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The body’s
natural defences
Examples of toxins and other carcinogens in our lifestyle
What
causes a breakdown in our defence mechanism?
Boosting
the immune system (first line of defence) and providing a second line of
defence (vitamin B17)
Do we need supplements?
Summary of
Cancer Prevention
Understanding
what cancer is
Foods
containing vitamin B17 (nitrilosides)
Researchers
use cyanide
PREVENTION
IS FOR NOW AND FOR YOU!
At the beginning of the 21st century one in eight women in the UK is expected to get breast cancer and one in four men prostate cancer.1 For the most part cancer is a 20th century invention.2 Most types of cancer are on the increase, and conventional treatment is losing the war. The death toll increases despite huge sums of money poured into research. Indeed many would argue that we need a new way of thinking, that the direction of cancer research must change from trying to find a cure for cancer to researching for prevention against cancer. 3
Introduction 4
Fifty years ago there were exciting developments in the search for the answer
to cancer. From the time that cancer was first diagnosed (some 300 - 500 years
ago) to the present, most members of the medical profession have treated this
disease using the theory that the tumour is the disease. This theory said that
if you can remove or destroy the tumour you will cure the disease. A group of
biochemists and medical doctors realised that surgery, chemotherapy and
radiotherapy were not working - more and more people were dying from cancer
each year. It was obvious to them that removing or destroying the tumour did
not cure the disease, which meant that the tumour was not the disease, but a
symptom of the disease. These scientists researched and found that the body
does have a natural defence against cancer.
The
body’s natural defences
They found that the cancer
cell is coated with a protein lining which prevents the body’s normal defences
from getting to the cancer cell. They found that, if you could dissolve the
protein lining from around the cancer cell, the body’s normal defences - the
white blood cells - would destroy the cancer cell. They found that the
pancreatic (digestive) enzymes dissolved this lining and these enzymes acting
with the body’s immune system were the body’s first line of defence. (see
‘Understanding what cancer is’ for greater detail) (back to top)
They also found a second line of defence, which was formed by a group of substances known as nitrilosides.5(see endnote for history of use of nitrilosides) The cancer cell has an enzyme, beta-glucosidase, which, when it comes in contact with nitrilosides, converts those nitrilosides into two molecules of glucose, one molecule of benzaldehyde and one molecule of hydrogen cyanide. Both the benzaldehyde and the hydrogen cyanide are toxic to the cancer cell. (In September 2000 researchers from Imperial College, London announced at the British Association for the Advancement of Science’s Science Festival that they had developed a treatment using cyanide from food crops (cassava) to kill cancer cells - for more details see ‘Researchers use cyanide’.)
An answer to cancer
is found
In the early 1950s Ernst
T. Krebs, Jr., a biochemist in the
Opposition to the
answer
Two arguments have
consistently been made against laetrile by the medical establishment. Firstly,
that it doesn’t work - this view is mainly based on a California Report of 1953
which summarised "No evidence of cytotoxic changes was observed by any of
the consultants." However, if the details of the reports from the
researchers is studied, this statement is found to be a ‘lie of gigantic
proportions.’ 6 Even if the findings of these researchers had not
been falsely summarised, the 1953 California Report still would have been
totally useless as a scientific verdict against laetrile because the strength
of the doses used on cancer patients was too weak to prove anything. In fact,
it was about one-fiftieth of what generally is used to obtain optimum results.
In the early days of research clinicians cautiously administered only 50-100mg
at a time. Gaining confidence with experience, these levels gradually were
raised until, by 1974, laetrile was being used intravenously at levels of
6000-9000mg daily. Generally it takes an accumulation of 50,000-70,000mg over a
period of a week to ten days before the patient can report tangible indications
of improvement.
