Thousands of patients have since been treated with the Essiac Tea herbal mixture, most of them at Caisse's own Bracebridge Clinic in Ontario. While this clinic was shut down in 1942, the controversy over Essiac simmered for years. Charles Brusch, MD--President John Kennedy's physician--is said to have declared that Essiac ‘cures cancer’.

Essiac is an herbal cancer treatment originally developed by a Canadian nurse, Renée Caisse (1888-1978). (Essiac is Caisse spelled backwards.) Ms. Caisse claimed that the formula had been given to her in 1922 by a patient whose breast cancer had been cured by a traditional Native American healer in Ontario.Essiac cannot be freely marketed in either the US or Canada.

However, a company in Ontario is allowed to provide Essiac to Canadian patients under a special arrangement with health officials there. One problem is that Caisse never made the formula public in her lifetime.

A number of companies now sell competing "original" Essiac in the form of a tea, but the authenticity of some of these formulas are open to question. Since Essiac is now a very well known treatment, it is important to point out that while Caisse did provide the herbs for oral use, most of her greatest success would seem to have involved the injectable form of the herbs. They would obviously be more potent and fast-acting if administered in this way. Caisse actually felt quite strongly that this method of delivery was the only way to assure that the body could resist malignancy.

As with many that experience the frontiers of knowledge, Caisse speculated about what many to this day do not understand. She felt there was an undiscovered gland that was affected by Essiac, one that acts to inhibit the supply of the substances that nourish cancer cells. Everyone, even her strongest defenders, is quick to point out that while no one has disproved her theory, no one has corroborated it either. This said, the four herbs that everyone agrees are the cornerstones of the Essiac formula are fairly well understood.  

• Burdock (Arctium lappa).
• Indian rhubarb (Rheum palmatum): This plant has been demonstrated to have antitumor activity in the sarcoma 37-test system. Certain chemicals in Indian rhubarb, such as aloe emodin, catechin, and rhein have shown antitumor activity in animal test systems.
• Sorrel: Aloe emodin, isolated from sorrel, shows "significant antileukemic activity."
• Slippery elm: Slippery elm contains beta-sitosterol and a polysaccharide, both of which have shown anti-cancer activity.

Essentials. Mix the herbs together very, very thoroughly. Use 1 cup of herb mix per 2 gallons distilled water each time you brew.

THE AUTHENTIC AND ORIGINAL ESSIAC TEA FORMULA

6 ½ cups of burdock root (cut)

1 pound of sheep sorrel herb powdered

1/4 pound of slippery elm bark powdered

1 ounce of Turkish rhubarb root powdered

Mix these ingredients thoroughly and store in glass jar in dark dry cupboard.    Take a measuring cup, use 1 ounce of herb mixture to 32 ounces of water depending on the amount you want to make.   I use 1 cup of mixture to 8 x 32 = 256 ounces of water. Boil hard for 10 minutes (covered) then turn off heat but leave sitting on warm plate over night (covered).

In the morning heat steaming hot and let settle a few minutes, then strain through fine strainer into hot sterilized bottles and sit to cool. Store in dark cool cupboard. Must be refrigerated when opened. When near the last when its thick pour in a large jar and sit in frig overnight then pour off all you [can] without sediment.

This recipe must be followed exactly as written.   I use a granite preserving kettle (10 – 12 qts), 8 ounce measuring cup, small funnel and fine strainer to fill bottles.

Use a Zapper Digital with the Essiac Tea treatment to enhance the cancer fighting benefits.