Elle Macpherson’s Junk Cancer ‘Cures’ Will Probably Only Cause Women More Pain | Gaby Hinsliff

Ille Macpherson believes, for some reason, that diseases thrive in a acidic bodyThe Australian ex-supermodel swears by the benefits of cutting down on red meat, wheat, dairy, sugar and processed foods, and on something she calls “alkalizing vegetables” (no, me either). Through her glossy wellness brand WelleCo, she tirelessly promotes her Super Elixir—a vitamin and mineral blend apparently dreamed up by her naturopath when she was feeling rundown and menopausal—to women who want to look as amazing as she does in their 60s, and who are willing to believe it has something to do with kale.

So far, everything has been relatively innocent, although things took a darker turn when Macpherson started dating Andrew Wakefield between 2017 and 2019the former doctor behind the now thoroughly debunked junk science linking the MMR jab to autism. But Macpherson has mostly straddled the safe side of the line between “crunchy moms” – lovers of organic food, herbal remedies and technological detoxes – and cranks. Or she did, until she started talking about “saying no to standard medical solutions” for cancer.

The woman once known simply as The Body, which in itself gives a glimpse into what it was like to be a model in the ’80s, reveals in her forthcoming book, Elle, that she was diagnosed seven years ago with a form of early-stage breast cancer called HER2-positive estrogen-receptive intraductal carcinoma. According to an interview she indicated In the Australian Women’s Weekly this week, her surgeon suggested a mastectomy with radiation, chemotherapy and hormone therapy, but Macpherson decided she Instead, she needed “my own truth, my own belief system to sustain me.” So after meditating on the decision on a beach in Miami, she headed to Arizona to “devote every minute to healing myself” under the care of a team that included a naturopath, an osteopath, a holistic dentist and—I suspect this last one might be crucial—her regular doctor.

And after just eight months, it worked! Take that, conventional medicine! Except that Macpherson had undergone a conventional lumpectomy before all that—or surgical removal of a lump from her breast—which probably had a lot to do with her happy outcome.

As numerous surgeons have now pointed out, in cases like hers—apparently caught early, with cancer cells still confined to the breast ducts rather than invading the wider breast tissue—it’s common to be given the choice of more conservative or aggressive treatment, and in some cases a lumpectomy alone may be enough. In other words, not only should women think very carefully before rejecting conventional medicine, but Macpherson may have relied on it more heavily than global headlines or Instagram posts her prices to defy the “cancer-industrial complex.”

Perhaps because of the medical profession’s historic struggle to take our health seriously, women seem most drawn to alternative health care. My work inbox is permanently filled with unsolicited PR emails peddling vaguely dubious cures for every female ailment from maternal exhaustion to menopause: supplements and superfoods, expensive apps and “hormone-balancing” therapies, all appealing to the belief that natural somehow means better. It’s the same myth that makes women feel absurdly guilty about having a C-section that saved their life.

Having watched three close friends and a family member go through grueling treatments for breast cancer, I wouldn’t put down anyone who embraces whatever gets them through. Eight months in Arizona clearly isn’t an option for most, and few women get the chance to dedicate every waking minute to their recovery. But if green juice or yoga are a pick-me-up, fine.

There is, however, a big difference between this kind of supportive padding around an often brutal (but effective) clinical regimen and junk science; between a celebrity’s right to make their own choices and the responsibility expected of someone with a global platform. When Angelina Jolie made a carefully balanced Article in the New York Times in 2013 about choosing to have a preventive double mastectomy because she carries a gene that makes her susceptible to breast cancer, a US study reported 64% increase in the next two weeks, demand for genetic screening. How many women struggling with chemotherapy, or struggling with a mastectomy, are now doubting themselves uselessly after reading about Macpherson’s “intuitive, heart-guided, holistic” journey back to vibrant health?

Cancer treatment can present a bewildering array of choices, often dependent on very personal, delicate judgments. How afraid are you of it coming back? Do you want to buy time at all costs, or is the quality of life more important at some point? Everyone is different, so each life must be carefully considered as a whole. Yet there is a huge leap between this truly holistic process under the guidance of a skilled physician and vaguely urging women to “follow their hearts and try things.” Live your own truth, no matter what. Just remember that others could die from it.