"S.B. Feldman" wrote:
>
> In a message dated 6/23/99 11:32:58 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
> [log in to unmask] writes:
>
> <<  I vaguely remember reading something a while ago that said
>  the compound in almonds is not cyanide, but is cyanide-like and is not
>  actually harmful. If I remember correctly the discussion also involved
>  vitamin B-17, that might help one find the info using a search engine.
>   >>
> The so-called vit B17, or laetrile, from apricot pits, also conatains cyanide.
Actually, the statement about cyanide, if I remember correctly, applied to
the discussion of the B17, which is contained in bitter almonds and in
apricot pits. The authors were stating that there was a
smear campain against B17 by saying it was cyanide, while according to
authors it was cyanide-like, but not dangerous. Kind of like what we
often hear about ketosis - it's dangerous because it's similar to
ketoacidosis. Again, my recollections of what I've read are very vague,
the only reason I wanted to bring this up is so that a possibly good
food does not get slammed by distortions by one or two sources repeated
by others. I have no idea if these statements (one way or another) are
true or not.

Ilya