For five years, between 1972 and 1977 laetrile was meticulously tested at Sloan-Kettering Cancer Centre in Manhattan under the direction of Dr. Sugiura. At the conclusion of his experiment he reported five results:
1.
laetrile stopped metastasis (the spreading of cancer) in mice
2. it improved their general
health
3. it inhibited the growth of small tumours
4. it provided relief from pain
5. it acted as a cancer prevention.7
These findings did not please the board of Sloan-Kettering whose interest was in finding a drug cure for cancer. They ordered re-trial after retrial, altering parameters until they could say "laetrile doesn’t work". The full story can be read in World Without Cancer.
The second argument made against laetrile by the medical establishment is that it contains cyanide and is toxic. 8 One of the three compounds in laetrile is hydrogen cyanide but this is only toxic when it is released from the combined three compounds which make up laetrile. The three compounds locked together are also known as amygdalin whose non-toxicity has been a well-known, fully accepted and non-controversial fact for over one hundred years. Otto Jacobsen in his book Die Glucoside’ in 1887 stated "Amygdalin is not toxic" and gave 99 references from studies made within the 20 years prior to his publication. 9 For over 100 years Pharmacology reference books have described this substance as non-toxic. An analogy given by Griffin is of chlorine gas which like cyanide is known to be deadly. But when chlorine is chemically bound together with sodium forming sodium chloride, it is a relatively harmless compound known as common table salt. On the other hand, drugs used in chemotherapy are highly toxic.
Vitamin B17 only
releases poison when it touches a cancer cell
The three compounds locked
together in vitamin B17 are harmless. What happens when they are unlocked and
the individual compounds are released? The cancer cell has an enzyme,
beta-glucosidase, which, when it comes into contact with vitamin B17, converts
it into two molecules of glucose, one molecule of benzaldehyde and one molecule
of hydrogen cyanide. Normal cells contain the enzyme rhodanese and this
converts the vitamin B17 into food.10 This enzyme rhodanese is not
found in the cancer cell. Thus the beta-glucosidase enzyme found in the cancer
cells converts the vitamin B17 into poison which kills the cancer, while in the
normal cells the rhodanese enzyme converts the vitamin B17 into nutrients which
nourish the normal cells.
So is vitamin B17 the
answer?
Dr Krebs and other
researchers maintain that cancer is a chronic metabolic disease. A chronic
disease is one which usually does not pass away of its own accord. A metabolic
disease is one which occurs within the body and is not transmittable to another
person. Other examples of these are diabetes, scurvy, pellagra, pernicious
anaemia, rickets, beri-beri. In the entire history of medical science, there
has not been one chronic, metabolic disease that was ever cured or prevented by
drugs, surgery, or mechanical manipulation of the body. In every case the
ultimate solution was found only in factors relating to adequate nutrition.11
All of us probably have cancer many times in our lives. If our defence mechanisms are functioning normally, the body kills off the cancer cells, and we’re never aware that it happened. If, however, there is a breakdown in that defence mechanism when the cancer cells appear, there is nothing to prevent the growth of those cancer cells and soon there is a tumour. (back to top)
Do
toxins in our lifestyle require a stronger defence mechanism?
The growth in the
incidence of cancer parallels the industrialisation and chemicalisation of our
world. The more developed a country, the more cancer. This is because most
cancers are primarily the result of changes we have made to our total chemical
environment - what we eat, drink and breathe. According to one of Britain’s top
medical scientists, 90% of all cancers are caused by environmental factors and
the most conservative experts say at least 75% of cancers are associated with
environmental and lifestyle factors. In the space of two generations, mankind
has invented ten million new chemicals and unwittingly released thousands of
them into the environment. Many are known to be carcinogens, and we take these
in, in our food, air and water. Many are easily avoidable, but some are not.12
Examples of these toxins
and other factors in our lifestyle:
We need to take as many steps as possible to eliminate carcinogens from our diet and our lifestyle. Some, however, are unavoidable and if our defence system is not strong enough, can overwhelm us. back to top
What
causes a breakdown in our defence mechanism?
Firstly,
insufficient pancreatic enzymes in the blood stream to act with the body’s
immune system (which itself has to be strong enough) as a first line of
defence, and secondly insufficient vitamin B17.
