Flax Oil and Cancer - Part 1


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A Tape Transcription by Clifford Beckwith

The following is presented for educational and informational purposes only and in no way should be construed as giving medical advice.
As I narrate this in July, l998, seven and a half years have passed since I was found to have stage four prostate cancer. As I learned later I should have been dead at least seven years. What follows is an account of things
that were done by me and by many other people and the results that followed.

The accounts that follow are not to be considered as specific advice, but the information given may be used by any individual as he or she sees fit, as is the right of any person.

In January 1991 I was diagnosed with Advanced Prostate Cancer. Bone scans and other tests indicated no spread so it was decided to operate. During the operation it was discovered that the cancer had spread to the Lymph glands making it stage four. The operation was not completed as that would not be the answer.

The only treatment used was Lupron and Eulexin to cancel the male hormones. I was told the male hormone does not cause cancer, but if cancer is present it is like throwing kerosene on a fire.

At the time of the operation my brother sent me a book entitled The Cancer Answer by Al Carter. He is a medical research journalist and very knowledgeable. He says scientists can cure cancer. "I know how, and I learned it from them." It is available from American Institute of Reboundology, Inc. - 3585 N. University Ave., Suite 300 Provo, Utah, 84604. He also has a recent video tape on the immune system as it relates to Cancer. The book or tape can be ordered by calling 1 - 888 -464 - 5867.

He quoted from another book, "How to fight Cancer and Win" by Fischer. There are three chapters on oils describing the work of Dr. Johanna Budwig in Germany. She is a Biochemist and blood specialist who has been treating cancer of all kinds with nothing but cottage cheese and Flaxseed Oil for over 16 years. She says that people with cancer have blood that is low in Omega 3 and Omega 6 fatty acids and the blood has a greenish cast. Flaxseed oil is 56% Omega 3 and 16% Omega 6. Recently I read that most people have blood that is 80% deficient in Omega 3. Dr. Budwig has taken patients sometimes given only hours to live and restored them to health.

Doctors had attempted to treat patients with sources of Omega 3 but had not been consistently successful. Dr. Budwig's research found that in order for these fatty acids to be fully available to the body, they must be tied to a sulfur based protein; the best source of which is cottage cheese. Depending on the severity of the condition she had her patients use 3 to 6 Tbsps. of Flaxseed oil a day, with at least 4 oz or 1/2 cup of cottage cheese per day.

I would use at least 1/4 cup cottage cheese per Tbs. of oil. If 4 or less Tbsps were used per day and I'd split that up so that I took them at 4 different times, although there are no specific guidelines. I have learned recently that Dr. Budwig recommends that the oil and the cottage cheese be thoroughly mixed before eating it. I have realized that an excellent approach would be to mix however many Tbsps. Of Flax oil one plans to use each day in a bowl with at least a half cup of cottage cheese and some fruit such as crushed pineapple or frozen strawberries, put it in the refrigerator and eat a portion of it at different times during the day. For two and a half years I put a half cup of cottage cheese in a bowl, added a Tbsp. Of flaxseed oil, mixed in some crushed pineapple or frozen strawberries or honey and took it to school for lunch. That tasted good. An excellent method of mixing is with the use of a small hand held blender. Milk or juice may need to be added to make the mixture thin enough so that the little motor may be able to handle it.

After 3 months of treatment, the blood would be bright red, the tumors disappearing and the amount of oil reduced to 1 Tbs. per day per hundred lbs. body weight for maintenance. Yogurt will take the place of cottage cheese but more of it is needed; actually about three times as much and if fruited Yogurt is used it would need to be even more.

Flaxseed oil is increasingly available in health food stores though it must be kept fresh and cold. It will keep a year in a freezer, 4 months in a refrigerator but only 3 weeks at room temperature.

Barlean, in Ferndale WA, 1-800-445-3529, was, I believe, the first company in the US to process Flax oil for food and is an excellent source. Another source is Flora Inc. in Lynden, WA; 1-800-446-2110. Nature's Distributors in Arizona, 1-800-624-7114, is also an excellent source. They have other products also, including "Companion Nutrients" that are capsules containing dried sulfurated proteins and enzymes which activate the essential fatty acids. They guarantee that one capsule will activate one Tbsp. of oil.

