Netflix’s Apple Cider Vinegar is a show designed to ultimately disgust you. The Aussie series is inspired by the twisted true story of Belle Gibson (Kaitlyn Dever), an influencer who lied about living with brain cancer just so she could launch a recipe-based wellness app. Belle goes on to steal money raised for charity and her whole online persona is misleading real cancer patients about the efficacy of alternative medicine. It’s gross!
Still, the most disturbing storyline can still be found elsewhere. You see, Belle’s gambit was inspired by the glowing attention another influencer, beauty editor Milla Blake (Alycia Debnam-Carey), garnered when she shared her journey overcoming a real cancer, called undifferentiated pleomorphic sarcoma. When the young woman is told by doctors her best chance of survival is amputating her arm, she balks. Milla turns to “Hirsch Therapy,” juicing and giving herself five coffee enemas a day.
However, by the end of Apple Cider Vinegar, Milla has placed her faith in an even more dangerous alternative to surgery and chemotherapy: the super dangerous black salve.
**Spoilers for Apple Cider Vinegar, now streaming on Netflix**
Although Milla initially seems to kick her cancer with the use of Hirsch techniques, cancerous tumors soon reappear on her left arm. Milla sheepishly hides the return of her cancer with long sleeves and upbeat social media posts about her actually flailing organic juice business. So when a kindly lady in a new age store recommends a “holistic” solution that’s illegal in Australia because it threatens “big cancer” treatment, Milla is happy to give it a go. Milla beings to use Black Salve.
But what exactly is black salve? Why would it really be illegal? And what is the black salve actually doing to poor Milla’s arm in the episodes that lead up to her eventual death from cancer? Here’s everything you need to know about black salve and why you absolutely should avoid it.
Black salve has many names, but it’s generally advertised as an all-natural solution to treat skin cancer. Unfortunately, it’s usually packed with corrosive chemicals and can result in scarring and disfiguration.
According to the FDA, black salve can also be packaged as “Skinprov, drawing salve, red salve, Cansema, bloodroot, Indian Herb, Hawk Dok Natural Salve, Black Drawing Ointment.” Bloodroot, or Sanguinaria, is usually touted as its primary holistic ingredient. While bloodroot was traditionally used in Indigenous cultures for its healing properties, it also possesses a high level of toxicity. Meaning the side effects can be worse than the benefits.
In Apple Cider Vinegar, Milla Blake — a fictional character inspired by real-life “Wellness Warrior” Jess Ainscough — uses black salve on her cancer, only for the corrosive treatment to create open sores on her arms. Oh, and her cancer only gets worse because she’s avoiding actual medical intervention.
Basically, if you take one message from Netflix’s Apple Cider Vinegar, it’s that black salve should be avoided at all costs.
(function(d, s, id) {
var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];
if (d.getElementById(id)) return;
js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id;
js.src = “//connect.facebook.net/en_US/sdk.js#xfbml=1&appId=823934954307605&version=v2.8”;
fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs);
}(document, ‘script’, ‘facebook-jssdk’));