The body’s failure to
provide sufficient pancreatic enzymes could be due to
So to improve the number of enzymes in our body we can eat more raw fruit and vegetables and especially those that are known to contain pancreatic (digestive) enzymes, such as pineapple, papaya (pawpaw). Sprouted seeds are not only a good source of vitamin B17, but one of the best sources of digestive enzymes.19 Digestive enzymes supplements are also available. back to top
Boosting
a weak immune system as part of the first line of defence
The immune system depends
on a whole host of nutrients, and supplementing these has proved to enhance
immunity.20 Examples are vitamin A, several of the vitamin B family,
vitamin C, vitamin E, selenium, manganese, copper and zinc, calcium, and
cysteine. It makes sense to eats foods high in anti-oxidants. The link between
increasing intake of fruit and vegetables and decreasing risk is very
convincing for cancers of the digestive tract (mouth, pharynx, stomach, colon
and rectum). It is also very strong for lung cancer and breast cancer, with
some evidence for other hormone-related cancers as well as cancer of the
kidney.21 Exercise (in moderation), a positive attitude and laughter
also boost the immune system.
Are we eating too little
vitamin B17 to provide our bodies with a second line of defence?
Millet, which contains
vitamin B17, used to be the staple grain. We went from millet to wheat which
contains practically no vitamin B17. Our cattle are fed increasingly on
quick-growing, low-vitamin B17 grasses so there is less B17 residue in the meat
we eat.22 Broad beans (which are high in B17) were once important in
Europe, but yielded popularity to the various kidney beans23 (low to
medium in B17). In previous generations apricot kernels were often included in
jam making and people ate apple pips. We now prefer seedless grapes instead of
eating the seeds. The saying ‘An apple a day keeps the doctor away’ was perhaps
true when the pips were eaten as well as the flesh. The more refined and
processed our foods are, the less likely they are to contain vitamin B17. Soils
are now so depleted of nutrients that the food crops grown on them do not
contain the nourishment we think they do - for more information on this see
John Humphrys ‘The Great Food Gamble’ (Hodder and
What foods supply the vitamin B17 we need? (for more details see ‘Foods containing vitamin B17’)
Other benefits of
vitamin B17 28
When benzaldehyde in B17 comes into contact with normal cells, it is
oxidised and converted into harmless benzoic acid. This is known to have
certain anti-rheumatic, antiseptic and analgesic properties. This could
partially account for the fact that B17 produces the unexpected effect of
relieving the intense pain associated with terminal cancer, and does so without
the aid of narcotics.
If any cyanide from the B17 should diffuse into adjacent cells, it is converted by the enzyme rhodanese into thiocyanate, which is perfectly harmless, and is a natural regulator of blood pressure. Cyanide is an essential and integral part of vitamin B12 as well as B17. Trace amounts of cyanide and benzaldehyde released in the mouth and intestine are a part of the delicate balance of the body. In the mouth and stomach these chemicals attack the bacteria that cause tooth decay and bad breath. In the intestines they interact with the bacterial microflora to suppress or eliminate the flatulence long associated with westernised foods. Vitamin B17 also stimulates the haemoglobin or red blood cell count. back to top
From our experience, we have found that vitamin B17 can also remove or reduce some benign tumours, cysts and warts.
Do we need supplements?
If we are not getting
enough vitamin B17 in our food, the answer has to be yes. For anyone with cancer
the most important single consideration is to get the maximum amount of vitamin
B17 into your body in the shortest possible time - although it is best to
increase the dose gradually over the first few days. There are 100mg tablets
for prevention, and 500mg tablets and 3gm vials for injections to treat a
serious deficiency and cancer. Diet and supplement protocols are given in the
books by Griffin and Binzel and the information websites mentioned in
‘Recommended books, video and websites for more information’ and see also
‘Nutrition Therapy for People Suffering with Cancer - a summary of different
sources.’
However, Dr Krebs, firmly believes that a diet of whole foods is best, because of other nutrients provided at the same time. As a precaution he recommended that consumption of 10 (large) apricot kernels per day, either chewed whole, or ground and sprinkled, for example on cereal or in a drink, would provide sufficient vitamin B17 to permanently guard against cancer.
