Re: do not be alarmed

Apricot kernel contains a toxic chemical known as amygdalin. he body converts this chemical to cyanide, which is poisonous.
There was interest in using apricot kernel to fight cancer because it was thought that amygdalin was taken up first by cancer cells and converted to cyanide and it was hoped that the cyanide would harm only the tumour, but research has shown that this is not true, the amygdalin is actually converted to cyanide in the stomach and the cyanide then goes throughout the body where it can cause serious harm and although rare, death.

Re: do not be alarmed

No I'm afraid your research there is not quite right. Amygdalin/Laetrile forms the molecule Hydrogen Cyanide when it comes into contact with a particular enzyme.

To say that cyanide (CN) is a dangerous substance and should not be ingested is I'm afraid pure bunkum. It is found in a great many natural foods including natural berries like blackberries, cranberries etc, in cherries, apple pips and many beans like mung beans, broad beans, alfalfa sprouts and so on. People consume it all the time with no problems.

As with ANY substance, if you ingest a ridiculously large amount of it, you can hurt yourself. This is true even of water. Incidentally water is H2O, Hydrogen and Oxygen as an inert molecule, yet we don't all go off exploding with all that hydrogen being released inside us !!

The bottom line is that you would have to eat a ridiculously large amount of apricot kernels to come any where near the toxic level. Common sense should prevail as with any food.

More reading here:
http://worldwithoutcancer.org.uk/laetrile-and-cyanide/

A doctor from the U.S. FDA once said that Laetrile contains “free” hydrogen cyanide and, thus, is toxic. I would like to correct that misconception:

There is no “free” hydrogen cyanide in Laetrile. When Laetrile comes in contact with the enzyme beta-glucosidase, the Laetrile is broken down to form two molecules of glucose, one molecule of benzaldehyde and one molecule of hydrogen cyanide (HCN). Within the body, the cancer cell-and only the cancer cell-contains that enzyme. The key word here is that the HCN must be FORMED. It is not floating around freely in the Laetrile and then released. It must be manufactured. The enzyme beta glucosidase, and only that enzyme, is capable of manufacturing the HCN from Laetrile. If there are no cancer cells in the body, there is no beta-glucosidase. If there is no beta-glucosidase, no HCN will be formed from the Laetrile (1).

Laetrile does contain the cyanide radical (CN). This same cyanide radical is contained in Vitamin B12, and in berries such as blackberries, blueberries and strawberries. You never hear of anyone getting cyanide poisoning from 12 or any of the above-mentioned berries, because they do not. The cyanide radical (CW) and hydrogen cyanide (HCN) are two completely different compounds, just as pure sodium (Na+) – one of the most toxic substances known to mankind – and sodium chloride (NaCl), which is table salt, are two completely different compounds.

If the above is true, how did the story ever get started that Laetrile contains “free” hydrogen cyanide? It was the Food and Drug Administration.

1. For a more detailed analysis of the theoretical action of Laetrile against cancer cells, see G. Edward Griffin, World Without Cancer (Thousand Oaks, CA: American Media, 1974).

I remember reading in some newspaper back in the late 1960′s or early 1970′s a news release from the FDA. This release stated that there were some proponents of a substance known as “Laetrile” (I’d never heard of it before) who were saying that this substance was capable of forming hydrogen cyanide in the presence of the cancer cell. The release continued by saying that, if this were actually true, we had, indeed, found a substance, which was target-specific, and would be of great value to the cancer patient. But, the news release went on to say, the FDA had done extensive testing of this substance, “Laetrile,” and found no evidence that it contained hydrogen cyanide or that any hydrogen cyanide was released in the presence of the cancer cell. Thus, they said, Laetrile was of no value.

When it was clearly established some time later that Laetrile did, indeed, release hydrogen cyanide in the presence of the cancer cell, how do you suppose the FDA reacted? Did they admit that they were wrong? Did they admit that they had done a very inadequate job in running their tests? No! They now proclaimed that Laetrile contained hydrogen cyanide and thus was toxic!

So, here is a bureau of the Federal Government which, a short time before, had said that the reason Laetrile did not work was because it did not release hydrogen cyanide in the presence of cancer cells. Now, when they find that it does, they say that it is toxic. When offered an opportunity to present evidence of Laetrile’s toxicity in Federal Court, they admitted that they had none. (See Chapter One Alive and Well by Dr. Philip Binzel, available at: http://www.realityzone.com or see Contacts).

Re: do not be alarmed

Still if it had worked I doubt if it would be available to the general public, look at all the people who would lose out if it did, does make me wonder though, they've been searching for a hell of a long time and still not come up with any real answers, they managed to get a grip on the dreaded AIDS in a fairly short time if I'm right.

Re: do not be alarmed

The fruits of Nature should always be available to the general public. When they are taken from you by "authority" you know your freedoms and rights are being suppressed.

Natural cures don't make Big Pharma companies money. Hence there will always exist massive conglomorate power to ridicule and poo poo natural cures. Occasionally they abuse their powers further by actually preventing people from having access to Nature's produce.

Nature is good.

The humble paracetamol, sold in their trillions, contains just one active compound.

A clove of simple Garlic on the other hand contains over 300 active compounds, many of which work in harmony with each other. Science is still coming to grips with what they all do.

Understand that if Big Pharma and the other powers that be don't want you to have access to one of Nature's cures, then they will instigate a massive program of mis-information and much of that will filter down to those working in the medical industries.

In the case of apricot kernels for example the mantra will always be that eating them can kill you, so that's the end of it. It's not true. Only eating them in massive doses will kill you. Equally eating massive doses of paracetamols or other tablets can also kill you. Common sense must prevail.

Re: do not be alarmed

I just wanted to remind folk to check if something persists.

Re: do not be alarmed

"The fruits of Nature should always be available to the general public. When they are taken from you by "authority" you know your freedoms and rights are being suppressed"

I put that badly Realist, what I meant was if their experiments with the nut seeds had have been successful and they were able to produce it say in tablet form, then it would be so expensively priced that it would be out of reach to the general public.

Re: do not be alarmed

True enough. But there's no point making a tablet form of something Nature provides freely. There's just no money in it. Pharma companies look to make synthetic cures where the natural cure is not understood or known by the populous.
They go for convenience rather than supporting the infinitely better benefits that Nature provides.

Case in point - garlic. They produce garlic capsules on the basis that they are convenient, easy to take and don't have the typical garlic smell on your breath. Of course that smell is the indication of the active compound Alicin present which is the goodness you need. So garlic capsules are largely a con. Just eat garlic itself.