Powdered Pectin – cool, right?

Pectin Rocks!

Pectin is undoubtedly one of the most amazing tools in the radioprotective arsenal – but first of all, what is it?  Pectin is a soluble fiber found in fruits and vegetables.  It is best known as a thickening agent for jellies and jams, however, it is a powerful detoxifier for the body.

Pectin is found to some degree in almost all fruits and vegetables, however the amount of pectin is commonly around 1%.  Most of the pectin is often found in the skin of fruits.  For example, an orange peel may contain up to 30% pectin.  Most commercially produced pectin is made from skins leftover from making orange juice and apple juice.

OK – now for the cool part…

Apple Pectin Reduces Cesium 137 load by over 62% in one month:

Following the Chernobyl accident, a great deal of research went into how to efficiently remove radionuclides from the body.  Since then, decades of research from around the world has shown that pectin is extremely effective at removing radioactive cesium from the body.   

A randomised, double blind placebo-controlled trial was conducted with 64 children originating from the same group of contaminated villages in the Ukraine.  The average reduction of the 137Cs levels in children receiving oral pectin powder was 62.6%, the reduction with the placebo was 13.9%.  No child in the placebo group reached values below 20 Bq/kg BW (which is potentially associated with specific pathological tissue damage), with an average value of 25.8 +/- 0.8 Bq/kg. The highest value in the apple-pectin group was 15.4 Bq/kg, the average value being 11.3 +/- 0.6 Bq/kg BW.

In another study following the Chernobyl accident, two groups of children, one with very high and another with less high levels of cesium 137 were given supplementary apple pectin. Apple pectin significantly decreased 137Cs loads in these groups (39% and 28%, respectively). http://www.greenmedinfo.com/article/…osed-radioisot

A study published in 2007 indicates that children in contaminated areas of Belarus continue to have high cesium levels decades after the explosion, and that treatment with pectin continues to be a useful treatment to reduce the radioactive load.

Pectin Chelates other Heavy Metals, too:

Pectin has also been used as a chelator for other heavy metals, including mercury, arsenic, lead and cadmium.  It is important to consider that toxins in the body have a negative synergy.  A non-life threatening dose of mercury along with a non-life threatening dose of lead becomes life threatening.  Thus, it is vital to cleanse the system of heavy metals along with radionuclides.

A study conducted by Dr. Eliaz in Sebastapol, CA, administered modified citrus pectin at a dose of 15-20 grams per day to subjects with normal body loads of heavy metals. In the first 24 h of MCP administration the urinary excretion of arsenic increased significantly (130%), On day 6, urinary excretion was increased significantly for cadmium (150%). Lead showed a dramatic increase in excretion (560%).

Pectin and citrus peels have even been studied as cheap methods of removing heavy metals such as Cadmium from wastewater.  Interestingly, one study concluded that even citrus peels with the pectin removed acted as heavy metal chelators, indicating that pectin isn’t the only active chelator in citrus peels, though it is definitely the most effective.

Pectin has Anti-Cancer Properties:

Pectin is a Prebiotic: 

As mentioned in the post on that topic, probiotics are essential to a radioprotective diet. In turn, prebiotics are essential to probiotics, they are food for the beneficial bacteria.  In order to take advantage of this prebiotic function, probiotic supplements often include some kind of prebiotic fiber, commonly pectin or inulin.

In addition to feeding the beneficial bacteria, pectin, like other forms of dietary fiber, will help keep your colon moving, and therefore eliminating toxins.  Pectin is an effective treatment for both constipation and diarrhea, which is a rather remarkable balancing act. The fact that diarrhea is one of the common symptoms of low-level radiation sickness, this makes pectin even more relevant as a radioprotective nutrient.

Pectin improves HDL/LDL ratio:

General Mills and other cereal makers have drilled the mantra that oat fiber helps improve heart health, specifically cholesterol levels.  Oat fiber is a soluble fiber, the same as pectin. As expected, research has clearly shown that pectin will improve HDL/LDL levels, therefore improving cardiovascular health.

A beautiful orange with the outer peel removed…the whole thing goes in the blender

Whole Food Sources of Pectin:

The obvious thing is to eat plenty of fruits and vegetables, and whenever the skin is edible, make sure you eat it.  The skin of fruits and vegetables are high, not only in pectin, but also in a wide range of antioxidants and other life-affirming phytonutrients.  Isn’t it a miracle that simple food is medicine?

However, if you want a for a deeper cleansing of the system, you are going to have to ingest more pectin.  If you have been exposed to radioactive cesium (Hint: Everybody has been, to some degree), you may wish to focus on the easiest whole food source of pectin: the white part of the citrus peel, referred to as the pith.

