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Health Blogger Olivia Budgen Under Fire for Saying Cancer and Disease Are 'Not Actually Bad at All'

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Australian health blogger Olivia Budgen sparked ire among the cancer community due to a post she shared last week on Instagram, claiming, “CANCER AND DISEASE IS YOUR BODY TRYING TO SAVE YOU.”

olivia budgen screen shot

Budgen continued her post asking, “What if these conditions were not actually bad at all? What if they were created by the body to help save you?”

According to Budgen’s post, society is led to believe diseases like cancer come from genetics, and we are fed misinformation from the medical industry. Budgen claimed diseases like cancer are actually “survival mechanisms” the body creates to defend itself from toxins.

“The immune system is always there to keep the body free of contaminates. Unfortunately in many cases this isn’t possible because organs such as the liver, large intestine, lungs, kidneys and skin become overtaxed with toxins and don’t eliminate efficiently. Disease is a natural defense mechanism to prevent a much more serious situation from occurring.”

While it’s great to raise awareness for cancer, factually inaccurate statements like Budgen’s can be incredibly harmful to those undergoing treatment as well as those who are newly diagnosed. According to the National Cancer Institute, cancer is a genetic disease caused by certain changes in the genes that control the way our cells function — especially how they grow and divide. Although diet may play a role, there are many other risk factors such as sunlight, tobacco, hormones, age and other environmental factors.

Since posting, Budgen has been compared to Australian blogger Belle Gibson who lied about having cancer in 2009, and said diet could cure the disease.

Other Twitter users commented sharing their outrage as well.

Budgen has since deleted the Instagram post. On Thursday, she responded to the backlash in a short video, claiming she drew her inspiration from Andreas Mortiz’s book, “Cancer is Not a Disease — It’s a Survival Mechanism:”

My response video ???????? click on the link in my bio to watch the full version.

A post shared by OLIVIA BUDGEN ♡ (@oliviabudgen) on

The Mighty reached out to Budgen for comment and has yet to hear back, 

Header photo courtesy of Instagram

Originally published: December 1, 2017
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