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Apricot Kernels
The suggestion that eating 7 -10 Apricot Kernels (7gms) per day for life may help to prevent cancer alongside a healthy life style and a good diet is very good news indeed.
We supply premium Apricot Kernels, grown without the use of any chemicals, that are laboratory tested both on removal from the fruit, and before distribution for aflatoxin - a mould that inferior kernels are susceptible to; they are dried immediately, and processed and stored under strict conditions.
Like most nuts and seeds, Apricot Kernels are very nutritious. Just one of the nutrients they contain is "Amygdalin" (Vitamin B17). It is contained in hundreds of foods, but those particularly rich in Amygdalin have largely disappeared from our Western diet. Peoples who still eat a traditional, natural diet, have been found to be largely free from cancer. These diets contain large quantities of nitriloside rich foods containing Amygdalin - apricot kernels, bitter almonds, apple pips, grape seeds, millet, broad beans, and many other seeds of beans and grains. Highly hybridised foods have only low amounts of Amygdalin.
The Hunza people of Pakistan are exceptionally healthy, they eat and live completely organically and are renowned for being some of the healthiest peoples in the world. It is common to find vigorous, healthy people well into their 100s, cancer is EXTREMELY rare. One of the key factors is the mineral rich water they drink, but also their diet. One of their favourite foods and an important part of the Hunza people's diet are Apricots. They are eaten fresh in the summer and dried for the winter. The kernels are removed, ground and roasted, the oil is used for cooking, dressings and as a facial lotion. On average, The Hunzas eat between 50 to 75 milligrams of Vitamin B17 a day (G. Edward Griffin, ‘World Without Cancer’ 1997) - in the Western World, most wouldn't consume this amount in a year!
Eskimos are another interesting example, whilst they dont have access to Apricot Kernels, they do eat a diet rich in nitrilosides and B17 (largely raw). The book Cancer - a Disease of Civilization by Vilhjalmur Stephansson, describes studies of Eskimos in the late 1800s and early 1900's specifically looking for cancer among them, and how not one case could be found. Cancer remains rare in those Eskimos that eat a traditional diet, however incidence increases in those exposed to Western diets.
Excerpt from "Death Rides a Slow Bus in Hunza" by Jane Kinderlehrer
Maybe you're wondering: are the Hunzas really all that healthy? That was the question on the mind of cardiologists Dr. Paul D. White and Dr. Edward G. Toomey, who made the difficult trip up the mountain paths to Hunza, toting along with them a portable, battery-operated electrocardiograph. In the American Heart Journal for December, 1964, the doctors say they used the equipment to study 25 Hunza men, who were, "on fairly good evidence, between 90 and 110 years old." Blood pressure and cholesterol levels were also tested. They reported that not one of these men showed a single sign of coronary heart disease, high blood pressure or high cholesterol.
An optometrist, Dr. Allen E. Banik, also made the journey to Hunza to see for himself if the people were as healthy as they were reputed to be, and published his report in Hunza Land (Whitehorn Publishing Co., 1960). "It wasn't long before I discovered that everything that I had read about perpetual life and health in this tiny country is true, "Dr. Banik declared. "I examined the eyes of some of Hunza's oldest citizens and found them to be perfect."
Beyond more freedom from disease, many observers have been startled by the positive side of Hunza health. Dr. Banik, for example, relates that "many Hunza people are so strong that in the winter they exercise by breaking holes in the ice-covered streams and take a swim down under the ice." Other visitors who have been there report their amazement at seeing men 80, 90, and 100 years old repairing the always crumbling rocky roads, and lifting large stones and boulders to repair the retaining walls around their terrace gardens. The oldsters think nothing of playing a competitive game of volleyball in the hot sun against men 50 years their junior, and even take part in wild games of polo that are so violent they would make an ice hockey fan shudder.
Quoting Dr Ernst Krebs - "The Nature of Cancer"
"So in 1974, the uninformed, the unimaginative and some of the illiterate are concerned with what to them is a preposterous idea that by eating seed of fruit you can prevent a disease that carries a mortality rate almost as high as that once carried by pernicious Anemia. But scientific truth isn't dependent upon credibility or lack of it. The scientific reality either is or isn't. And this is the scientific reality that the seeds of all common fruits (except citrus) contain Vitamin B17, an anti cancer vitamin. If we ingest proper quantities for these vitamin either in the pure form or through ingesting the nitrilosidic foods we will be able to prevent this decease just as surely as we are able to prevent Scurvy by the use of vitamin C or Pernicious Anemia by the use of vitamin B12" Full Article
There are many ways you can fight cancer naturally one is to build up the immune system so that it is very strong and supplementing with antioxidants, which fight carcinogens in the body; please also see the article Cancer: Helping to Win The Battle with Nutritional Therapy
How Do Apricot Kernels Fit In?
Amygdalin is also referred to as Vitamin B17, in its extracted pure concentrated, it is known as Laetrile; this is used as a natural therapy for cancer patients in some clinics supported by other non-toxic therapies and good nutrition. Laetrile is simply a more soluable and concentrated form of Amygdalin, adding Apricot Kernels to your diet is a natural way to add Amygdalin (B17) to your diet and protect against cancer.
