Apple Seed contains Cyanide (Nature's poison)

Apple Seed contains Cyanide (Nature's poison)

By: Arlene Gentallan

        An apple's enticing outer appearance and juicy tarty flesh says nothing about the grim it cradles deep inside of it core -- seeds!

        Pits of apples, apricots, cherries, raw bitter almonds, and peaches contains amygdalin which can be broken down into cyanide once it got into contact with digestive enzyme. Flaxseed, barley, cassava, clover, sorghum, and bamboo shoots also contains cyanogenic glycoside.

        Cyanide is as popular as it is lethal. It has a bad reputation because of it's use in warfare. You may be familiar of how the Germans use hydrogen cyanide in gas chambers during The Holocaust.

        Hydrogen cyanide is a colorless gas. It's a "fast-acting" poison. It can kill a person in just a few hours. Cyanide prevents our body from utilizing oxygen which can lead to asphyxiation.

        When you crack an apple's seed, ingest it, and your digestive enzyme acts on it, it's amygdalin is broken down into glucose and cyanide which your body then absorbs. But what if you swallowed the seeds uncracked, chances are digestive enzymes won't be able to penetrate it's amygdalin content so that means no cyanide leaching out of it.

        So stop the hysteria because if eaten in small amounts, apple seeds don't usually cause health problem.  Cyanide produced from ingesting few seeds can be detoxified by our body, but if large amounts is taken, it can pose a serious threat to health.

Did you know that cigarettes and tobacco contains cyanide? Now, that's a more serious health threat than an apple's seed.

But that doesn't mean cyanide content of plants amounts to no danger...

CYANIDE POISONING FROM INGESTION OF APRICOT SEEDS HAPPEN

        Swallowing too many of those tiny little seeds may seem ridiculously impossible. Who does that? But truth is it happens. There has been 13 cases of cyanide poisoning seen at Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) of Erciyes University (2005-2009) because of ingestion of apricot seeds.

        Some of them suffer from respiratory distress, convulsion of coma, but thankfully all of them survive.

CYANIDE POISONING FROM INHALATION OF CYANIDE PRODUCED BY BAMBOO SHOOTS

There was also another case when two out of eight individuals died from cyanide poisoning when they've got into a well containing pickled bamboo shoots, which produced hydrogen cyanide gas.

POORLY COOKED CASSAVA ROOTS & LEAVES CAN LEAD TO CYANIDE POISONING

Cassava is a staple to many countries in the world. But it contains linamarin which when eaten raw will be broken down into cyanide. There have been several reported cases around the world where cyanide poisoning from eating unprocessed cassava lead to severe illness and death.

Ingesting small amounts of cyanide over a long period of time can still have serious damaging effects to the body like hypothyroidism, paralysis, and neurological problems.

Sources:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20196932

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21972937

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1354460

http://illinoispoisoncenter.org/HydrogenCyanide