"...in chronic diseases such as cancer, sodium and calcium invade particular organs and cause their potassium to leach out, disrupting the appropriate balance between the two."         --Max Gerson

Potassium/Sodium
Sodium, needed by the body for normal function, is an extracellular mineral. Potassium and magnesium are the intracellular minerals and are needed for metabolism within the body cells. When the extracellular/intracellular (sodium/potassium) balance is disturbed, health problems occur.

Why?
In most cases, potassium behaves like a catalyst (activating substance) in the formation of enzymes. Sodium, on the other hand, usually acts as an inhibitor, or blocking agent.

Similar to sodium's relationship to potassium, calcium and magnesium are antagonists in the synthesis of nucleic acids and protein. Magnesium is necessary for these processes, while calcium inhibits them. Magnesium and calcium collaborate, however, in the production of ATP (adenosine triphosphate), the most basic biological form of energy.

When intracellular minerals (potassium and magnesium) are deficient, sodium penetrates into the cell and enzyme formation and function is inhibited disturbing the normal activity of the tissue made up by the cells. In the case of organ tissues, these disfunctions can result in chronic disease such as cancer.

Sources of potassium are (depending on the soil content):

• Vegetables
• Fruits
• Whole grains

Whole foods, like vegetables, legumes, whole grains and fruit have high potassium to sodium ratios. In fact, most fruits and vegetables have 20 to 100 times as much potassium as sodium.

Eating and/or juicing fresh, raw fruits and vegetables, as in the Gerson diet, help correct the sodium and potassium imbalance. Packaged foods and restaurant foods end to be high in sodium and should be limited or avoided altogether.

Juicing
Drinking voluminous amounts of fresh fruit and vegetable juices will pull sodium from the tissues and infuse them with potassium. Juice from fresh fruit and vegetables also contain cell-cleansing enzymes, important when undergoing tumor necrosis or cancer treatments like radiation or chemotherapy. (The enzymes in fresh juice will oxidize rapidly as they come in contact with oxygen. Therefore, it is recommended that juices be drank within the first fifteen minutes after juicing. If you must store juices longer, fill container to the very top to minimize loss of these valuable enzymes.)

Juicers that remove the pulp are also removing the fiber from the fruit/vegetable. Fiber is also necessary in your diet since it feeds bacteria in the intestinal tract and also absorbs water and bile salts as it forms feces. Therefore, it important to EAT fresh fruits and vegetables even while you are juicing.

Bananas are heralded for having an excellent sodium-to-potassium ratio (1:440). However, bananas are also high in sugars and should be eaten in moderation, especially by patients who have active cancers.

Green Juice (prescribed by Oasis Hospital for cancer)
1 leaf of chard
1 leaf cabbage
½ green pepper
2 green apples
3 leaves of lettuce
2 leaves of watercress
2 leaves of beet

(mmm good)

An Alternative Medicne Definitive Guide to Cancer