So, I’ll be brief because life has me really busy.  However I want to take the time to share my experience at Baja Nutri Care Clinic which provides Gerson Therapy in Mexico.

Pros for going to Baja Nutri Care Clinic:

1. For the opportunity to learn more about Gerson Therapy through books, literature  and videos (available to check out), as well as guidance and info from other patients at  the clinic.
2. For the support and camaraderie of other patients with similar situations and experience.  And the enriching friendships forged there.
3. When you see how imperfectly things can be done and still have some positive health benefit it is inspiring.  A few natural health care writers leave me feeling as if things have to be done so perfectly or no results will be gotten—and they are so intense about it that I fail to try their programs.  Going to Baja Nutri Care and the fact that people got results there at all was truly inspiring, and made me feel as if the Gerson program was a very do-able thing.

Cons against going to Baja Nutri Care:

First let me say I think Gerson is a great.  However, had I to do it over I would NEVER have paid to go the Baja Nutri Care Clinic. 

1. The produce they use is so old.  The carrots are brown and some of the veggies were so past their prime that they have to literally cut out the bad spots.  (The 13 glasses of juice resulting from this poor quality produce produced nowhere near the effect of just one glass made at home with the Norwalk and “grade A” produce.   NOWHERE NEAR, as remarkable as that sounds.)
2. They actually clean the silver serving dishes with Windex (INSIDE and out!!!!)  So you are eating food that has been sitting on of a surface wiped down with Windex and a paper towel, not even a rinse is involved.
3. They tell you not to bring toiletries because they provide safer ones!  This means a bar of Ivory soap, shampoo that contains Formaldehyde on the ingredient list, a tube of Aloe toothpaste which has no ingredient list, and a Mexican variety of bargain chemical laundry soap (cheap and non-environmentally friendly).
4. The whole clinic seems to be all about the bottom line $$$.  It seemed that anywhere they could cut corners to save a buck they did, even if fundamental Gerson principles were violated to do so. 
5. These are not, in my impression, people who know much about natural health care at all.  They don’t even seem to be well educated in Gerson Therapy.  **While I was practicing one of the Gerson procedures a problem came up that is normally remedied very simply.  I went to the doctor many times complaining about it.  I had this problem for two weeks, that I should not have had for two days.  I was frustrated because I was not able to get maximum benefit out of the therapy as result.  Finally I shared this experience with another patient at the clinic.  She had read further in the Gerson book than I had and cued me into what the doctor should have added to my program to resolve the problem as standard Gerson procedure.  I requested that the supplement be added and the problem was gone instantly. 
6. Aside from being ill educated they seem to advocate conventional intervention over the therapy or alternative medicine.  In the short time we were there there were a few instances where their advice to patients seemed in direct contradiction to information found in Gerson books and tapes.
7. To me the doctor seemed poorly educated in conventional medicine as well.  Some of the nurses seemed unskilled in simple medical procedures like drawing blood or taking an accurate blood pressure reading. 
8. Before you come to the clinic they have you pay for your entire stay upfront and if you choose to cancel they keep half the money paid (at $5500 a week that’s a pretty hefty chunk of change).  They told me that the clinic was booked solid and that there hadn’t been an opening in a couple months.  But there just happened to be enough space for me and if I wanted it I should reserve it NOW because the demand was so high. The secretary actually called me and left quite a few urgent messages when I didn’t get back to her.  When I got there the clinic was not full—it was at less than half capacity and stayed that way the entire time.  And yet others arrived after us having heard a similar sales pressure about a fully booked clinic.  Needless to say the were shocked to find out that there were so many empty rooms and that they’d been lied to about the clinic being full to capacity the week prior to their arrival.   It’s no wonder they scare you into booking for as long as possible before you come, several of the people I met were ready to leave after the first week.
9. My last complaint in this series, and I’ll admit it’s a weak one --but I prefer to learn about Natural Health Care from people who actually practice it, I want a doctor to be well informed and have some personal experience in the routines.  BNC doctors seemed not only to be ignorant of some of the Gerson Principles, but also didn’t seem to have the confidence in Gerson Therapy that I would have expected (beyond the obligatory lip-service).  When it came to the bottom line they seemed to favor recommending western medicine.  The doctors themselves have very poor eating habits (they bring in soda and greasy food), and physiologies that reflect those habits.  They were overweight, had deep dark circles, distended abdomens or appeared to be in poor shape.  However, it is from talking to them that I’ve formed the opinion that the average person with a Curezone habit is probably more informed about natural health care than any of them.   

I hope that this is useful to someone.

Best wishes,

Gardening