Johanna Budwig
Johanna Budwig | |
---|---|
Born | 1908[1] |
Died | 2003[1] |
Scientific career | |
Fields | Biochemistry |
Johanna Budwig (1908 – 2003) was a German
Biography
Budwig was born in Essen and at the age of 16 joined the Kaiserswerth Deaconess Institute.[1] She studied pharmacy in Königsberg and Münster where she met her mentor Prof. Hans Kaufmann the founder of the German Institute for Fat Research. She worked under Kaufmann as a research assistant and completed her doctorate in 1939.[1]
While working as a researcher at the German Federal Health Office she noted many cancer drugs being evaluated in the 1950s contained sulphydryl groups. Budwig believed sulphydryl compounds were important to cellular metabolism and cellular respiration.[2] Budwig researched the theory that a low oxygen environment would develop in the absence of sulphydryl groups and/or fatty acid partners that would encourage the proliferation of cancerous cells.[2] With Kaufmann she developed paper chromatography techniques to identify and quantify fatty acids.[1][2] Budwig used these techniques to compare the fatty acid profiles of sick and healthy individuals.[2] In 1950, Budwig and Kaufmann presented their findings at the International Fat Congress on "New approaches in fat analysis".[1] She argued that highly heated and chemically modified fats found primarily in margarine were dangerous to human health. In 1951, Budwig was chief expert for pharmaceuticals and fats in the Federal Institute for Fat Research but resigned over controversy due to her critical statements about trans fatty acids.[1]
Bugwig came to the conclusion that industrial processed fats were a strain on health and caused cardiovascular disease and cancer, whilst polyunsaturated fatty acids were protective.
Bugwig died in
The Budwig Diet
In 1952 she described a diet which she claimed had anti-cancer effects. She called it the “Budwig protocol”.
There is no clinical evidence supporting the claims of the Budwig diet against cancer.
People with cancer who delay or forgo effective treatments as a result of using diets such as the Budwig Diet might suffer relapse, experience unnecessary disease progression, and experience continuing cancer-related symptoms.[8]
Selected publications
- Flax Oil as a True Aid against Arthritis, Heart Infarction and Cancer (1994)
- The Oil Protein Diet Cookbook (2006)
See also
References
- ^ ISBN 978-3-662-60458-8
- ^ PMID 22254073.
- ^ a b c "Budwig diet". cancerresearchuk.org. Cancer Research UK. 21 December 2018.
- ^ S2CID 76124925.
- ^ a b "Flaxseed". cancer.org. American Cancer Society. 2011-10-14. Archived from the original on 2010-03-29. Retrieved 2014-03-18.
- ^ "Omega-3 Fatty Acids". cancer.org. American Cancer Society. 2013-01-17. Archived from the original on 2009-06-08. Retrieved 2014-03-18.
- ^ ISBN 978-3-8376-3031-2
- PMID 24403443.