(It is suggested that 5 kernels or 1½ tsp ground kernels can be eaten at one time, leaving at least an hour between servings.) back to top
1 Take Vitamin B17 as a preventative
2. Boost the immune system
3 Avoid carcinogens
see www.preventcancer.com and Safe Shopper’s Bible by Samuel S. Epstein,
M.D.
and Say No To Cancer by Patrick Holford
(Piatkus, London 1999)
IF YOU
HAVE CANCER consider Vitamin B17 and metabolic
therapy (treating the whole person) before embarking on chemotherapy and
radiotherapy programmes. Study the information given on the websites and in the
books and contact the organisations concerned. back to top
It is better to have researched and decided what you would do before the shock of having cancer makes decisions difficult. Better still - begin taking preventative measures now.
The dictionary 33
definition of cancer is
a) loosely any malignant new
growth or tumour; or
b) properly a carcinoma or disorderly growth of epithelial cells34
which invade adjacent tissue and spread by the lymphatics and blood-vessels to
other parts of the body.
It has been shown 35 that cancer cells are exactly the same as pre-embryonic cells that are found in pregnancy.36 These normal cells in pregnancy are called trophoblasts. Trophoblast cells are also thought to be involved in the healing process. These are formed as a result of a chain reaction starting with another cell identified as the diploid totipotent, which contains within it all the separate characteristics of the complete organism and has the total capacity to evolve into any organ or tissue, or indeed, into the complete embryo itself. About 80% of these trophoblast cells are located in the ovaries and testes serving as a genetic reservoir for future offspring. The rest of them are distributed elsewhere in the body for a purpose not yet fully understood but which may involve the regenerative or healing process of damaged or ageing tissue.
Whenever the body is damaged, either by physical trauma, chemical action, or illness, oestrogen and other steroid hormones always appear in great concentration, possibly serving as stimulators or catalysts for cellular growth and body repair. The diploid totipotent cells are triggered into producing trophoblast cells when they come into contact with these steroid hormones. When this happens to those diploid totipotent cells that have evolved from the fertilised egg, the result is a placenta and umbilical cord, a means of nourishing the embryo.
But when it occurs non-sexually as a part of the healing process then cancer is produced if the healing process is not stopped upon the completion of its task. When cancer begins to form, the body reacts by attempting to seal it off and surround it with cells that are similar to those in the location where it occurs. A bump or lump is the initial result. Usually the efforts of the body to control the centre of the trophoblast are successful, the trophoblast dies, and a benign polyp or other benign tumour remains as a monument to the victory of the body over cancer.
Under microscopic examination, many tumours are found to resemble a mixture of both trophoblast and surrounding cells; a fact which has led some researchers to the premature conclusion that there are many different types of cancer. But the degree to which tumours appear to be different is the same degree to which they are benign; which means that it is the degree to which there are non-cancerous cells within it. The greater the malignancy, the more these tumours begin to resemble each other, and the more clearly they begin to take on the classic characteristics of pregnancy trophoblast.37 back to top
The body’s first line
of defence
All animals contain
billions of white blood cells, whose function is to attack and destroy anything
that is foreign and harmful to our bodies - people who develop a low
white-blood count become susceptible to infections of all kinds. It would seem
logical therefore, that white blood cells would attack cancer cells. However,
cancer cells are not foreign to the body, they are a vital part of the life
cycle - in pregnancy and healing. Consequently nature has provided them with an
effective means of avoiding the white blood cells.
One of the characteristics of the trophoblast cell is that it is surrounded by a thin protein coating that carries a negative electrostatic charge.38 The white blood cells also carry a negative charge. And, since like polarities repel each other, the trophoblast is well protected. The blocking factor is nothing more than a cellular electrostatic field.
