Hydrogen peroxide falsely promoted as cancer treatment

"You have to get the book 'The One-minute Cure,' and you need to start giving her food-grade hydrogen peroxide orally. It is known to cure almost every cancer on earth, and if you study with me, you'll learn why," Ardis says in a December 27, 2024 post on his show's Instagram page.

The 2008 book "The One-minute Cure," contends that most diseases, including cancer, AIDS, diabetes and Alzheimer's disease, can be cured with hydrogen peroxide therapy.

Ardis recommends cancer patients apply a nicotine patch and ingest about three to four drops of "food grade" hydrogen peroxide in eight fluid ounces of water daily, gradually increasing the dosage. He also gives the name of a company that sells hydrogen peroxide with a six percent concentration.

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Screenshot from Instagram taken January 6, 2025

The same clip has circulated elsewhere on Instagram, Facebook, Threads, TikTok and Rumble -- including in Portuguese.

Most household hydrogen peroxide found in US pharmacies has a concentration of around three percent. It is often sold in solutions used as disinfectants, deodorants, and hair-bleaching agents. 

But claims that the solution can treat cancer are not backed by scientific research, and health authorities and experts warn that consuming it can be dangerous or potentially fatal.

Medical professionals say drinking hydrogen peroxide could lead to cerebral or cardiac embolism or other serious consequences, and the US Centers for Disease Control (CDC) warns that ingestion "has been associated with fatalities (archived here).

The CDC's Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry says most hydrogen peroxide with a concentration of under nine percent is "nontoxic" but that any formula above three percent can cause vomiting and diarrhea. It can also be harmful to the skin and eyes.

Garry Buettner, a professor at the University of Iowa School of Medicine who conducts research into cancer treatments (archived here), said enzymes in the body would likely remove hydrogen peroxide from the system if a person drank only a few drops. In a January 1 email, he said that when he uses hydrogen peroxide as part of his oral care regimen, he rinses his mouth out "immediately" afterwards to avoid any unintended side effects.

Proponents of hydrogen peroxide therapy claim it can treat or cure cancer because it helps oxygenate the body and spur on natural immune processes. Some early animal-based studies seemed to support this hypothesis, but more recent research has called the method "questionable" (archived here and here).

A 2011 paper -- also an experiment that did not involve humans -- suggested cancer cells produce hydrogen peroxide to help them grow, meaning ingesting more of it could have the opposite of the intended effect (archived here).

Buettner said no formal studies in people have concluded that hydrogen peroxide can have a positive effect on cancer cells. 

Debunked source

Ardis was disciplined by the Tennessee Department of Health in 2008 for failing to meet state educational requirements (archived here). He has misleadingly asserted that cancers and other diseases are caused by toxins and parasites.

During the pandemic, he spread the widely debunked theory that Covid-19 was a synthetic version of snake venom.

At the beginning of the clip, Ardis also references a doctor in Mexico named Antonio Jimenez, who markets "alternative" cancer treatments to US residents at two clinics in Tijuana and Cancún. In 2020, US prosecutors convicted a man for providing unapproved cancer drugs he made in his kitchen and warehouse to Jimenez's clinics (archived here and here).

A spokesperson for Jimenez's clinic told AFP in a December 30, 2024 email he does not support using hydrogen peroxide therapy.

AFP has debunked other false claims about supposed cancer cures.