When people ever hear a mentioning of eating an apple seed or apricot pit they immediately begin to freak out. This is because it is rumored that Apple seeds contain cyanide.
Apples are amazing for your health. It is not only the fruit that is beneficial, it’s the seed too. Little knowledge is very dangerous, and in this case, it is in regards to apple seeds. Apple seeds contain a compound known as amygdalin. The compound contains cyanide, yes, but very little of it. There have been thousands of people that use the apricot seed to cure cancer, and they did not die from cyanide poisoning.
It isn’t just recently that apple seeds and apricot pits were studied for the use of curing cancer. Ancient civilization The Hunzas utilized the apricot pit in many different ways. Major Sir Robert McCarrison wrote about the Hunzas back in the 1930s when he had a post with the Indian Medical Service. According to McCarrison, the Hunzas enjoyed near-perfect physical and mental health and some of them lived to be over 135 years old. There seemed to be no evidence of diabetes, obesity, or heart attacks among them as well. There was also no evidence of cancer. Could it be because of the apricot pit? They knew it had to be something in their diet, and it really consisted of a lot of apricots.
The amygdalin compound has four molecules. Two of which are glucose molecules, and the other two are cyanide and benzaldehyde. The last two molecules might sound scary, but they actually have a very positive effect in the metabolic process. They are released in cancer cells only, otherwise, they are passed through. Cancer cells depend on fermenting sugar instead of oxygen. The compound blocks it.
Cancer cells contain an enzyme that is not found in healthy cells, beta-glucosidase. The beta-glucosidase enzyme “unlocks” the amygdalin compound, releasing the deadly toxins within the cancer cell. Only cancer cells metabolize amygdalin. Healthy normal cells don’t. Most non-cancerous cells contain another enzyme, rhodanese. Free cyanide molecules are bound to sulfur molecules by rhodanese, creating harmless cyanates that are eliminated in the urine.
We need to have more researchers investigate the power of apple seeds and apricot pits. From what we already know, we know they definitely have potential to be used in the fight against cancer. The apple seed contains many different ingredients that are great for our bodies! Try blending them up in a morning smoothie!