10 Promising Benefits and Uses of Apple Pectin

The saying "An apple a day keeps the doctor away" might have stuck around because of apple pectin.

Some of the health benefits of apple pectin include:

1. Helps in digestive diseases: Apple pectin is mostly used as complementary medicine to treat digestive issues.
   • Because apple pectin is high in fiber, it is used to:
     • Treat colitis, irritable bowel syndrome, and other digestive illnesses connected to these
     • Help regulate bowel movements and firm stools
     • Reduce diarrhea-related inflammation
   • This is one of the reasons it is a component in several drugs used to treat intestinal diseases.
2. Cardiovascular problems: Apple pectin inhibits the absorption of extra cholesterol in the stomach, which is known to lower total cholesterol levels, prevent atherosclerosis, and lessen the incidence of heart attacks and strokes.
3. Skin health: Although there is little evidence to support these uses, some people prefer to apply apple pectin powder to their skin to relieve inflammation.
4. Weight loss: Pectin, in its natural form, is not digested by the body. Thus, it acts bulk to your meals without adding calories. When combined with water, pectin forms a gelatinous substance. It can increase your feeling of fullness and help you eat less food. Additionally, apple pectin can cause weight reduction by reducing the rate at which cholesterol is absorbed from foods. 
5. Regulates blood sugar: In addition to lowering food intake, apple pectin binds to carbohydrates and lipids in your stomach and intestine, slowing down absorption. As a result, it can maintain your blood sugar levels and stop them from increasing after meals. Apple pectin is regarded as a good dietary supplement for people with diabetes.
6. Removes toxins from the body: In addition to removing "unwanted toxins and heavy metals (mercury, lead, aluminum, etc.)," pectin lessens the negative consequences of radiation exposure. It binds water and toxins together and bulks the stool, thus transporting toxins out of the body.
7. Mood stabilizer: In the body, apple pectin changes into butyrate. It has been widely established that butyrate can stabilize mood. People who lack brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) experience depression and insomnia. Butyrate can encourage the brain to release BDNF, which further reduces stress, depression, and anxiety.
8. Vomiting: In a clinical experiment involving 62 boys with diarrhea, a diet consisting primarily of rice and pectin (4 g/kg for one week) decreased vomiting. Another clinical trial had 18 children with cerebral palsy who were given either a diet high in pectin (enteral liquid 2:1 v/v) or low in pectin (enteral liquid 3:1 v/v). The high-pectin diet decreased vomiting after four weeks. Again, the findings are encouraging but insufficient to support this pectin health benefit. Additional clinical trials are necessary.
9. Sore throat: Soluble fiber, like that found in apple pectin, can create a barrier and coating in the throat, reducing swelling and relieving soreness.
10. Cancer: An investigation team from the Institute of Food Research in Norwich, England, found that a component of pectin links to the tumor-causing protein called galectin 3.
    • Galectin 3 is a key component in the spread of cancer because it enables cancer cells to separate from tumors and reassociate in other places.
    • However, galectin 3 activity is blocked by pectin, which may stop the spread of cancer within the body.
    • Studies have reported that apple pectin helps people fight cancer in other ways. A research team at the University of Georgia discovered that pectin could kill up to 40 percent of prostate cancer cells when exposed to them.
    • Pectin has been shown in other studies to be effective in the treatment of colon and lung cancer.
    • According to several studies, pectin may help prevent breast cancer, albeit these studies are still in their early stages.