IsApple Cider Vinegar's Hirsch Institute Real? All About the Holistic Cancer Treatment It's Based On — and Whether or Not It Works

Mar. 15, 2025

Aisha Dee as Chanelle and Alycia Debnam-Carey as Milla in Netflix’s ‘Apple Cider Vinegar.'

Apple Cider Vinegarblends fact and fiction in its portrayal ofBelle Gibson’s alternative medicine scam — including the Hirsch Institute regimen she and other wellness influencers embraced.

Eventually, her deception caught up to her after reporters found that she had been lying about donating profits from her businesses to several charities. Shortly after, the rest of her lies began unraveling — including the fact that she never had cancer to begin with.

While appearing on a talk show inApple Cider Vinegar, Blake explained that Hirsch therapy’s treatment “starves the cancer cells of anything they need to grow and then nourishes them with anything they need to die … there’s a lot of science behind it.”

So, is the Hirsch Institute real? Here’s everything to know about the real-life regimen that inspired the Hirsch Institute inApple Cider Vinegar.

Is the Hirsch Institute inApple Cider Vinegarreal?

Kaitlyn Dever as Belle Gibson in Netflix’s ‘Apple Cider Vinegar.'

InApple Cider Vinegar,Blake — otherwise known as “The Wellness Warrior”— seeks an alternative to amputation and discovers the Hirsch Institute: a “super strict, labor-intensive” wellness program in Mexico, as she describes in the series.

During her talk show appearance, Blake explains that those going through Hirsch therapy have to drink 13 fresh organic juices and five coffee enemas a day for two years. Despite its detailed regimen, the Hirsch Institute is one of the fictionalized aspects of the series — though, it does have some parallels to real life.

Blake’s character is believed to be loosely based on Australian wellness influencer Jessica Ainscough, who was diagnosed with a rare cancer at a young age and died in February 2015. While Ainscough also turned to alternative treatments after chemotherapy failed and doctors recommended amputation, she specifically followed an unproven treatment known as Gerson therapy, perThe Guardian.

“I was diagnosed with a rare, ‘incurable’ cancer at 22. At 26, I am healing myself naturally,” Ainscough wrote on her blog years ago, perWomen’s Weekly. “I am ecstatic to report that it has worked for me.”

What is Gerson therapy — and what does it consist of?

Kaitlyn Dever as Belle Gibson in Netflix’s ‘Apple Cider Vinegar.'

According to theNational Cancer Institute, those undergoing Gerson therapy follow a diet consisting of fruits, vegetables and whole grains as a way of giving the body “vitamins, minerals, enzymes, and other nutrients.”

It also includes adding certain substances to the diet to help correct cell metabolism, as well as using treatments like enemas to remove toxic substances from the body, per the National Cancer Institute.

Is Gerson therapy an effective cancer treatment?

Kaitlyn Dever as Belle Gibson in Netflix’s ‘Apple Cider Vinegar.'

“The data that are available are not sufficient to warrant claims that the Gerson therapy is effective as an adjuvant to other cancer therapies or as a cure,” the National Cancer Institute’s website reads. “At this time, the use of the Gerson therapy in the treatment of cancer patients cannot be recommended outside the context of well-designed clinical trials.”

source: people.com

IsApple Cider Vinegar's Hirsch Institute Real? All About the Holistic Cancer Treatment It's Based On — and Whether or Not It Works

Is the Hirsch Institute inApple Cider Vinegarreal?

What is Gerson therapy — and what does it consist of?

Is Gerson therapy an effective cancer treatment?

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