Website editor’s note: This information below has just come in from the leaders of the Wellington chapter of the Weston Price Foundation.
I have not yet had time to read the government’s case against apricot kernels myself.
However I have eaten apricot kernels with no toxicity problems and also have known cancer patients who have used tablets and/or injectable preparations of the active constituent of apricot kernels (laetrile/B17/amydalin) without any toxicity problems. (In fact they felt better – even in cases where the therapy was not curative.)
Like any food or natural remedy the dose and preparation of the product is important to minimise the risk of any sort of adverse effect. When reading about apricot kernels years ago, I recall that it was considered inappropriate to create a slurry of apricot kernels and allow this to sit prior to consumption as doing so might result in liberation of cynanide and therefore constitute a poisoning risk. For this reason I ate apricot kernels dry.
Another government attempt to outlaw an effective health therapy
The NZ government are having another attempt to outlaw apricot kernels – presumably because as a recognised cancer treatment they provide a threat to the profitable cancer industry.
Using one of their favourite tricks the FSANZ have called for submissions right before Xmas, letting very few people know about it, and giving very little time to make submissions (they are due Tue 10 Feb 2015)
We suspect that they don’t intend to pay much attention to the submissions, but this could be a good opportunity to publicise apricot kernels as a cancer treatment, expose the corrupt practises of yet another NZ govt agency, and potentially undermine any future attempts to outlaw therapies that threaten the profits of the sickness industry.
We encourage everyone with an interest in health, and in free access to effective treatments, to put in submissions before Tue 10 Feb 2015
For information on writing submissions go to :
http://www.foodstandards.gov.au/code/changes/submission/pages/default.aspx
Send in submissions by email to: submissions@foodstandards.gov.au
There is now a new webpage about using Apricot Kernels to treat cancer, which has information you may find helpful when writing your submissions.
http://www.frot.co.nz/wapf/apricots.htm
The information below comes from the link above:
Treating Cancer with Apricot Kernels
There is a great deal of controversy over the treatment of cancer using supplements containing Vitamin B17 (laetrile). Most commonly this is taken in the form of apricot kernels. Doctors, particularly in the US, say that apricot kernels and other foods containing B17 are full of cyanide, and will prove fatal if eaten. Meanwhile, there is a 40 year history of the successful treatment of cancer using laetrile. These B17 containing foods do contain substances called Cyanogenic Glycosides, but how dangerous are they?
Looking through the literally hundreds of personal stories posted on the internet of people taking B17 and recovering from cancer, it is a common thread that they all say their doctor told them apricot kernels were toxic. And then couldn’t believe it when they got better.
For typical examples see – http://credence.org/testimon.html
Cyanogenic Glycosides are also known as dietary cyanide, so it is technically true that an apricot kernel or apple pips have “cyanide” in them. Or at least they will produce a type of cyanide once ingested. But this is a different form of cyanide to the industrial cyanides typically thought of as cyanide (see an article on Cyanide Toxicity ). And despite having a billion dollar cancer industry to protect, medical research showing actual cases of toxicity caused by eating Cyanogenic Glycosides in foodstuffs are in fact thin on the ground. While it’s a very widely espoused theory that people are dying like flies from eating this stuff, there is a glaringly obvious lack of case studies to back these claims up.
Cyanogenic Glycosides occur in a surprising number of foods known for their healing properties. These include flax seeds, apricot kernels, apple pips, almonds, peach kernels, some types of beans, and in fact over 2500 plant species.
This is only one of a number of “alternative”cancer treatments that have shown good results. This article from DietNet covers a range of other non-toxic approaches to healing cancer.
Where can I get apricot kernels?
As long as you don’t live in a country where apricot kernels are repressed, they are fairly easily obtained – anywhere that grows apricots has kernels. As of 2014 this included Australia and New Zealand, but the NZ government is doing what they can to prevent this.
Our online business Nature Foods usually has some NZ grown kernels available.
A quick search online will reveal many more sources.
Dietary Cyanide is therapeutic
Foods containing “dietary cyanides” may well be a valuable therapeutic tool, and the “cyanide” is an essential part of the treatment value
Glycosides are sugar derivatives. An overwhelming number of glycosides occur in nature, mainly in plants. Recently these compounds have received much attention because they possess a variety of biological activities and have found importance in therapeutic, nutritional and clinical use.
Cyanide is not an undesirable side effect. A high cyanogenic glycoside component releases toxic hydrogen cyanide via auto-hydrolysis in the presence of water in the gut.
Some researchers believe this is associated with an additional anti-cancer effect similar to that of the laetrile itself.
Some other commonly consumed plants that contain dietary cyanides include: almonds, tapioca, lima beans, flax seeds, and spinach.
Naturally Occurring Glycosides
The book “NATURALLY OCCURRING GLYCOSIDES was published in 1999 and it covers the positive uses of Cyanogenic Glycosides.
Naturally Occurring Glycosides summarises significant contemporary information on chemical, nutritional, biological and pharmacological aspects of naturally occurring glycosides. Though mainly found in plants, there are an overwhelming number of glycosides which occur in nature.
Currently at the forefront of scientific investigation, these compounds have a variety of uses including the treatment of congestive heart failure, lowering cholesterol, flavourings, antibiotics and sweeteners.
Naturally Occurring Glycosides presents 12 chapters dealing with chemical structure, occurrence, biosynthetic and biological activity of the following: Aminoglycosidic antibiotics; Anthocyanin glycosides; Cardiac glycosides; Carotenoid glycosides; Cyanogenic glycosides; Glycosinolates; Glycosidic bound volatiles in plants; Limonoid glycosides; Saponins; Steroidal glycoalkaloids; Steroidal oligosaccarides from marine sources; Terpenoid glycoside sweeteners.
By reading Naturally Occurring Glycosides, researchers working in chemistry, biochemistry, biology, toxicology, physiology and pharmacology will gain a fascinating insight into the field of glycosides.
Website – http://www.wiley.ca/cda/product/0,,047198602X,00.html
World Without Cancer
In 1974 G. Edward Griffin wrote WORLD WITHOUT CANCER. This book explores the revolutionary concept that cancer is a deficiency disease, like scurvy or pellagra, aggravated by the lack of an essential food compound in modern man’s diet. That substance is vitamin B17. But in its concentrated and purified form developed specifically for cancer therapy, it is known as Laetrile, the controversial chemical that currently is banned in the United States.
The story presented in this book does not carry the approval of orthodox medicine. The Food and Drug Administration, The American Cancer Society, and The American Medical Association have labeled it fraud and quackery. Yet the evidence is overwhelming that here, at last, is the final answer to the cancer riddle. Why has orthodox medicine waged war against this non-drug approach?
The author contends that the answer is strictly political and is based upon the economic and power goals of those who control the medical establishment. WORLD WITHOUT CANCER blazes the trail into previously unexplored territory and reveals a shocking picture of how science has been subverted to protect entrenched commercial and political interests. It contains the kind of explosive impact that could topple an empire. And perhaps it will.
The book is freely available for download here: https://archive.org/details/World_Without_Cancer
Check out the excellent reviews for this book on Amazon http://www.amazon.com/World-Without-Cancer-Story-Vitamin/dp/0912986190
A documentary by G. Edward Griffin is on Youtube along with a lot of other good info about B17 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JGsSEqsGLWM