We have recently learned that Omega Nutrition Canada, Inc. 1924 Franklin St. Vancouver. B. C. V5L 1R2 was the first company to process Flax oil in the Western Hemisphere. Omega Nutrition USA Inc. 5373 Guide Meridian, B22 Bellingham WA 98226 is the US outlet. Their toll free number is 1-800-661-3529.

They have a variety of information available on the value and use of Flaxseed Oil and other products as do the other companies previously cited.

When I began looking for sources of Flaxseed Oil the sources were quite limited, but, as the realization of the value of this material has grown, there are now more companies producing it.

I have been told by one company that, while they feel their product has somewhat of an edge, all these oils are good as long as they are cold pressed, fresh and kept cold. This cannot be over emphasized I would be skeptical of any Flaxseed Oil that was kept on a store shelf at room temperature.

In "How to Fight Cancer and Win", an account is given of a young woman, 35, who had cancer so advanced she could no longer eat. She was given enemas of Flax oil and skim milk. In a short time she was able to eat and in three months she was home taking care of her family. The three chapters on oils are worth the price of the book. Unfortunately, this book is no longer published.

I immediately found a source of the oil and started. At the time I had no real guidelines so used 2 tbsps of oil a day for six months. At the time of the attempted operation my PSA count was 75. It was six months before I had the second PSA.

At 4:45 the following Monday a call came from the doctor's office and the office girl exclaimed "Mr. Beckwith! Your count is completely normal!" It was 0.1 and 0.1 to 0.4 is normal. From that time until this, October 1996, at 6 month intervals, the count has ranged from 0.0 to 0.16.

As I revise this in July of 2001 I want to say that the flaxseed oil was not the only thing that was being done. I was also on Hormone Blockade which is also very effective for awhile in lowering the PSA. At the time I discounted it a lot because we had seen the PSA brought down with flaxseed oil alone in a number of cases and when I asked the doctor if he had expected the counts to go down that much he said, "No Way!".

I have a cousin in California who lost his wife to cancer a number of years ago. He is militantly trying to get American doctors to look at this approach. He's talked to a group in Spain using an Omega 3 approach that is getting a 95% cure rate. Nothing in American medicine approaches that degree of success.

In 1994 he talked to Dr. Budwig. She said "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." Dr. Budwig has been nominated for a Nobel prize 7 times, but her methods have incurred the wrath of the establishment and she is passed over. Especially upsetting is her refusal to use radiation or chemotherapy.

In the summer of 1991 we were at a Bible conference in Northern Ohio. While there a friend told me that he knew a doctor in Northwest Ohio who had developed terminal cancer. He took a nutritional approach and apparently recovered in 5 months. Now when a patient of his is diagnosed with cancer, he says "I can tell you the standard treatments, and I can tell you what works. Which do you want?"

Shortly after I found I had cancer my brother in California heard of a casual acquaintance who had prostate cancer and went to see him. He told him of these alternative approaches and his wife, who is an RN, practically threw him out. She said that if there were anything that would help, the doctors would be doing it and the only things that do any good are radiation, operations and Chemotherapy." About 4 months later I asked by brother how the man was getting along. He said "He died last week".

One of our teacher friends at Washburn had a friend in Knoxville who's husband was very ill with cancer. She told her about Flax oil in case the lady would want her husband to try it.

Then our friend said the conscientious little soul asked the doctor and the doctor said, "don't do that - you might make him sick" I asked our friend later how her friend's husband's was getting along and she said "she buried him last week." One can't get much sicker than that.

When we talk about these things there are a number of reactions. Some would not do ANYTHING that the that the doctor didn't tell them to do Some are very eager -How soon can I start? Can I get it tonight? In my case, I felt what in the world do I have to lose; it is a food, not a drug, and there are no side effects.

We have heard that in rare cases Flax oil can cause a slight rash. In those cases starting with a smaller amount will usually eliminate the problem. In cases of allergic reactions to dairy products, soft Tofu will work fairly well in the place of cottage cheese.