Part of nature’s solution to this problem, as pointed out by Professor Beard in 1905, is found in the ten or more pancreatic enzymes,39 of which trypsin and chymotrypsin are especially important in trophoblast destruction. These enzymes exist in their inactive form (as zymogens) in the pancreas gland. Only after they have reached the small intestine are they converted to their active form.40 Then these are absorbed into the blood stream and reach the trophoblast, and they dissolve the negatively-charged protein coat. The cancer then is exposed to the attack of the white cells and it dies.
In pregnancy, the trophoblast cells in the normal embryo continue to grow and spread right up to the eighth week. Then suddenly, they stop growing and are destroyed. It is in the eighth week that the baby’s pancreas begins to function.
So it would seem that the first line of attack against cancer cells is the presence of sufficient quantities of pancreatic enzymes which digest the protective coating surrounding the cancer cells and expose the trophoblast to the destructive force of the body’s white blood cells.
If the first line should fail, nature has provided a back-up mechanism. This second line of defence is formed by vitamin B17. (See main text) back to top
FOODS
CONTAINING VITAMIN B17 (NITRILOSIDES) - a list from June de Spain’s book41
Her list is not all-inclusive e.g. grapeseeds are not mentioned.
June de Spain was a toxicologist and pharmacologist for the U.S. Food and Drug
Administration (FDA) and conducted diet research at the
Range: NB The evaluations are averages and
specimens vary widely depending on variety, locality, soil and climate.
High: above 500 mgs nitrilosides per 100 grams food
Medium: above 100mgs per 100 grams food
Low: below 100mgs per 100
grams food
High: wild blackberry, choke cherry, wild crabapple, cranberry, apple seeds, apricot seeds, cherry seed, nectarine seed, peach seed, plum seed, prune seed, bitter almond, broad beans, cassava, alfalfa
Medium to high: elderberry, gooseberry, macadamia nuts, mung beans
Medium: boysenberry, currant, loganberry, mulberry, raspberry, buckwheat, linseed, millet, squash seeds, lentils, Burma butter (lima) beans, alfalfa sprouts, broad bean sprouts, chick pea sprouts, mung bean sprouts
Low to medium: black-eyed beans, chick peas, kidney beans
Low: domestic blackberry, market crabapple, black beans, green peas, U.S. butter beans (lima), shell beans, cashews, beet tops, spinach, watercress, sweet potato, yams
Cyanide used to
kill cancer cells
The Times (
A report was given at the
British Association for the Advancement of Science’s science festival in
Researchers from
The Imperial team has genetically engineered into a yeast the gene for linamarase and the gene for an antibody that recognises a protein specific to colorectal cancers……
………Should any cyanide escape the tumour into the bloodstream, it would be rapidly broken down in the liver and neutralised. (The Times)
...the antibody carries an enzyme which derives cyanide from a non-toxic substance from the (cassava) plant, a staple food crop in Africa……..
"We can target any kind of cancer cell depending on the antibody we use" (Daily Telegraph)
Surely all the arguments
against vitamin B17 have been refuted by the
It is likely that as you have read this brief overview of cancer therapy you have thought of someone you know with cancer who perhaps could benefit from this information. However, cancer is unlikely to be banished to the history books alongside scurvy until we all take action, preventative action. Recent studies predict that within 20 years the risk of developing cancer at some time during your life will be greater than 50%. 42 It is therefore in our own best interest to start taking preventative action now.
Cancer is not something
that happens to someone else. In the
ENDNOTES - REFERENCES
1. Patrick
Holford Say No To Cancer (Piatkus, London 1999) page xii
2. Patrick Holford Say No To Cancer page ix
3. However, much research is funded by pharmaceutical companies, who
make money from drugs used in chemotherapy.
4. The introduction is mainly taken from Philip E. Binzel Alive
and Well (American Media, California 1994) p21-23
5. Nitrilosides are also known as amygdalin, a natural substance that
can be found in a variety of species of plants, the greatest concentration
being found in the seeds of the rosaceous fruits, such as apricot seeds and
other bitter nuts. There are many seeds, cereals and vegetables that contain
minimal quantities of amygdalin/nitrilosides and form part of our daily diet.
