"I want to give Belle Gibson a big hug."

Do you remember Belle Gibson? The girl who lied about curing her own cancer through natural therapies and then wrote a book, developed an app, sold them and made loads of money?

If you live outside of Australia here is a little run down- young mother (Belle Gibson) is given terrible news; she has inoperable brain cancer and months to live. She opts out of chemo and radiation, turning to alternative therapies to battle her illness. Oh my god it works and she announces it to the world encouraging others to do the same. She gathers hundreds of thousands of followers on social media and next thing you know here is our new poster girl for natural cancer cures and a new business is launched, ‘The Whole Pantry’, with a website, app and book deal. Amazing? No, because it’s a big fat lie, she never had cancer, and therefore she never cured it either.

She brought a lot of attention to ‘natural cancer cures’ and I love what she did.

Not the fraud or lying, or the deception. I’m glad for the spotlight that she held on the ‘natural cancer curing’ juggernaut that sees the same people criticising conventional treatment benefiting financially from the alternative therapies they are trying to peddle.

Don’t get me wrong, I am all for healthy living, clean diets and super foods. I believe it can have a significant impact on our health and aids in preventative health. Some of the stories out there about diets and natural products preventing and curing cancer are pretty amazing; it’s hard not to get caught up in the excitement.

What I am concerned about is the claims that people make about conventional treatments not working and preying on the vulnerabilities of desperate people, encouraging cancer patients to reject conventional treatment and cure their cancer with natural products, products that in turn make the seller a bag load of cash.

60 Minutes 'The Whole Hoax' with Belle Gibson (post continues after video):

It’s important to do your research, listen broadly and investigate where information is coming from because believe me there is a lot of misinformation out there pushing you towards an online checkout button asking for your credit card.

Belle Gibson if I see you in the street I would be one of the few people who would offer you a heartfelt thanks and I would probably give you a hug for the good work you have done highlighting the hypocrisy of the ‘natural cancer curing’ industry. There’s one good thing you can be proud of girl.

This post originally appeared on Write A Better Life. It has been republished here with full permission.