Is Vitamin B17 The Greatest Cover-Up In The History Of Cancer?

We live in a society constantly making great strides in the medical and scientific arenas, but our greatest enemy – Cancer – still seems to have us on the ropes.

Modern cancer treatments often have terrible side effects and can even sometimes be fatal to the patient. Yet there’s an interesting (and highly controversial) natural remedy that has been utilized for cancer that has been all but forgotten… or possibly even, hushed up?

It’s found in apricot kernels.

The natural treatment I’m talking about is Vitamin B17.

This vitamin isn’t quite what you think. In fact, despite the name, it’s not actually a vitamin: it has several other names like laetrile, amygdalin, purasin, and laevorotatory. It has two main components, which are glucose and hydrogen cyanide.

Yes, cyanide. But fear not: The amounts in laetrile are miniscule, and research suggests it would take about 65 apricot seeds in a day –on the low end– to become fatal.

What can it do to you, then? I’m not here to make any medical claims whatsoever, just reporting on the strange history of this remedy. Numerous people have claimed that it may help eliminate cancer cells. The proposed mechanism of action is that the glucose enters the cancerous cells, and the cyanide and benzaldahyde (another component) work together to kill the cell.

Now allowing cyanide into our bodies doesn’t tend to sit well with most people, but cancer frequently kills, and it’s being claimed that this substance can destroy it, and has very few fatal cases.

Was This A Cover-Up?

There’s a reason there isn’t much published research on the effects of using laetrile/B17 to battle cancer, and it’s rather convoluted.

There have been alternative cancer doctors prescribing the usage of laetrile for a while, but as a cancer treatment it was banned by the FDA. And here’s where the accusations start to fly.

Some have stated that this treatment was deliberately suppressed because it would destroy profits. Why would they support a treatment that wouldn’t be “patentable”? It wouldn’t make economic sense.

When John A. Richardson M.D. and other doctors were caught illegally treating their patients with laetrile, their results were downplayed against traditional cancer battling methods. However their research was published in the book Laetrile Case Histories: The Richardson Cancer Clinic Experience (Amazon link).

When one of Sloan-Kettering’s reporters tried to publish untampered effects of B17, he was quickly fired, even though he was a top reporter.

Accusations of foul play aren’t uncommon in the world of cancer politics. Corporations are known to be in it for the money. Sweeping important information under the rug is all too commonplace, leaving research undone and people unsafe.

A further book that covers this topic in great depth is World Without Cancer; The Story of Vitamin B17 (Amazon link – worth checking out).

What You Can Do

Now we cannot actually recommend B17 as a medicine, because our place as an informational website is not to make medicinal recommendations. We don’t do that. Full stop. We provide free information about alternatives, and inform people about different choices and various research that has been done. But we never, ever tell people to go against the advice of their doctor or to just try their luck with something “because we said so”. We do not make medicinal claims or prescriptions; we just report on the claims and researches that others have made.

Interestingly however, it is possible to purchase apricot seeds on Amazon and what’s really interesting is reading the reviews. Now you can make of these what you will – but there are numerous people in that Amazon review section claiming that these seeds are giving them all kinds of health benefits!

One lady wrote (get this):

“I ordered these seeds two months ago, and this is what has happened with my husband ~ toenail fungus, gone! Indigestion, gone! Prostate issues, resolved! Weight loss, 15 pounds.
I have lost 5 pounds and feel more energized. Yes, they are bitter… [but]… unless you are a real weenie, you should have no problems chewing these up. I eat them by themselves, or sometimes with a piece of dark chocolate… I am now eating 8 a day and feel better than ever!”

People are stating that they should be combined with a low sugar diet. If you or someone you know has cancer, the reports we have read are suggesting that laetrile could work in your favor. There may be a lack of scientific proof that amygdalin could help against cancer, but people have taken much more dangerous chances.

Laetrile is generally regarded by the Amazon reviewers as without side effects, so long as only a few seeds are eaten per day. Compare this risk to the notoriously dangerous disease of Cancer, and it’s clear enough that many people are prepared to take what they think is a low risk here.

Could this really be a serious (yet covered-up) aid in the battle against cancer? It’s a fascinating possibility.

While technically it’s illegal to use laetrile as a cancer treatment, the seeds can be legally purchased as a supplement. Buy apricot seeds on Amazon.

Here are some references / further reading for you to explore:

https://cancerresearchuk.org/about-cancer/cancers-in-general/treatment/complementary-alternative/therapies/laetrile
https://ispub.com/IJH/9/2/10959
Laetrile Case Histories: The Richardson Cancer Clinic Experience (Amazon)
World Without Cancer; The Story of Vitamin B17 (Amazon)