In the vast majority of cases we've known about there has been apparent recovery. Where it has not been successful those with cancer have not used enough in the first place, or switched to Flax flakes or capsules

Capsules scare me. In the first place, it takes a number capsules to make a Tbsp. and the sulfur based proteins are still needed. Also, bottles of capsules are likely to sit around on shelves at room temperature. I knew of one man who was quite badly off and began using the liquid oil and began making dramatic improvement. About a year later I learned that he had died. I later learned that he had switched to capsules.

Shortly after I found out I had trouble we learned that a friend of ours had been having trouble since 1987. He'd been to the doctors; they had done various operations and tried different treatments but he didn't seem to be getting any better.

One day my wife and I visited him and talked about the oil. He decided to use it and began using it 2 tbsps a day [Now e know that probably was not enough quite]. The doctor said his bladder had crystallized and lost its elasticity. He couldn't stay out of the bathroom 15 minutes. He couldn't go to church or carry on other normal activities. The doctor said it was a condition he'd just have to live with. One day he went to the doctors for a physical and he told his wife that if he didn't get a good report he was going to quit using that oil. The doctor examined him and said, "Mr. C, you've had cancer in your bladder and it's gone. The bladder is elastic again and everything is back to normal..

In December 1993 we were having a tree cut and the contractor and I were discussing the oil His assistant said, "I've heard of that. I knew a man out west who found out he had colon cancer. He didn't let the oncologist do anything. He just used Flax oil and cottage cheese and the tumors disappeared."

While at Washburn as a counselor I knew the head cook had left because of cancer. I was visiting the school on records day in May 1993 and Nancy, Maxine's sister in law said, " do you know if Maxine has ever heard about this?"

She called and Maxine hadn't heard of it. We visited her the next day and she wasn't able to do anything but lie around and hurt. She had had cancer in one place and had been treated with chemo and radiation. The next year it appeared in her back and was again treated and it disappeared. Now it had reappeared in her head. She had 18 shots of radiation and the doctor wanted to do the 19th but she said the 18th almost killed her and she refused it.

She decided to try the oil but didn't like it and didn't use it a lot. However, the cancer didn't get worse. When I told her about the man with colon cancer she said, "I'd better get with it and began to use it more heavily." Later when we talked with her she said she was feeling good and the counts were within a normal range. In march of 1994 her doctor moved out of town and her new doctor examined her and went over her records and said, "Maxine, this is a miracle! With all you've been through there is no way you should still be alive!"

In April 1995 Maxine called and was exceedingly cheerful. She'd just had a complete physical and her blood work was excellent. They had done an MRI on her head and everything was clear, and she was praising the Lord!

Lately, summer 1996, we heard that Maxine had stopped using the oil. She had another routine checkup and the counts were well above normal. For her condition, 35 or below is normal. She immediately began to use the oil again and the count was soon back down to 5. It seems the continuous use of Omega 3 is necessary to keep the body in shape to eliminate cancer cells. As I write this on Jan 10 1998 Maxine is doing fine. As this is revised in July of 2001 She is still doing fine. In 1993 her faint hope was that she could see a couple of grandchildren graduate from high school. That has happened and she is doing very well.

In the summer of 1991 we received a call from a man in Morristown who had prostate cancer. His PSA was 38. He started to use the oil but we didn't hear much more for some time. One day he called and said," My PSA is down to 1.5. Do you think I need to worry about this anymore?" In Sept. 1996 he called and is still making it in good shape. He was on no other treatment. He since passed away with emphysema.

In Feb. 1994 we were working in Maynardville and talking about Flax oil. One man expressed the wish that his Dad could hear about it. We sent information and the daughter-in-law, an RN., got the books. The father had prostate cancer, Soon the whole family was using the oil. The last time I talked to them the daughter-in-law told me, "Dad's doing fine. He's doing the same things he always did." I just heard he's still cancer free and enjoying life.

