A former model who almost died trying to cure her cancer with a juice diet has warned others against “cutting out” traditional medical advice and trying to source alternative information online.

Irena Stoynova forked out £2,000 on juicers and would spend up to three hours a day preparing liquid meals for the next day, believing it would clear her of non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

The 39-year-old was diagnosed in June 2021 when medics recommended that she receive conventional treatment, but she “shut them out” after watching people “talk about the success rate of alternative therapies online”.

Ms Stoynova, from Crondall in Hampshire, said she took to a juice diet for two-and-a-half years, but also tried a raw-food diet, intermittent fasting, boiling herbs and special teas.

She said that she was advised to start chemotherapy, but she turned to the internet to find alternative advice and “everything started from there”.

She said she listened to one man with hundreds of thousands of followers on social media who claimed the body could “heal itself” through a radical lifestyle and diet change.

Ms Stoynova said she became a “fanatic” of the various diets and holistic therapies she followed, adding: “It was like tunnel vision.

“I didn’t stop, I was just so weak, I had sleep deprivation and hallucinations. I didn’t even have the strength to open the door for the delivery man.

“I couldn’t breathe because there was fluid on my lungs, I lost about 20 kilograms because of the dieting.”

Read more:
What is preventative chemotherapy? Experts explain treatment
The outlook for chemo is better than ever – but it’s still the dreaded diagnosis

Doctors said Ms Stoynova was on the verge of death when she was taken to Frimley Park Hospital by ambulance in May last year.

She was told by doctors she would likely die without treatment for her cancer – which was stage three – but Ms Stoynova continued to refuse for a number of days before finally agreeing to receive chemotherapy.

Medics described “frustrating” conversations with her but eventually, after 10 days in hospital, she agreed to start chemotherapy.

Follow Sky News on WhatsApp

Keep up with all the latest news from the UK and around the world by following Sky News

Tap here

Ms Stoynova, who is now in remission, added: “I now say to people that the side effects from chemotherapy are a piece of cake compared to the side effects that I got from trying the holistic treatment.”

She added: “What I would say is it’s great to have beliefs, it’s great if they’re backed by science, and please don’t cut off your consultants.

“I cut off consultants and everything connected with standard medicine and I almost lost my life.”

Dr Clare Rees, consultant haematologist at Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust, said: “This is an extreme scenario and genuinely in the first 24 hours of Irena’s admission, I was unclear whether she would survive this or not.

“But the problem is that misinformation often spreads faster than the truth and obviously, if someone’s given the option of juice versus tablets or chemotherapy and injecting drugs into their bodies, you can see why they would prefer to do some of it if it will give them the same outcome – but the problem is that is not evidence-based practice.

“We always encourage people to go to Lymphoma Action or Macmillan Cancer Support for genuine information.”

A former model who almost died trying to cure her cancer with a juice diet has warned others against “cutting out” traditional medical advice and trying to source alternative information online.

Irena Stoynova forked out £2,000 on juicers and would spend up to three hours a day preparing liquid meals for the next day, believing it would clear her of non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

The 39-year-old was diagnosed in June 2021 when medics recommended that she receive conventional treatment, but she “shut them out” after “reading about and watching many doctors and professors talk about the success rate of alternative therapies online”.

Ms Stoynova, from Crondall in Hampshire, said she took to a juice diet for two-and-a-half years, but also tried a raw-food diet, intermittent fasting, boiling herbs and special teas.

She said that she was advised to start chemotherapy, but she turned to the internet to find alternative advice and “everything started from there”.

She said she listened to one man with hundreds of thousands of followers on social media claimed the body could “heal itself” through a radical lifestyle and diet change.

Ms Stoynova said she became a “fanatic” of the various diets and holistic therapies she followed, adding: “It was like tunnel vision.

“I didn’t stop, I was just so weak, I had sleep deprivation and hallucinations. I didn’t even have the strength to open the door for the delivery man.

“I couldn’t breathe because there was fluid on my lungs, I lost about 20 kilograms because of the dieting.”

Read more:
What is preventative chemotherapy? Experts explain treatment
The outlook for chemo is better than ever – but it’s still the dreaded diagnosis

Doctors said Ms Stoynova was on the verge of death when she was taken to Frimley Park Hospital by ambulance in May last year.

She was told by doctors she would likely die without treatment for her cancer – which was stage three – but Ms Stoynova continued to refuse for a number of days before finally agreeing to receive chemotherapy.

Medics described “frustrating” conversations with her but eventually, after 10 days in hospital, she agreed to start chemotherapy.

Follow Sky News on WhatsApp

Keep up with all the latest news from the UK and around the world by following Sky News

Tap here

Ms Stoynova, who is now in remission, added: “I now say to people that the side effects from chemotherapy are a piece of cake compared to the side effects that I got from trying the holistic treatment.”

She added: “What I would say is it’s great to have beliefs, it’s great if they’re backed by science, and please don’t cut off your consultants.

“I cut off consultants and everything connected with standard medicine and I almost lost my life.”

