Pectin’s health benefits

A study from the University of Georgia shows that pectin, a substance found in fruits and vegetables caused prostrate cancer cells to self destruct under laboratory conditions (”apoptosis”). Pectin even killed cells that were not sensitive to hormone therapy and therefore difficult to treat with current medications.

This study adds to the growing body of research on the health benefits of pectin, which has been shown to lower cholesterol and glucose levels.

“Even though we hear constantly that we’re supposed to eat lots of fruits and vegetables, it wasn’t until we started working on these studies that it finally hit home how really important that was,” reported Debra Mohnen, one of the scientists in the study. “By simply increasing your intake of fruits of vegetables, you’re going to get a lot of pectin and you’re going to get all of the other beneficial phytochemicals at the same time.”

Key pectin sources are apples, plums, oranges, gooseberries, apricots and carrots.