Potassium Kills Cancer

Potassium Kills Cancer Cells

Potassium Lowers Blood Pressure

Potassium Prevents Strokes

Potassium Helps in Weight Loss

by Dr. Lynn Tan, N.D.

In late September 1998, radio and television in the United States carried a news item that said that researchers found that bananas will help to prevent strokes. The reason given was that bananas have a high potassium content. Potassium helps to lower blood pressure, reducing the danger that blood vessels could burst, causing a stroke.

The Chicago Tribune (17 October 1998) also revealed a recent study that the addition of foods rich in potassium can help lower night-time blood pressure for African-American teenagers. In the study, 58 teens ate from six to eight servings of foods high in potassium every day. The breakfast included a shake made of frozen or regular yoghurt, bananas, orange juice, and other fresh fruits. As for the other meals, among the teens’ favourites were a baked potato with freshly chopped tomatoes and broccoli.

Many people do not know the real importance of the mineral potassium for their health. As our beloved Dr. Costa Deir once said, “Potassium is as important to our tissues as calcium is to our bones.”

As far back as the 1950s, Dr. Max Gerson, MD, after 30 years of clinical experimentation, concluded that the beginning of all chronic diseases is the loss of potassium (K) from the cells and the invasion of sodium (Na), and with it water. (Note: From now on, we’ll call Potassium K and Sodium-Na, which are their respective chemical names.) This condition causes many ill effects in the body, which includes improper enzyme functions, reduced cell oxidation, inability to remove waste materials, etc. The building of almost all enzymes in the body requires K as a catalyst and it is inhibited by Na. Therefore, in order to initiate healing, it is essential to remove excess Na from the cells, reintroduce large amounts of K, and detoxify the system of accumulated substances and other toxins.

In his cancer therapy, Dr. Max Gerson used large amounts of K, together with other oxidizing enzymes, to kill cancer cells as he found that cancer cells cannot survive in the medium of K and oxidizing enzymes. The K which Dr. Max Gerson used is called K Salt, a special potassium formula which was one of the results of Dr. Max Gerson’s life work.

God created our bodies in such a way that K is predominant within the cells (intracellular), while Na has to stay outside the cell in serum and lymph (extracellular). In order to maintain compatibility with this natural design of high K, low Na ratio in the body, all natural foods, that is, vegetables and fruits, have this high K, low Na proportion. This is to ensure that the balance of K/Na will be maintained. This balance is often spoiled by the addition of Na in our food in the form of salt, soy sauce, and other seasonings. This causes the concentration of Na to rise in the body, which, in turn, causes the invasion of the cells by Na, chloride, and water. The result is a loss of K from the cells as it passes through the urine and out of our body. Almost all acute and chronic sicknesses begin with an invasion of Na, chloride, and water in the essential organs. The function of the essential hormones, vitamins, and enzymes is very much dependent on the K/ Na relationship.

Maintaining a high K, low Na ratio in the body often helps children who are bothered by phlegm, colds and flu, bronchitis, respiratory problems. It may also be necessary to remove mucus-forming foods like cow’s milk and sugar in these situations. Often, a lack of K because of the consumption of Na (in the form of salt, seasoning, etc.) causes “chestiness.”

Many people have found that when they consume Apple Cider Vinegar, it helps to clear up the phlegm and stop their coughs. The reason for this is because Apple Cider Vinegar is very high in K. My children take very little salt in their food. With a regular diet of yoghurt, Flax oil, Apple Cider Vinegar, Spirulina, and K-Salt,
phlegm, coughs, colds, and other diseases are foreign to them.

For a healthy body, to the K-group belong about 60% of the body tissues and to the Na-group 30%. 10% are on the borderline. The following table (Table 1) shows the comparison of K/Na ratio of cow’s milk and mother’s milk:

	Cow’s Milk (Meq./L)	Mother’s Milk (Meq./L)
K/Na	39.5/26.5 = 1.49	12.2/5.0 = 2.44

Table 2 below proves that this ratio is reversed in sickness. The tissues lost their power to retain the K minerals, and the amount is decreased from 20.6 to 5.08. Then sodium chloride and water invade the tissue cells from the extracellular fluids, causing an increase rise of Na in the milk from 13.02 to 42.37.

	K2O	Na2O
Normal Milk	20.6	13.02
Tuberculous Udder	5.08	42.37

Again, allow me to stress that consumption of high quantities of K and low quantities of Na is essential. Na is essential in our bodies. However, the requirements of Na is in such a minute quantity that it is easily met by the provision of Na from the fruits and vegetables that we take daily.

Having sufficient K intake is a sure way to prevent cancer, high blood pressure, and other degenerative diseases.

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN VEGETABLES ARE COOKED OR PROCESSED?

Natural foods have a larger percentage of K than Na – even in those foods that are naturally high in Na. Processed and cooked foods reverse the ratio. Losses of mineral nutrients like K occur not only from the destruction by chemical reaction, as happens with vitamins, but also by physical removal. Table 3 shows the example of a disturbance of the K/Na balance.

Food (average portion)	Na (milligrams)	K (milligrams)
Fresh peas	0.9	380
Frozen peas	100	160
Canned peas, liquid poured off	230	180
Salt added, served with salted butter	( ? )	( ? )

(Reprinted with permission from the book Total Nutrition During Pregnancy, by Betty Kamen, Ph.D., and Si Kamen. Published by Keats Publications.)

Further, records also show that much K is forfeited when ordinary food is cooked. Navy beans lose 64% of their K content, and spinach loses 56% when blanched (scalding in boiling water).

Having sufficient K intake is a sure way to prevent cancer, high blood pressure, and other degenerative diseases.

Fat or Water?

When we observe a person who is overweight, we normally conclude that it is due to the fat in his body. However, very often, this “fat” is due to water retention. Overconsumption of salt (Na) causes the invasion of the cells by Na, resulting in the loss of K.

Because Na in the cell is poisonous, the body, in order to save itself, draws water into the cell. As a result, the cell swells and the person looks fat. Sometimes, we hear people mentioning that they have been on a weight loss diet and have lost substantial pounds.

Then they are invited to a party and eat just a little. The next day, they find out that they have put on 3 lbs. It is not the little that they ate that caused the increase in weight, but the Na from the food that caused the retention of the water, resulting in the increase in weight. Thus, weight loss programs often are not successful or permanent if this K/Na ratio is not taken care of. This is also the reason why, when one consumes Apple Cider Vinegar, one finds that it helps with weight loss. This is due to the fact that Apple Cider Vinegar is high in K, which helps restore the K/Na balance. Thus, excess water is removed from the body.

A good weight loss program should not count calories but should gear towards building a healthy body and restoring the chemical and hormonal balance in the body. A by-product of this is the curing of the disease called “overweight.”