Almonds might be delicious, but bitter almonds can be deadly. The kind we eat by the handful are sweet almonds, and even though bitter almonds are what gives that almond flavor to things like marzipan, eating them raw is dangerous. Raw bitter almonds are filled with a type of cyanide, and when they're prepared properly, they're cyanide-free and used as spices or flavorings.
They contain something called hydrocyanic acid, and that acid disappears when it's heated. But case studies of people who eat them raw are nothing short of terrifying, including one case where a 67-year-old woman ate only four (or five) bitter almonds, thinking they were "medicinal." Just that amount gave her light-headedness and nausea, and when she had 12 more, she was incapacitated and on her way to the emergency room within 15 minutes. Bitter almonds are nothing to mess around with, and should just be avoided.
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