Vitamin B17: What is it? Sources, Uses, Benefits and Controversy

It is a natural substance found in raw nuts such as almonds, seeds, and grains of many fruits, particularly apricots.

It is known as Amigdalina, Vitamin B-17 and Laetrile. It is also present in beans, clover, sorghum, and many other sources.

Vitamin B-17 is the name given to this substance by Dr. Eugene Krebs Jr., The man who first identified Amigdalina.

He called it a food component. The components of foods that are natural, non-toxic, soluble in water, and compatible with human metabolisms, such as the amygdaline, are called vitamins.

Laetrile is the concentrated and purified form of amygdalin developed for use in laboratory and cancer treatments.

Laetrile therapy combines amygdalin with other factors to create a potent treatment that fights cancer cells and, at the same time, strengthens the body’s immune system.

It has been shown that Laetrile is one of the most effective natural cancer treatments (and, to be honest, most controversial).

 

How Laetrile fights cancer

It is believed that Laetrile fights cancer by killing cancer cells while building the immune system to prevent future outbreaks. He uses two different methods to achieve these objectives.

The first revolves around enzymes. The amygdaline is composed of glucose plus two potentially toxic substances, benzaldehyde, and hydrogen cyanide.

Note: In the early days of Laetrile’s research, cyanide was the primary molecule that kills cancer cells, but now many researchers believe that benzaldehyde is the main reason the cancer cell is destroyed.

Healthy cells contain the enzyme rodanosa (in his book World Without Cancer, G. Edward Griffin calls this the protective enzyme).

Rodanosa protects the cells by neutralizing benzaldehyde and cyanide in the amygdalin, converting them into helpful nutrient compounds, including thiocyanate, which is known as a natural regulator of blood pressure and also participates in the production of vitamin B-12.

However, the cancer cells do not have rodanosa. Instead, they have an enzyme called beta-glucosidase (Griffin calls this the unblocking enzyme).

The beta-glucosidase unblocks the benzaldehyde and the cyanide of the glucose to create a specific poison that kills the cancer cell. There is another way your body fights cancer-related to Laetrile through the power of a healthy immune system.

This is filled with billions of white blood cells; people usually produce around 100 billion new white blood cells a day.

These cells attack and destroy anything harmful to your body. But cancer cells are covered by a thin protein coating that carries a negative electrostatic charge. This charge repels negatively charged white blood cells.

Fortunately, the pancreas emits enzymes that, in sufficient quantities, can eliminate this protective layer, allowing the white blood cells to attack cancer.

However, if the pancreas is weak or unhealthy, the enzymes cannot keep up if the cancer is growing very fast. That’s where Laetrile comes in, which works with pancreatic enzymes to fight cancer and at the same time strengthens the immune system.

Because Laetrile could react chemically with the enzyme of a non-cancerous cell (i.e., La Rodanosa) before it reacts with the cancer cell enzyme (beta-glucosidase).

What makes it ineffective against the cancer cell, you must take enough Laetrile for a sufficiently long time to ensure that the Laetrile molecules reach all the cancer cells first.

One of the positive side effects of Laetrile therapy is that more vitamin B-12 is produced in the body. In addition, it is wise to supplement Laetrile therapy with vitamin C.

Vitamin C and vitamin B-12 can be, by themselves, a cancer treatment.

During an interview with Dr. Antonio Jiménez, medical director and founder of the Hope4Cancer Institute in Baja California and Cancún, Mexico, he stated that Laetrile has several positive effects, including the direct anticancer activity (of the cyanide and benzaldehyde described above), analgesic properties and improvement of well-being.

He describes Laetrile Therapy as a safe and productive part of an integrative cancer treatment program.

What foods contain Amigdaline?

Amygdalin is a common substance. It is found in more than 1,200 foods, but mainly in the following:

  • Apricot kernels
  • Peach grains
  • Bitter almonds.
  • Grape seeds
  • Apple seeds
  • Raspberries
  • You must.
  • Cranberries
  • Strawberries
  • Plums
  • Spinach.
  • Broad beans.
  • Barley.
  • Bamboo shoots.
  • Macadamia nuts.

Other sources rich in amygdalin are the grain of millet and buckwheat. However, the bread made with these grains generally does not contain a high percentage of millet or buckwheat. Otherwise, the bread would be too dense and complex.

Of course, apricot kernels are the best source of amygdaline. A hard shell is in the middle of an apricot (or a peach).

If you break that open shell with a nutcracker, pliers, or hammer, you will find a tiny seed or core in the middle that looks like an almond. However, it is much softer than an almond and does not taste like an almond. It is this seed that is rich in natural amygdaline.

Those who still do not have cancer may want to plant some apricot or peach trees in their backyard to obtain a long-term source of amygdaline. The grains can freeze while they are in the shell.

The seeds of the berry plants, such as red raspberries, black raspberries, strawberries, and blueberries, are rich in Amigdalina.

Even better, red raspberries have a second cancer killer in their seeds: ellagic acid. About four dozen foods have ellagic acid, but red raspberries have the highest concentration.

When buying berry jam, be sure to purchase preserves that have the seeds. The seeds of any fruit, except citrus fruits, have Amigdalina. For example, it is a good habit to eat the roots when you eat an apple.

How to get Laetrile or Amigdalina / Vitamin B-17

While there are sources for Laetrile pills, they are illegal to sell across state borders. The FDA has made obtaining Laetrile supplements almost impossible. However, it is legal to buy apricot kernels, which contain amygdalin.

The source recommended by Dr. Tony Jiménez is Apricot Power. However, keep in mind that apricot kernel sites can not make any medical claim about the use of Laetrile to treat cancer.

While Laetrile is illegal in the US In the US, there are several clinics in Mexico that provide high levels of Laetrile in an IV fluid. In these clinics, doctors also deal with the problems of damage to non-cancerous cells and the reconstruction of the immune system.

Laetrile: controversy and advocacy

For decades, laetrile has been the center of attention among alternative treatments against cancer and non-traditional medicine.

Government agencies have alternatively described it as harmless, with nothing to offer patients beyond a positive placebo effect, and as dangerous, due to the cyanide that is part of its core components.

On the other hand, advocates point to a history of successful treatments, the absence of proven toxic episodes, problems of freedom of choice, and other reasons why they should be legal and available.

Amigdalina / Laetrile y at the FDA

The role of Amigdalina as a food component and its observed ability to fight disease places it under the control of the US Food and Drug Administration. UU

And the FDA has had a long-standing relationship with Laetrile and with doctors and patients who want to use it.

The FDA banned the interstate shipment of amygdalin and Laetrile in 1977. However, 27 states in the US. UU Later, they legalized the use of Amigdalina.

Is Amigdaline (or Laetrile) toxic?

The term “toxic” usually means that the substance is poisonous when taken in low doses. According to this definition, Laetrile is not toxic.

Even so, although the amygdaline is a safe nutrient to take therapeutically, there are precautions you should take. Remember, too much water at once can have fatal effects on the human body.

One or two cups of coffee is a pleasure, but 10 cups in a day could severely affect the nervous system. The same can be said of the amígdalina: too much is a bad thing.

Fortunately, your body is programmed to tell you when “enough is enough.” If you have swallowed too many apricots or Laetrile seeds, the main signs of intoxication include dizziness, blurred vision, and nausea. If any of these symptoms appear, decrease the dose.

Important note: If symptoms continue or become severe, seek medical help immediately.

Despite the fear that these side effects may cause, the occurrence is infrequent if common sense and moderation are followed.

In fact, in more than two clinical use cases, Dr. Antonio Jiménez has never seen a patient with Laetrile toxicity.