, including various cancers, infections, and cardiovascular diseases, increased the all-cause mortality of the bereaved partner to varying degrees. Moreover, the death of a predecedent spouse from any cause increased the survivor's cause-specific mortality for almost all causes, including cancers, infections, and cardiovascular diseases, to varying degrees."

9. Dr. Budwig warned against the use of pharmaceutical drugs and was very suspicious of supplements. In our industrial medical world, who mostly does not take a large number of prescribed medication when they become older? Budwig felt that many times, her patients did not respond well to her protocol because they were also taking chemo, radiation and a host of other drugs. She advised everyone to wean themselves off of these potential road-blocks to recovery. I know, it is hard to go against current medical thinking, the legions of doctors and veterinarians, societal pressures!   She has written: "Our stance must be flexible on that point because we cannot say this for certain for all cases and for all medications. While most meds are best eliminated, some may have to be maintained while others should be only gradually phased out, e.g. insulin." You be your own judge, but know, less is better. She was also against the use of pain-killers, particularly the narcotics as she felt they interfered with her protocol's mechanics. I agree and have often felt that the notion that our medical doctors could eliminate pain via the pain-killers completely hyperbolic bragging. Some pain can be quite good, believe it or not. I know I avoided pain meds like the plague when training my racehorses. Interestingly, she found that using flax-seed oil often provided pain relief on its own. From what I observed in my dog on this page, I agree!

      As far as our venerated anti-oxidants of which I have long been a proponent, such as Vitamin C, she had this to say: "These highly unsaturated fatty acids proved to be essential for humans, necessary for life, not replaceable. Since these essential highly unsaturated fats easily take up oxygen in their "unsaturated" electron rich double bonds, it came to pass that with advancing civilization, the preservation, the protection against oxygen became customary. Several methods were used which inactivate or, as the case may be, destroy this oxygen affinity, these photo-active electron systems. These methods include for example high heat, treating the fats with water, or the addition of chemical substances which are antioxidants. All this destroys the negatively charged highly active pi-electron systems. Thus the interaction in the exchange of photons and electron energy in the living substrate is largely destroyed." NOTE: She is referring to man-made synthetic anti-oxidants while those found naturally in foods are less troublesome. In short, Budwig warned against mega-doses of synthesized anti-oxidants as they are electron thieves. All things that steal electrons are to be avoided. Such electron-thieves as the hydrogenated fats, margarine, animal fats, nitrate, radiation, pharmaceutical anti-oxidants and chemotherapy's cytostatics should be eliminated and counter-acts against her protocol of adding the essential fatty acid electrons to the starving cell.