A friend of ours in Bristol, TN has an uncle, 72, who was badly off with prostate cancer and preparing to die. He owned some service stations and was at the point where he was deciding who was going to get what and felt he didn't have long to go. He got the information and began using the oil. We didn't hear for some time, but one day I saw his brother-in-law and he said, "Oh, he's doing great! He's going to meetings and there's no more thought of dying. He's telling everyone about the value of Flax oil.

In a Christmas letter, Dec. 1993, we heard that a friend of ours in Wooster, Ohio, was having a bout with ovarian cancer. The blood test for that condition is GAC 125 and the normal is 35 or below. Her count was 75. Later I learned she'd visited my sister in September and was very apprehensive. She'd had about 4 rounds of chemo and couldn't take that. We sent information about Flaxseed oil in our Christmas letter.

Joanie is an RN and she and her husband had been missionaries in Sri Lanka. They bought the books and started using Flax oil. In February she was feeling fine. On May 12, 94, she had a checkup and the count was 2 and she was praising the Lord. In October 94 she had another physical and now the count was 1. Since then there's been no further indication of cancer.

Since reading from Dr. Budwig, we've learned that one of the major problems with our diet is the use of hydrogenated and partially hydrogenated oils. That is the removal of electrons so the product will keep and not get rancid on the shelves. I've heard since that the worst food one can eat is margarine and that it is only one electron per molecule away from plastic. Not only do these foods have no real value but a burden is placed on the immune system to get rid of the material. For this reason I bake my own bread so I can use lard and we don't stint on the butter. I even hate to eat in restaurants because of the use of hydrogenated oils.

From physicals done in 1994 the doctor said that my bloodwork was excellent and Mary Anna's was the best he'd seen so far in her case. As I record this in October 1996 all physicals since then have shown the same result. Though as of July, 2001 I still have some cancer activity, I am in no danger. A body scan and other tests done in November were all normal. I quit the Lupron and Eulexin in October of 1995. For a man diagnosed with advaanced, semi aggressive, prostate cancer to be alive in ten years with all tests normal is not common.

In July 1994, we got a call from a lady in Jefferson City, TN. Her husband Roy had been found to have cancer all through his body. It was so extensive that no treatment was being attempted except for 5 shots of radiation in his right knee that were done in an attempt to reduce some pain. It hadn't worked and there were to be no more attempts. He began to use the Flax oil rather heavily; I'm not sure of exact amount.

I called his wife in September and she said they couldn't tell anything as yet as his condition was so massive. I called the day after Christmas and she said Roy had died on October 19. He'd gone in for a check up and it was found the tumors had all disappeared except the ones in his lower back and right leg. Now the oncologists felt he was going to make it but convinced him that if they didn't give him a massive shot of chemotherapy, he might loose his right leg.

They gave the shot and it apparently killed him. He didn't even make it out of the parking lot. His wife never met the oncologist at the University of Tennessee Hospital who gave him the shot, nor could she find him afterward. She had a hard time finding someone at UT who would sign the death certificate so she could get the insurance and have things settled.

The doctors knew the tumors were shrinking during the time they were doing nothing. I wonder if they just couldn't admit that anything other than standard treatment could be effective. As Roy's wife told me about this she cried and said," If only they had let him alone." Only the fact that Roy knew the Lord somewhat eased the feelings she felt for UT. Today she wishes she'd had an autopsy but at those times it's hard to think straight.

Sometimes I'm puzzled at the refusal of American Medicine to seriously investigate these methods that seem to have success. We hear blurbs on TV about some new procedure that seems to promise help down the road; one thought it might help one percent. I'm sure the oncology industry, with total income next to the energy companies, would like to find a cure for cancer, but only if it would require thousands and thousands of dollars in drugs and the services of at least two specialists.

Al Carter says that the only real defense against cancer is the immune system. Everyone gets cancer every day but if the immune system is where it should be those cancer cells are eliminated and we never know it. He says that once a person has developed cancer, even though treatments get it into remission, it will recur again unless the body conditions that allowed it to develop in the first place are corrected. One of the properties of Flax oil seems to be a strengthening of the immune system. It seems important to use enough oil at first to get the immune system deficiencies repaired. In rare cases, the liver may not handle oil well. In these cases, start with small amounts and gradually increase it.