Amygdalin was first extracted and named over 100 years ago and has been in pharmacological dictionaries since that time as being non-toxic. The assertion that taking Apricot Kernels poses a health risk is simple ignorance, and of course pharmaceutical companies cannot lay any claim to a food substance, and therein lies the source of much mis-information. Apricot Kernels are a staple part of the diet for many peoples, and thousands of others all over the world choose to take Apricot Kernels for the health benefits; it would be interesting to see the reaction of the Hunzas if they were told the ludicrous claims of the Western world in respect of Apricot Kernels!
It does have a poison locked away in it - one of its constituents is cyanide, (also found in Vitamin B12, almonds, cassava, cherries, strawberries and a host of other foods we consume), but it is locked into the compound Amygdalin, it is chemically inert and completely harmless to normal cells. In the same way, common salt (sodium chloride) is safe to eat despite containing the poison chlorine; of course if you ate too much salt at one time you would be ill. This is true of any substance, and would apply to Apricot Kernels. Amygdalin is actually less toxic than salt and sugar.
We are told that our bodies are creating cancer cells all the time. Normally the immune system can destroy them. At times of stress, in a particularly weakened state and with regular exposure to carcinogens, then the multiplication of cancer is too great immune system to handle. Amygdalin comes along side the immune system and attacks the cancer cells directly. The cancer cells have within them an enzyme, which unlocks the poison in the Amygdalin - this destroys the cancer cells. Normal, healthy cells have a different enzyme, which unlocks the Amygdalin in a different way releasing nutrients and a neutralising agent. Researchers at Imperial College London have been experimenting using cyanide to kill cancer cells and state that any poison that escaped into the bloodstream would be quickly neutralised by the liver.
For prevention, Dr Ernst T Krebs Jr, the biochemist who first produced laetrile in the 1950s, recommended that if a person would eat 7 to 10 apricot kernels daily for life then barring Chernobyl, he is likely to be cancer free.
The medical establishment often like to quote a famous study on Laetrile, asserting that it has no benefits. The 5 year study was undertaken by America’s top cancer research centre Sloan Memorial Kettering Cancer Research (SMKR) Center; perhaps just as importantly, the study was led by Dr Kanematsu Sugiura, a highly esteemed researcher, renowned for his integrity with over 60 years experience in cancer research
In 1977, at the conclusion of the trials, Dr Sugiura was not given the opportunity to speak; the press release included the following statement;
"...laetrile was found to possess neither preventative, nor tumor-regressent, nor anti-metastatic, nor curative anticancer activity."
Unfortunately for the upper echelons at Sloan Kettering at the press conference, a journalist shouted
"Dr. Kenamatsu Sugiura - do you stick by your belief that laetrile stops the spread of cancer?
He replied; "I stick."
When later asked "Why are they so much against it"? Dr Suigara answered "I don't know. Maybe the medical profession doesn't like it because they are making too much money."
The key conclusions of Sugiura's work...
1. Laetrile inhibited the growth of tumors
2. It stopped the spreading (metastasising) of cancer in mice
3. It relieved pain
4. It acted as a cancer preventative
5. It improved general health
Sloan-Ketterings motives were clearly revealed when the minutes of a meeting in 1974 were obtained via a Freedom Of Information request by John Kelsey, of the Michigan House of Representatives;
"...Sloan-Kettering is not enthusiastic about studying amygdalin but would like to study CN (cyanide) releasing drugs."
So as if often the case, the potential of natural substances is more often than not covered up / ignored, because there is much money to be made in patentable chemicals as opposed to the natural alternatives.
The majority of therapists are now recommending Apricot Kernels, (rather than laetrile) along side several other remedies in the fight against cancer. Please see the article Cancer: Helping to Win The Battle with Nutritional Therapy
The Apricot Kernels should be chewed, or ground and sprinkled on food or in fruit juice, since the kernels vary in size it is best to estimate what 7 to 10 grams actually is, as a rough guide one dessert spoon is 7 grams and a heaped dessertspoon is 10 grams. If taking more than this, i.e. for treatment take in divided doses e.g. one-heaped dessertspoons three times daily, over the day e.g. dose morning, midday and evening. An excellent way to take Apricot Kernels, is to fill a honey jar half full, then add about one quarter a jar of honey (cold pressed, unheated honey is best) and mix in well with fork, put lid back on and keep in fridge or cupboard. The kernels can then be added to fruit, muesli, oat biscuits or simply take straight from the spoon.
Please also also see our Dietary Guidelines for Optimising Health and Overcoming Disease
Disclaimer: Regenerative Nutrition advocates a holistic approach to natural health and wellbeing. The body's ability and power to heal depends upon the totality of diet, nutrition, lifestyle and environmental factors. No claims for the cure or prevention of any disease, including cancer is intended, or implied. Always consult a health care practitioner when combating disease states. The statements in this article have not been approved by the FDA |