Since I was a kid, my dad always told me to eat the white part, because that’s where the nutrition was.  It’s humbling to know that decades later I’m still finding out just how right my parents were.  😉

The pith of the citrus contains about 30% pectin.  It also contains high concentrations of a wide range of beneficial phytonutrients including over 60 flavones.  A video towards the bottom of this post goes into some detail about the many nutrients in an orange.  Here are a few highlights:

For close to 2 years, we have been making fruit/vegetable smoothies in a 3hp blender. If we do citrus (lemon, lime, orange or grapefruit, we cut away the outer colored peel with a knife, leaving most of the white inner peel, and toss the whole thing in the blender.  A small juicing orange might have 10 grams of white pith, while a large navel orange might have over 30 grams of pith.  Grapefruits are even higher.  The king is the giant pomelo fruit.  Regardless, back to oranges, if the pith is 30% pectin we are talking about 3-10 grams of pectin from a single orange.  5 grams of pectin is considered a therapeutic dose according to studies done at Chernobyl, though much higher doses are safe.

Even if you don’t do smoothies, you can always just peel an orange and scrape the inner peel off with your teeth and eat it!  You’ll be getting pectin and a whole lot more.

Pectin as a Supplement:

It isn’t always practical to take your blender everywhere and you can’t always find the citrus you might like. Fortunately, pectin can be found in a concentrated powdered form.  A teaspoon of pectin can be mixed into a glass of water every morning.  I sometimes mix a teaspoon of pectin with a teaspoon of chlorella and some water first thing in the morning.  BELRAD institute recommends taking pectin supplements for no more than a month in a row.

Below is an excerpt from a post on NaturalNews.com on using powdered pectin as a chelator.  They recommend using the grocery store version of pectin for canning.  That’s fine, though be careful to read the label as some of those contain unhealthy preservatives. You can probably find a higher quality product at a health food store, possibly even at a cheaper price.  Regardless, the post is worth reading:

What is Fruit Pectin and Where is it Found?

Pectin is a substance found naturally in many fruits whose properties make it excellent for use for making jellies. Pectin also has the ability to pull heavy metals and other contaminants from the blood stream through a process called chelation. These contaminants are excreted through normal urination.

Pectin is found in the rinds of many fruits and vegetables. Excellent sources of pectin are bananas, apples, cabbage, okra, beets, grapes, carrots and all citrus fruit in the white part called the pith.

Gently Detox from Contaminants and Heavy Metals

Eat several servings of high-pectin fruit daily for a natural, gentle detox. One of the best sources of pectin is green apples. Organic apple juice and unsweetened applesauce are also good sources of natural fruit pectin.

Using Pectin to Chelate Heavy Metals and for Deep Drug Detox
For a deeper and more controlled detox, find pectin at the grocery store in the canning section. Pectin made especially for chelating heavy metals and drugs is available at health food stores in powdered form. Check labels to make sure the pectin is free of MSG.

To use pectin, mix 2-4 teaspoons of dry pectin to an 8 oz. glass of grape juice once a day. Start with a lower dose of pectin until the body gets used to it and increase the amount slowly.

Continue taking pectin for a period from 2 weeks to 6 months to complete a drug detox or when chelating heavy metals. Indicators for completing the detox period are a reduction in symptoms. Although there is no such thing as a symptom-free detoxification during chelation therapy, if pectin is taken in small quantities over a period of time, overall health will return as energy increases and disease symptoms disappear.

Supervision for Heavy Metals Chelation and Drug Detox

People addicted to narcotics of any form should use pectin only under supervision during drug detox.

Pectin can cause problems in people who are sensitive. Some people may experience a flare up of their symptoms during the detox period including dizziness, nausea, joint or muscle pain, weakness and fatigue. Reducing the amount of the dose is usually enough to lessen symptoms making the detox experience more comfortable. Seek medical supervision to help with dosing.

Learn more: http://www.NaturalNews.com/029148_pe…#ixzz1PVzYDjey

More Resources Related to this Post:

BELRAD Institute is one of the associations heavily involved in the use of Pectin in the former Soviet Union.  This page describes their pectin products, which not surprisingly contain pectin, antioxidants and synergistic minerals, such as potassium: http://www.belrad-institute.org/UK/doku.php?id=pectine_preparation

Here is a podcast of an interview done by Mike Adams with Dr. Issac Eliaz on the subject of detoxification with Citrus Pectin (38 minutes):

http://www.naturalnews.com/podcasts/DrIssacEliazCitrusPectinPodcast2008.mp3

And a short youtube from Dr. Eliaz:

A brief video explaining a little about the hundreds of phytochemicals found in oranges:

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