# Budwig diet (flaxseed oil and cottage cheese)

Source: https://onco.cc/technologies/budwig-diet/  
OnCo record `budwig-diet` (Technology). Data CC BY-NC 4.0, attribute "Data from OnCo (onco.cc)"; commercial use needs a licence.

## TL;DR

The Budwig diet, devised in the 1950s, is promoted as a cancer cure based on daily flaxseed oil mixed with cottage cheese, a restrictive diet, sunbathing and often coffee enemas. No trial has ever been published, there is no evidence it prevents or treats cancer, and delaying standard treatment for it can have serious consequences.

## Summary

Johanna Budwig developed the diet in the 1950s on the theory that cancer is caused by a lack of polyunsaturated fatty acids. It combines several daily servings of flaxseed oil and cottage cheese with vegetables, fruit and juices, forbids sugar, animal fats, processed food, soy and most dairy, encourages daily sunbathing, and is often combined with coffee enemas. Memorial Sloan Kettering's About Herbs summary states that clinical trials have not been published in any peer-reviewed journal and that there is no evidence the diet has any benefit in preventing or treating cancer in humans. MSK warns that delaying or avoiding standard treatment can have serious consequences, that restricted diets risk nutritional deficiencies (including vitamin B12 in lactovegetarians), that heavy sun exposure raises the risk of sunburn and skin cancer, and that flaxseed oil prolonged bleeding time in animals. Flaxseed can cause bloating and other gut symptoms.

## Fields

- Kind: Technology
- Status: negative
- Last checked: 2026-11-04
- Tags: complementary; supportive-care; evidence:insufficient
- Principle: Based on an unconfirmed theory of fatty-acid deficiency; omega-3 fats have laboratory anticancer activity, which does not show the diet works.
- Strengths: The foods themselves are ordinary
- Limitations: No published trial in seventy years; Risk of delaying effective treatment; Restrictive diet and excess sun exposure

## Sources

- MSK About Herbs: Budwig diet (page last updated 29 March 2022): https://www.mskcc.org/cancer-care/integrative-medicine/herbs/budwig-diet-01

## Connected records

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- fronts: [Diet, Exercise & Lifestyle](https://onco.cc/fronts/nutrition-lifestyle/), [Supportive Care & Survivorship](https://onco.cc/fronts/supportive-care/)
- terms: [Unproven diet claims (alkaline, juice, 'anti-cancer' diets)](https://onco.cc/terms/unproven-diet-claims/)
- bottlenecks: [Misinformation and unproven therapies](https://onco.cc/bottlenecks/b-misinformation/)

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