Vitamin b17 - miracle cancer supplement or quackery?
Vitamin b17 is not actually classified as a vitamin and is more
correctly known as laetrile and amygdalin. Foods rich in b17 are most
fruit seeds including: peaches, apples, cherries, plums, oranges, nectarines,
and in high amounts in apricot kernels.
B17 vitamin is supposedly a miracle cancer treatment. However in a study done on
cancer patients in 1980, it was found that “it did not make cancer regress; it
did not extend the life span of cancer patients; it did not improve cancer
patients' symptoms; and it did not help cancer patients to gain weight or
otherwise become more physically active” (Tyler).
The National Cancer Institute did another study on 178 cancer patients and found
that the treatment did not stop progression of any of the patients’ cancer. In
fact within 8 months of starting the treatment 85% had died. The National Cancer
Institute has also done trials on animals with cancer and has found nothing to
prove that it is a cure for cancer. In fact the risks of eating laetrile are far
higher than any benefits.
Laetrile is broken down in the body to free cyanide, which can be fatal. When it
was proposed as a cancer therapy the idea was that the cancer tissue would break
it down and release cyanide that would kill the cancer.
No nutritional need for Laetrile has been found. There are no documented
diseases associated with a deficiency in laetrile. People who are taking it will
most likely experience nausea, vomiting, headaches and dizziness. They will also
run the risk of getting cyanide poisoning and numerous deaths have been reported
from taking laetrile.
The Food and Drug Administration banned laetrile in 1971 from being sold between
states. But through political pressure it was still allowed to be used and sold
within a state.
References:
Tyler VE, Foster S. Tyler's honest herbal: a sensible guide to the use of herbs
and related remedies 4th Ed. New York: Haworth herbal press, 1999:35-36.
Learn more about how this and other supplements
may benefit your health.
|
| 
