Friday, November 19, 2004

More ha ha in nutrition class

It was another day to giggle in nutrition class.

The professor was explaining that there is a small amount cyanide (actually cyanogenic glycosides) in certain fruit seeds: apple, peach, apricot, plum.

"But who's going to sit and eat a bowl of apple seeds? There's more of the compound in the peach pit, but you'd have to crack it open with a hammer and then eat the bitter, meaty part of the seed inside. Who's dumb enough to do that? Maybe we just let these people go. If you have a real desire for peach pits, save us all some work and dig a hole in the yard first."

Lovely.

2 comments:

  1. It's pretty sad how dumb the nutritionists really are, then.

    Actually, it is true that there are small amounts of cyanide in fruit seeds (also in almonds, too, I believe). However, contrary to popular belief, cyanide is not deadly. At least, not in this form.

    We are used to hearing about the secret agents who drink a vial of cyanide to kill themselves. First of all, seeds and other natural sources of cyanide do not have such a high concentration. Second, the cyanide is locked up in other molecules and can only be released under certain conditions. Along with that, there is actually another "toxin" which is in these seeds which is just as if not more deadly than cyanide. It, too, is not harmful to us in this form.

    Finally, and most importantly, seeds have always been a part of our diets until we became westernized. Go back 50 years, and even in the US people were eating the seeds in fruits (usually in homemade preserves). Why did they do it, and why is it still important to continue with these nutrients in our diet? The amazing thing about the cyanide and the other toxin is that they only conditions they can be released under can only be found in one place in our bodies: the site of malignant growths, that is, cancer cells.

    The two poisons work together and attack only the cancer cells and cannot spread further in the body because of our bodies natural defenses (which, conveniently aren't found in cancer cells) destroy them. It's quite amazing.

    So, yes it is true that cyanide is in these seeds, but it is not harmful. In fact, it is quite important for living a healthy life.

    More at http://www.vitaminb17.org/is_cancer_merely_a_vitamin_deficiency.htm or at my blog www.xanga.com/IM4B17

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  2. Oh quack medicine. Tt sounds good if you're completely ignorant. "Cancer is merely a vitamin deficiency," riiiiight. And it's a big conspiracy so oncologists can get rich.

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