Egyptian papyri from 5000 years ago mention the use of ‘aqua amigdalorum’ for
the treatment of some tumours of the skin. The Greeks and Romans also
attributed therapeutic properties to that extract in low doses. In the first
half of the 19th century a compound from bitter almonds was distilled which was
named amygdalin (amygdala = almond) and in 1937 this was broken down further
into three compounds: glucose, hydrocyanic acid and benzaldehyde.
(www.worldwithoutcancer.com)
6. G.Edward Griffin World Without Cancer (American Media,
California,1974 and 1997) p33
7.
8. The
9. www.worldwithoutcancer.com
10. The beta-glucosidase enzyme is found in various concentrations everywhere
in the body. It is particularly prevalent in the healthy spleen, liver and
endocrine organs. In all of these instances, however, there is also present an
even greater quantity of the protecting enzyme rhodanese.
11. G. Edward Griffin World Without Cancer p57
12. Patrick Holford Say No To Cancer (Piatkus, London 1999) page ix
13. Francisco Contreras The Hope of Living Cancer Free (Siloam, Florida
1999) see graph p171
14. Patrick Holford The Optimum Bible (Piatkus, London 1997) p23
15. Lynda Brown The Shopper’s Guide to Organic Food (Fourth Estate,
London 1998) p45
16. Contreras The Hope of Living Cancer Free p96
17. Holford Say No To Cancer p15
18. Francisco Contreras The Hope of Living Cancer Free p67ff
19. For more information about enzymes see Dr Gillian McKeith’s Living Food
For Health (Piatkus, London 2000)
20. Holford Say No To Cancer p35
21. Holford Say No To Cancer p55
22.
23. Sarah Brown’s Vegetarian Cookbook (1984) p13
24. There are isolated tribes and peoples around the world who do not have
cancer. These include the Abkhazians, the Hopi and Navajo Indians, the Hunzas,
the Eskimos and the Karakorum. What they have in common is that their diet is
rich in vitamin B17. The Hunza tribe in the
25. The saying "An apple a day keeps the doctor away" was perhaps
true when the pips were eaten as well as the flesh.
26. Phillip Day Cancer: Why we’re still dying to know the truth p91
quoting Dr Krebs
27.
28.
29. Jennifer Meek & Patrick Holford Boost Your Immune System (Piatkus,
London 1998) p88
30. For details see Jennifer Meek & Patrick Holford Boost Your Immune
System p90ff
31. Dr Gillian McKeith’s Living Food For Health p8ff
32. For details on ‘Plastic Dangers’ see Holford Say No To Cancer p88
33. Chambers English Dictionary
34. Epithelium: the cell-tissue in the outer surface of the body and the mucous
membranes connected with it, and also the closed cavities of the body
35. This section on ‘Understanding cancer’ and ‘The body’s defence system’ is
taken mainly from World Without Cancer, G. Edward Griffin especially
pp75-84
36. John Beard, professor of embryology at Edinburgh University, Lancet 1902.
Also proved in a study at the
37. Under microscopic examination, many of these tumours are found to resemble
a mixture of both trophoblast and surrounding cells; a fact which has led some
researchers to the premature conclusion that there are many different types of
cancer. But the degree to which tumours appear to be different is the same
degree to which they are benign; which means that it is the degree to which
there are non-cancerous cells within it. The greater the malignancy, the more
these tumours begin to resemble each other, and the more clearly they begin to
take on the classic characteristics of pregnancy trophoblast.
38. In technical terms this is called the pericellular sialomucin coat.
39. An enzyme is a catalyst - it causes a chemical reaction to take place
without, itself, becoming part of that chemical reaction.
40. It is significant that the small intestine, near the point where the
pancreas empties into it, is one of the few places in the human body where
cancer is almost never found.
41. June de Spain The Little Cyanide Cookbook (American Media,
California1976) obtainable from Credence Publications (01622 832386) and from
www.cancure.org.
42.Patrick Holford Say No To Cancer page xi