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well, i had never heard of it but at our local veg group meal last night, a guy was talking about a jar of apricot nut paste he found that had 'high in vit b17' on the label.
i found http://www.cancure.org/laetrile.htm on google.
anyone else know anything about this B vit?
b17??
apricot nut paste??
what??
I posted this on another forum:
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Vitamin B15, apparently only found in plants, can aid in cancer prevention. Maybe many omni's are B15 deficiant and could be only lf the many reason they are more prone to developing cancer. So next time one asks you if you are getting any B12, ask them how they are doing with the B15.
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Vitamin B15 (Pangamic acid) is water-soluble but its essential requirement in the diet has not yet been proven. Research points to B15 aiding in lowering cholesterol blood levels, aid in protein synthesis, neutralize liquor cravings etc.
Vitamin B15 is associated with B17.This cyanide-containing substance releases cyanide only at a cancer site, thus destroying cancer cells while nourishing non-cancer tissue.
Vitamin B15 can is found in brewer's yeast, brown rice, pumpkin seeds and sesame seeds.
http://www.tjclarkinc.com/vitamins/vitamin_b15.htm
Vitamin B17 is also plant based...
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Amygdalin was first isolated in 1830 and was used as an anticancer agent in Russia as early as 1845. It's first recorded use in the United States as a treatment for cancer was in the 1920s.
Laetrile is a compound that has been used as an anticancer treatment in humans worldwide. It is not approved by the Food and Drug Administration for use in the United States. The term “laetrile” is an acronym (laevorotatory and mandelonitrile) used to describe a purified form of the chemical amygdalin. Amygdalin is a plant compound that contains sugar and produces cyanide. Amygdalin is found in the pits of many fruits and raw nuts. It is also found in other plants, such as lima beans, clover, and sorghum. Cyanide is believed to be the active cancer-killing ingredient in laetrile.
Omni's aren't going to find those vitamins in their UNhappy meals and super sized globs of flesh.
I remember my uncle going to Mexico for laetrile treatments about 15 years ago, as the FDA had banned it here due to it being a natural, easily-obtained, effective, cheap substance that threatened profits from expensive pharmaceuticals. :rolleyes:
When I was a helper at a cancer support group many of the people there ate Hunza apricots and then ground the stones into a powder, which they mixed into a paste. Some would add it to mashed bananas or other foods.
I had never heard of it - but read this rather comprehensive report about the history of Laetrile.
Laetrile questions and answers.
Why the FDA has not approved laetrile for use as a cancer treatment.
Would it be too much to suggest that maybe it doesn't work and the evidence for it not working is greater than the evidence for it actually curing cancer?
Somehow the prospects of cyanide poisoning are not very encouraging.
Cyanide blocks the electron transport chain in the production of ATP from ADP (oxidative phosphorylation) in the mitochondria. Plants have an enzyme in their mitochondria (alternative oxidase) that allows them to keep respiring despite the presence of cyanide.
Animals do not - this is why cyanide is so toxic to animals including humans - no ATP means no energy for anything - cell death and organism death. We have an enzyme that allows for only minimal degradation of cyanide; concentrated doses however we can't cope with.
Apple seeds also contain amygdalin that interacts in your digestion to make hydrogen cyanide, but you would have to eat a lot of apples daily to get sick from them. I have been eating the seeds for the last 15 years.
Amygdalin is soluble in water and apricot kernal oil is harmless in case anyone was worried.
Please don't eat apricot kernals anyone! A little won't do you a lot of harm but a lot could kill you!
Thank you for those wonderful links, Veganblue, FR and Cedarblue.
For those of you who may decide to ingest this substance for whatever reasons, please be alert for any of the following symptoms of cyanide toxicity:
Anxiety
Confusion
Dizziness
Headache
Vomiting
Odor of bitter almonds on the breath or vomit
Followed by: Difficulty breathing, increased blood pressure and low heart rate, then rapid heart rate, possible kidney failure. Coma, convulsions (seizures) and respiratory arrest may happen suddenly and rapidly.
I took this information from "Common Poisonous Plants and Mushrooms of North America" by Nancy Turner and Adam Szczawinski. (I forage at times and therefore need to be aware of what can only be ingested in small amounts - such as the foods listed in some of the links. On the other hand, there are many wonderful substances in wild foods that most definitely may prevent certain cancers :) )
Please don't feed these substances to small children. Children have gotten cyanide toxicity from eating the tiny pits of black cherries, for example.
Surely if apricot kernels are being made into a paste and sold in the market this product can't be any more dangerous than cyclamate, aspartame, olestra, Meridia, Vioxx, Celebrex, thalidomide.........Quote:
cedarblue
Sometimes I wonder how the human race managed to survive until 1906 without the expert advice of the FDA. :rolleyes:
It would be a difficult decision for someone with cancer to make. The members of my old cancer group were impressed with the stories they heard of the Hunza people, who are active into old age and who live very healthy lives. They use the oil from the kernels in food.
:D Well, many of the race didn't... I think that might be the point of having a FDA. Those that ate suspicious foods either died or became sick and everyone else took it as an important lesson that they should avoid what ever it was they ate.Quote:
Seaside
The death rate in Western society has greatly dropped; hence the exploding populations around the world. Population control is still a very touchy topic however.
The change in the West now shows people dying from *excess*; as well as environmental toxicity. Not only is our food laden with more mutagens than before, we are getting less of the trace elements.
Since observing some features of Japanese culture I have taken on board the idea that there is good and evil in all things - instead of the good or evil I was brought up to believe. Japanese society seems to recognise the co-existance of the potential for good and evil in everything - not as a seperate almost sentient characteristic.
I apply this to many things including the FDA and feel that it has a role and that I can't dismiss it out of hand because I suspect an evil motivation.
Everything has to be on a case by case basis.
I'll bet there are enough other ingredients in the paste which makes it less toxic than pure apricot kernels?Quote:
Seaside
While we're on the topic of cancer (okay, now we're on the topic of cancer) - I read an interesting article in E Magazine this week which talks of the 48 percent overall increase of cancers between 1950 and 1990. (It's a U.S. mag so it may only be an increase in the U.S.) The culprits listed are the 1,000 new chemicals annually introduced in the U.S., pesticides, formaldehyde leaking from plywood furniture, radon from basements, lawn chemicals from neighbors, dioxin from municipal incinerators, diesel fuel, plastics, unfiltered water, being overweight, smoking, not eating enough vegetables, etc.
We are not much better at curing cancer than in the past. Prevention is still key and it appears as though even that is becoming more difficult in this environment. And to those of you not in the U.S., sorry but we tend to share our environmental toxins with the rest of the world.
Their suggestions for prevention: 1 hour of moderate exercise per day, a predominantly vegetarian diet (they did not talk about hormones in dairy, only hormones in meat :( ), lose weight if you're overweight, and get 9 servings of fruits and vegetables per day.
The sad part is that the above suggestions might only prevent 30-40% of cancers. So the FDA and the apricot kernel paste companies will continue to stay in business for now.................
I know this is bumping this very old thread but I have a good video on this topic if anyone is interested in it and I didn't see the point in creating a whole new thread, there were lots of interesting comments in this one.
If anyone has any comments on what they think of the material in this video I would love to hear it :)
Enjoy.
World Without Cancer 1/2
World Without Cancer 2/2