Dr Clare Rees, consultant haematologist at Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust, said: “This is an extreme scenario and genuinely in the first 24 hours of Irena’s admission, I was unclear whether she would survive this or not.

“But the problem is that misinformation often spreads faster than the truth and obviously, if someone’s given the option of juice versus tablets or chemotherapy and injecting drugs into their bodies, you can see why they would prefer to do some of it if it will give them the same outcome – but the problem is that is not evidence-based practice.

“We always encourage people to go to Lymphoma Action or Macmillan Cancer Support for genuine information.”

The Metropolitan Police has apologised after an officer prevented an antisemitism campaigner from crossing a road near a pro-Palestinian march because they were “openly Jewish”.

A video showed an officer using the term while speaking to Gideon Falter, chief executive of the Campaign Against Antisemitism, who was wearing a kippah skull cap near the demonstration in the Aldwych area of London on the afternoon of Saturday 13 April.

Issuing an apology on behalf of the Met on Saturday, assistant commissioner Matt Twist said the officer’s use of the phrase was “hugely regrettable” but added that the issues surrounding the ongoing protests are “complex, contentious and polarising”.

In a statement which included the apology, the assistant commissioner added: “In recent weeks we’ve seen a new trend emerge, with those opposed to the main protests appearing along the route to express their views.

“The fact that those who do this often film themselves while doing so suggests they must know that their presence is provocative, that they’re inviting a response and that they’re increasing the likelihood of an altercation.

“They are also making it much more likely officers will intervene.

“They don’t do so to stifle free speech or to limit the right to protest, but to keep opposing groups apart, to prevent disorder and keep the public – including all those taking part in or opposing the protest – safe.”

Mr Twist added that the video, which was shared by the Campaign Against Antisemitism, will “further dent the confidence of many Jewish Londoners”.

‘Victim-blaming’

Mr Falter has responded to Mr Twist’s remarks by accusing the force of “victim-blaming”.

In a statement posted on the X social media platform, he wrote: “What has dented Jewish Londoners’ confidence in the Met is not us making this video public, but the actions of the Met’s officers telling me that I cannot be in the area whilst openly Jewish.

“The assistant commissioner appears to be saying that we should have taken this on the chin and kept the video under wraps.

“Not only that, but whilst apologising for the behaviour of his officers, he then doubles down on their language by saying that the presence of people like me – Jews – is ‘provocative’.”

Mr Falter added that it is his right and “the right of every Jew” to walk freely around London.

He continued: “If police threaten us with arrest for doing so or consider our presence to be a provocation, then the Met has decided wholesale to curtail the rights of Jews in order to appease lawless mobs.

“On Saturday 27th April, I and hopefully others will again walk in our home city, again being ‘quite openly Jewish’. We must not be intimidated by protesters or prevented by police from exercising our rights.”

A government source said: “These reports are concerning and unacceptable. British Jews should be free to walk about their lives freely without intimidation or restriction, and the police have a vital role in making sure that is a reality.

“As we have shown with the largest ever funding package for security, we won’t hesitate to take action to support and protect our Jewish communities.”

Further police apology

The Met Police have since deleted their Tweet and issued an apology for any offence caused.

Their statement reads: “The use of the term “openly Jewish” by one of our officers is hugely regrettable. We know it will have caused offence to many. We reiterate our apology.

“We have reflected on the strength of the response to our previous statement. In an effort to make a point about the policing of protest we have caused further offence. This was never our intention. We have removed that statement and we apologise.”

How did the row start?

Mr Falter said he was walking in the capital after attending a synagogue and was not there to counter-protest as he walked past the demonstration last Saturday.

The video clip shows one police officer saying to him: “You are quite openly Jewish, this is a pro-Palestinian march, I’m not accusing you of anything but I’m worried about the reaction to your presence.”

In the clip another officer said to him: “There’s a unit of people here now.

“You will be escorted out of this area so you can go about your business, go where you want freely or if you choose to remain here because you are causing a breach of peace with all these other people, you will be arrested.”

The officer said that Mr Falter’s presence was “antagonising”.

Read more from Sky News:
Sunak pledges to remove benefits for people not taking jobs
Police ‘reviewing information’ about Tory MP
Painting stolen in Oxford raid found in Romania

The antisemitism campaigner said after the incident: “Despite being told repeatedly that London is safe for Jews when these marches are taking place, my interactions with police officers last Saturday show that the Met believes that being openly Jewish will antagonise the anti-Israel marchers and that Jews need protection, which the police cannot guarantee.

“Instead of addressing that threat of antisemitic violence, the Met’s policy instead seems to be that law-abiding Jewish Londoners should not be in the parts of London where these marches are taking place. In other words, that they are no-go zones for Jews.”

Tens of thousands of pro-Palestinian protesters had gathered in London last Saturday to call for a ceasefire and to urge the government to stop all arms sales to Israel.

Crowds waved Palestinian flags, chanted “free Palestine” and held signs calling for a “ceasefire now”.