Radiation Protection With Apple-Pectin

Apple pectin has the ability to sweep out radioactive dust particles from the intestinal tract, and it was used extensively after the Chernobyl nuclear plant meltdown.

Apple pectin, for example, along with other fruits that contain this soluble fiber and polysaccharride carbohydrates are great radioprotective agents.

A study showed that apple pectin can absorb and chelate cesium out of the body. Since the focus was only on cesium, it is unknown if it also carried out any other heavy metals.

How Apple Pectin Works

Apple pectin is a soluble dietary fiber source. The fibers in apple pectin help to balance the colon. In the digestive tract, apple pectin swells, forming a gel which acts like a broom to sweep the entire intestinal tract of waste material and body fat. In the large intestines, apple pectin breaks down into short chain fatty acids, which have positive pre-biotic benefits. Apple pectin is considered safe by the FAO/WHO Joint Expert Committee on Food Additives.

Apple Pectin and Radioactive Protection After Chernobyl

Both master herbalist Dr. Richard Schulze and nutriceutical researcher Jon Barron have recently mentioned that apple pectin was used after the Chernobyl nuclear reactor disaster in 1986. Jon Barron states that “apple pectin was used in the aftermath of Chernobyl to reduce the load of radioactive cesium in children.” Dr. Schulze says that apple pectin was used “extensively” after the Chernobyl disaster. He mentions that apple pectin has been proven to remove heavy metals, and even radioactive Strontium 90. Dr. Schulze says that taking apple pectin proved to significantly prevent damage from radiation exposure.

Apple Pectin Reduces the 137Cs Radioactive Cesium Load in Chernobyl Children

The Swiss Medical Weekly published a report in 2004 confirming that apple pectin was seen to reduce the 137Cs cesium uptake in Ukrainian children after the Chernobyl nuclear reactor disaster. A study led by V.B. Nesterenko at the Belrad Institute of Radiation Safety was performed to see if orally administered apple pectin was effective in binding 137Cs in the gut for food contaminated by radiation, or if eating “clean,” non-contaminated food was enough. The study was a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial involving children from contaminated villages near the disaster area.

Radiation levels were measured at the beginning of the study and one month later. At the end of the trial, 137Cs cesium levels in children who were given apple pectin were reduced by 62%. Children who had received “clean” food and a placebo had reduced radiation levels by only 13.9%. The results were determined to be statistically significant.

Other fruits besides organic apples that are high in pectin include grapefruit, oranges, and lemons. But in citrus, as in apples, most of the pectin is in the peel. You can also utilize many berries for their pectin, too, including raspberries, strawberries, and blueberries, to name a few.

Sure, you could eat an apple, but you could also take a fruit pectin supplement to reap the benefits.