Last Christmas a former shipmate sent me a newspaper clipping. It was a question written to the veterinary column. The question was "I have a pet squirrel that is losing its hair. Is there anything I can do?" The answer was, "Feed it Flax oil; it will build its immune system and it won't lose its hair."

On August 1, 1995, a friend of my son's told me his sister, who had majored in cytology at a Wisconsin college, told him that during her class work she had studied cells from the bodies of people who had used Flax oil and those cells were covered with a fatty, protective covering that didn't allow the cells to be invaded and they were healthy. Then she studied cells from the bodies of people with cancer and those cells had either no covering at all or it was very thin. The difference was so pronounced that she began using Flax oil herself right away.

At this point the essential information has been given. The rest of this tape is an account of various situations and what has happened, both good and bad.

When I first developed cancer, there was a young man in our community who had an advanced case of colon cancer. He'd had quite a lot of chemo and radiation and in a few weeks was scheduled for a colostomy. He decided he wanted to try this material, and did, for a short time.

The surgeons told him that if he got along well they could reverse the colostomy and I'm sure they told him that what we were doing was foolishness. Later I learned that the colostomy could not be reversed. As far as I know there is no active cancer, but his life style has certainly been changed.

The husband of a woman in our Sunday School class had known something was wrong for three years but wouldn't go to the doctor to confirm it. Finally he was diagnosed with very advanced colon cancer. We visited the family in the hospital one day when he was not expected to live through the night. However, he did get home and began to use Flax oil, but not a lot. He did not like cottage cheese. One day the oncologist asked him to come in for a check up to see how much the tumors were growing. They were not growing, there was no pain, and he had a good appetite. He felt good enough to work on a fence and drive his pick-up a little. He quit using even what little oil he did use because he didn't like cottage cheese and two years later he died from colon cancer.

In early summer of 1994 I heard from a lady in my hometown. She had breast cancer, a tumor the size of a baseball, but a nurse friend who works in oncology, told her that it was slow growing and that if she started then at age 72 with standard treatment she'd be miserable the rest of her life. She got a bottle of oil and used it. She told me that after one bottle the pain was gone. However the next bottle she got was rancid and she was told that that could hurt her. Consequently she didn't use it anymore. A few months ago she got fresh oil and began using it again. Recently we were in the area. The lady is 74 now. I couldn't contact her as she wasn't home, but I know she was working in her flower garden and I heard that she was doing well. I do know that she was not at death's door. Today, at 78, she is still making it, but has not stayed with the flax oil and may not make it much longer. She feels that the flax oil she did use is the reason she is still alive.

Just before Christmas 1994 we heard of another lady in Massachusetts, a relative of a friend in Ohio, who had had exploratory surgery and was found to have breast cancer, one large and one small lump. After one round of chemo she heard of Flax oil and decided to try it. By the time the second round of chemo was due the small lump had disappeared and the large one was reduced by half. She declined further chemo and soon the larger lump had gone as well.

Another member of the same family, a woman I had known as a beginning teacher when she was a senior in high school, was found to have breast cancer; one large lump. She used Flax oil and it was gone in three weeks.

Just up the road from us lives a lady who is president of Kingswood School and we have known Miss Mary for many years. In July of 1994 we heard she had colon cancer and went to see her. Part of the colon was removed and she was undergoing chemo. All she could do was sit and hurt. She'd decided against more chemo as it was just too miserable and decided to try Flax oil. Later she told me, "When you walked in the door I expected to see an emaciated old man. You looked wonderful and that was enough for me."

Sometime later she told me she'd told her family doctor what she was doing and he said, "That won't help you any but it won't hurt you". Then she told her oncologist and he said "that won't do any good", then he examined her and said, "That last round of chemo must have been just right. It's killed the cancer". Shortly after that we received a call from a lady at Kingswood School and she said "What's that stuff Miss Mary is taking that she heard about from you folks? She's doing everything she always did."

We're beekeepers and a friend of ours, a retired serviceman, has had a bout with prostate cancer. He was treated at the Mayo Clinic and I believe operated on. The PSA was still rising, around 7.0. He started to use Flax oil and soon the PSA was 1.5. He's doing fine and really tickled.

