1. The Non-Vitamin Vitamin
What most stores sell as vitamin B-17 is not a vitamin at all but is either a natural substance contained in the pits of fruits like apricots and almonds or it's a synthetic compound produced to emulate the pit-derived chemical. The correct name for what's known as vitamin B-17 is amygdalin or sometimes laetrile. The actual product, whether it's natural laetrile or synthetic amygdalin, depends on where it's produced.
2. Cancer Cure or Counterfeit?
Vitamin B 17 has enjoyed so much popularity over the past few years because it's been suggested that it both prevents and cures cancer. Among the proponents of the theory that amygdalin fights cancer are some well respected scientists and physicians, including Dean Burk, one-time head of a National Cancer Institute section. Many other alternative health professionals throw their weight behind amygdalin. However, studies by the National Institutes of Health and other top-level medical research centers found that vitamin B-17 has no effect on cancer whatsoever, leaving the debate at an impasse.
3. Head South of the Border
Amygdalin and laetrile are not FDA approved cancer treatments and, therefore, no doctor can prescribe the drug as a cancer treatment. However, doctors are free to prescribe amygdalin as a vitamin-like supplement for a variety of non-cancer problems. If you're looking for the natural substance, which is generally extracted from crushed raw almonds or apricot pits, then you need to go to Mexico where natural laetrile is sold freely.
4. Don't Take Your Vitamins
While most cases of synthetically produced amygdalin prescribed and taken at controlled, moderate levels are completely safe, ingestion of laetrile derived from raw products such as almonds has led to cyanide-like poisoning in the past. Further, very heavy dosages of even the synthetic, lab-produced amygdalin have also caused symptoms that are similar to cyanide poisoning. For this reason, you must speak with your doctor before starting a vitamin B-17 course and stick to whatever prescription your doctor gives.
5. You Are What You Eat
Before jumping into a course of amygdalin or laetrile in pill form, it's worthwhile to first adjust your diet to include foods that are good sources of the chemical. Maize, millet and buckwheat are all good sources of vitamin B-17 substances, in addition to a host of other nutrients that keep you healthy. Linseeds are also a source of B-17, so adding a little bit of linseed oil to your daily diet is a good way to naturally introduce B-17 into your body.
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