What Is Hirsch Therapy In Apple Cider Vinegar? Real-Life Alternative Therapy Explained

Netflix's Apple Cider Vinegar thrusts viewers into the controversial world of alternative cancer treatments, raising complex questions about hope, desperation, and the seductive allure of wellness culture. While Apple Cider Vinegar is dubbed fictional and "true-ish", it draws heavily from the real-life experiences of notable proponents of the Gerson Therapy, the real-life “Hirsch”.

Although the pithily-titled Apple Cider Vinegarrenames key characters to “protect the innocent”, it is far from subtle in its references to the late Jessica Ainscough with Apple Cider Vinegar’s Milla Blake. Conversely, it renames Gerson to Hirsch, failing to name this pervasive and unregulated alternative therapy.

The Hirsch Institute In Apple Cider Vinegar Is Based On Gerson Therapy

The Real Alternative Therapy Is Similar To Hirsch

Apple Cider Vinegar’s true story calls Milla’s juicing and enema regimen “Hirsch”, but in real life, this approach is called Gerson Therapy. This was developed by a German-born American physician, Max Gerson, who was active between 1909 and 1958. During this time, after using his own treatment for his migraine headaches, he began to use it on cancer patients in the late 1920s. He published a book, A Cancer Therapy: Results of 50 Cases, in 1958. He died of pneumonia a year later. His therapy still has many proponents today and remains the subject of controversy.

Like “Hirsch” on Apple Cider Vinegar, the Gerson focuses on “detoxing” with regular juices, along with dangerous coffee enemas. Its specificity is no exaggeration on the show; the Gerson requires the patient to use organic, light-to-medium roasted coffee for the procedure. According to Cancer Research, Gerson demands “one glass of juice hourly, 13 times each day” and “up to 5 coffee enemas and perhaps also castor oil enemas”. It also states that after multiple reviews, there is no research to support its efficacy - apart from a study done by the Gerson Institute with a flawed, unreliable methodology.

Milla Blake’s Real-Life Counterpart Chose The Gerson Route

The Real-Life Influencer Felt Her Options Were Bleak

Milla Blake in Apple Cider Vinegar is based on an amalgamation of wellness influencers, but most prominently Jessica Ainscough, author of Make Peace With Your Plate, who tragically passed away in 2015. Faced with the urgency of a forequarter amputation at her shoulder, Ainscough decided the medical options she was offered were “not good enough” (per Wayback Machine) and ultimately chose the Gerson Therapy. She lived on a strict regimen for two years before continuing with a less intense version of the program, which was still several juices and a daily enema.

Jessica’s mother Sharyn also really did Gerson, although her husband claims it was to improve her quality of life with her late diagnosis, not cure it (per Daily Mail). Jess also frequently discussed “healing”, rather than “curing”, her cancer. Her mantra, which is still in her Instagram bio, was, “Be kind. Be brave. Be well.” Chanelle McAuliffe, a real-life Apple Cider Vinegar character who knew Jess, expressed what a lovely person she was - someone who tried to live by these core values and genuinely thought she was doing what was best for herself and her family (per The Briefingpodcast).

Kaitlyn Dever in Apple Cider Vinegar and Amanda Seyfried in The Dropout.

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The self-professed “Wellness Warrior” was also described by her loved ones as highly intelligent and, despite her lack of due diligence like Milla in Apple Cider Vinegar, this is honored in the show. This is important in how the message succeeds because intelligent people are not immune to medical quacker; Gerson Therapy itself has been irresponsibly backed by people with much more education and influence than her.

The extremity of her belief in the unregulated, pseudoscientific method shows how entrenched in its ideology she was...

On her archived blog The Wellness Warrior, she tells herself and others that she regretted attempting chemotherapy, and even advised one commenter with stage three breast cancer to forego chemo and go straight on Gerson. However, her blog had a disclaimer advising her readers to always consult with their doctors. The extremity of her belief in the unregulated, pseudoscientific method shows how entrenched in its ideology she was. Inspirational quotes such as “surrender and expect a miracle” and “if I can breathe through it, I can survive it” from 2014, a year before her passing, are heartbreaking.

Belle Gibson Also Claimed To Incorporate Gerson Therapy

Gibson Namedropped Gerson On Her Instagram

As Apple Cider Vinegar portrays, Milla/Jess followed the Gerson protocol in good faith as someone thrown into an unimaginably difficult situation in the prime of her life. While she certainly had accountability as an influencer, shown by Milla’s statement at the end of the show, her plight is starkly contrasted with Belle Gibson in Apple Cider Vinegar. Belle is not naïve about the effect she has on others and never truly faced a terminal illness. Mimicking Milla, Belle also claims to have tried Gerson Therapy. This, too, is true in real life.

According to People, Belle Gibson claimed the following: “I have been healing a severe and malignant brain cancer for the past few years with natural medicine, Gerson therapy and foods [...] It’s working for me and I am grateful to be sharing this journey.” Unlike Jess Ainscough, however, it is unclear whether or not Belle ever tried Gerson Therapy, which is reflected by Milla’s skepticism in Apple Cider Vinegar. While Belle’s app and recipe book point to a typically 2010s “clean” eating approach, it is possible she simply copied the Gerson aspect from Ainscough’s story.

Gerson Is Not The Only Controversial Treatment Based On A Real Product

Apple Cider Vinegar Also Shows A Suspicious Black Salve

In Apple Cider Vinegar, Milla is preyed upon by a salesperson who sells her a tin of “Black Salve”. While at the beginning of Milla’s cancer journey, she takes a fairly holistic approach to her epithelioid sarcoma in agreeing to localized chemo, throughout six episodes, she becomes more and more desperate to keep her arm and seems to be in deep denial of the reality of her disease. By the time she buys Black Salve, she is in an even more vulnerable mindset, emphasized by her partner doing some basic reading on it later and advising her to “chuck it”.

Apple Cider Vinegar shows a physician’s grave expression when Milla admits to using the salve...

According to PubMed, Black Salve is: “a dangerous compound that has long been used as an alternative and complementary medicine despite clear warnings of its hazards from the medical community and governmental agencies.” It is unclear whether her real-life counterpart used Black Salve, but Apple Cider Vinegar shows a physician’s grave expression when Milla admits to using the substance, emphasizing its wellness culture critique. The painful and disfiguring effects of Milla’s worsening lesions drive her to dangerous lengths to battle them. As shown in Apple Cider Vinegar, the corrosive bloodroot product can cause secondary infection and even tissue necrosis.

Source: Cancer Research, Wayback Machine, Daily Mail, The Briefing, The Guardian, People, PubMed