A few years ago my brother in California had a physical. Cancer was found through the spine, into his skull and in the bladder and one kidney. The prostate was greatly enlarged and the PSA was 785. The cancer had progressed to where he was unable to eat and weight dropped from 195 lbs. to 150 lbs.

He improved to the point that he could eat and began using Flax oil as it should be used. Before long the PSA had dropped to 8, his weight had gone back to 185 and he was again working. An herbalist friend told him he could get his own flax seed and boil them to get the oil and it would be cheaper. He did not realize that heat destroys Omega 3. The doctors had given him Stillbesterol as a hormone blocker. He'd quit that because of the side effects. So he was, in effect, doing nothing.

He'd heard about Laetrile being used for cancer. It is present in apricot seeds that are sold by the pound in California. Roger ate apricot seeds as if there would be no apricot seeds tomorrow. Apricot seeds also contain cyanide and he didn't let up until he had definite symptoms of cyanide poisoning. He passed away in October but at least some of the tumors had disappeared. I'm wondering today if he didn't contribute to his own passing by over doing it on apricot seeds and not using Flax oil properly.

In early summer of 1994, Tom, a former teacher and friend, called us to refresh his memory on what we'd been using for cancer. He'd suddenly found himself unable to swallow freely and was diagnosed with cancer all through the esophagus with heavy involvement in the stomach area and elsewhere.

He'd been put on chemo but couldn't take that and came home. He was told he wouldn't make it for more than two to four months. He began using flax oil and cottage cheese to the extent he could get it down and didn't seem to be getting any worse. He used no other treatment. His problem was he couldn't get enough food down to maintain weight. A year later a feeding tube was placed directly into his stomach. I don't know what happened those last months or whether he stayed on the Flax oil. The doctors would probably have discouraged it. He passed away in late summer, 1966, about 18 to 20 months later than the time originally thought possible with standard treatment.

In 1994, through another cousin, I became reacquainted with my cousin Emily whom I had not seen since 1942. Her husband Bill had had colon cancer for at least two years. Part of the colon was removed and he'd had a lot of chemo and perhaps radiation. At the time we were reacquainted, Bill's liver had become heavily involved.

Bill and Emily were studying and using nutritional approaches and Bill began to use Flaxseed oil and began to show improvement. He developed a fever and Emily became alarmed and called the doctor. He scolded Emily for not calling him sooner and put Bill back in the hospital. Emily tried to smuggle Flaxseed oil and cottage cheese in to Bill and succeeded for a while but the doctor caught her and wouldn't let her do it anymore.

Bill stayed in the hospital for several months and went downhill. Finally he was sent home to die and was put under hospice care. Now Emily could use the oil and try to get Bill well. She ran into a lot of opposition from the medical workers. Once the nurse put her arm around Emily and said, "Emily, you've got to prepare yourself, you know Bill's going to die," and again, "can he still eat? Is he constipated yet? You know he will be."

One day Bill had a bad day and didn't get out of bed. The nurse said, "He'll never get up again." The next morning Bill was downstairs having a good breakfast. Perhaps the worst problem was the insistence on trying to keep Bill sedated. Emily would say, "But Bill isn't in pain."

"No, but you know he will be, and we want to keep him comfortable." Then the hospice workers would tell the doctors that Emily was uncooperative and she would be scolded.

I have no doubt the medical people had Bill's best interests at heart as they saw it. By now Bill was addicted to drugs and he let them be given. Soon he could no longer function and died. The real conflict the last months was between those who insisted Bill had to die because of standard expectations with standard treatment and those who thought he had a chance to recover.

Those who were giving standard treatment made it impossible for the alternative methods to have a chance. Of course, it seems to me that every death from cancer is evidence of the failure of standard treatments, at least as far as a final cure is concerned.

Of those who have apparently recovered that we know of, a significant percentage were given up for standard treatment. Others abandoned chemo and radiation or never had it in the first place.


Continue on to Part2 of the Testimonial

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© WindSpinner,1996----Last revised 09/07/2001