Apple pectin used for radiation protection after Chernobyl

Pectin is a galacturonic acid polymer found in the cell walls of plants. It was first isolated in the 1820s as a key component to making jams and jellies (1). As a food supplement, apple pectin is a dietary fiber often taken to maintain good digestive health. In addition, apple pectin has the ability to remove radioactive particles from the intestinal tract, and it was used extensively after the Chernobyl nuclear catastrophe to treat children exposed to radiation. In the 1960s, studies revealed that pectins eliminated the radionuclides Strontium, Cesium and Cobalt, and decreased the absorption of lead. This finding was the basis for treating people exposed to radiation following the 1986 disaster at Chernobyl. Researchers at the Institute of Biophysics and other research centers have confirmed these findings.

Apple pectin's ability to decrease Cs-137 levels in the body has been documented in clinical studies performed on thousands of children exposed to radiation after Chernobyl. Vassily B. Nesterenko and Alexey V. Nesterenko, of the Institute of Radiation Safety (BELRAD) in Minsk, Belarus, report that:

"From 1996 to 2007 a total of more than 160,000 Belarusian children received pectin food additives during 18 to 25 days of treatment (5 g. twice a day). As a result, levels of CS-137 in children's organs decreased after each course of pectin additives by an average of 30 to 40 percent." 

Other studies show even more impressive results:

"In June-July 2001 BELRAD...conducted a placebo-controlled double-blind study of 615 children with internal contamination who were treated with [apple pectin] (5g twice a day) for a 3-week period. In children taking the [apple pectin] (together with clean food) Cs-137 levels were lowered much more effectively than in the control group, who had clean food combined with a placebo." An adjacent chart shows a decrease of 63.6% compared with the placebo decrease of only 13.9% after only 21 days–results 4.5 times more effective.

Shortly after the nuclear disaster at Fukushima, Professor Dimitre Kirtchev discovered a particular pectin that is pharmaceutical-grade, highly soluble and ideal for treating people exposed to radiation. This pectin, now the main ingredient in ProPectin, comes from apples grown in one part of the world where conditions produce pectin so potent it is actually too strong for use in making jams and jellies.

A six-step refinement process turns this powerful, raw apple pectin into a concentrated powder that can easily and quickly be mixed in a glass of water. When consumed, ProPectin is immediately absorbed, binds with Cs-137, and helps to flush it from the body. ProPectin does not remove important trace elements needed in the body and has no side effects or contraindications.

Pectin has a cell wall comprised of three pectic polysaccharides, including homogalacturonan, rhamnogalacturonan-I, and rhamnogalacturonan-II, or RG-II. Scientists discovered that RG-II binds with heavy metals like Cesium-137 (Cs-137) in a process called chelation, and the residues are subsequently flushed from the body through natural elimination processes.

The apple pectin used in ProPectin is extracted from the skin and pulp of apples grown in one part of the world. These apples appear to offer a superior ability to extract Cs-137 from the body. These exceptionally high quality apples are certified pesticide-free and contain no chemical additives. Technicians use 250 kilograms of apples to extract one kilogram of pharmaceutical-grade pectin, instantly soluble enough for human consumption. Nine grams of ProPectin, taken in the first 30 days, provide the daily dose of apple pectin required to assist the body in flushing Cs-137 from the system.

The formulation process to make ProPectin is very intricate and unique, requiring large amounts of ingredients that are in limited supply. At present, the amount of ProPectin available to purchase is very restricted. Efforts, however, are underway to increase this supply as quickly as possible.

Many years of studies conducted on children contaminated by radiation after the Chernobyl catastrophe show that apple pectin helps to reduce the level of Cs-137 in the body.

Most inexpensive pectin products are only 8 to 12 percent pure and often contain other ingredients besides pectin. ProPectin contains pure apple pectin plus glucose and ascorbic acid. Studies show that apple pectin does not deplete the body of necessary trace elements like iron, copper and zinc.

To flush Cs-137 from the body, individuals need to consume 8 to 12 grams of apple pectin a day. Unfortunately, most pectin products take too long to dissolve (at least 12 hours for 0.5 grams), come as gel tablets which do not dissolve in the body effectively, and can contain negligible amounts of pectin. Taken three times a day, ProPectin provides nine grams of pure, pharmaceutical-grade apple pectin–one of the highest quality, soluble apple pectin products on the market.

ProPectin Offers Other Health Benefits

ProPectin™ was initially developed and marketed to combat the effects of radiation contamination - a need that arose dramatically when Japan was devastated by an earthquake and tsunami in March 2011. This catastrophic event severely damaged the nuclear reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in the northeastern part of Japan. Three of the plant's six reactors experienced a full nuclear meltdown, which released deadly, cancer-causing radioactive isotopes like Plutonium, Strontium and Cesium-137 into the environment. The International Nuclear Event Scale classifies the accident at Fukushima as a Level 7 - its highest classification for the danger created by such a meltdown.

The response to ProPectin's ability to flush deadly toxins from the body has been overwhelming, especially among the people in heavily populated metropolitan cities who face the most serious risks to their health from exposure to daily contaminants. Our goal is to help people reclaim their health and do everything possible to avoid the long-term health risks that can result from such exposure.

Continued research of apple pectin shows that ProPectin can offer significant health benefits to people in many other ways. Studies reveal that apple pectin offers anticancer properties, can help maintain healthy cholesterol levels and lower the risk of cardiovascular disease, can improve issues associated with incontinence and inflammation, can help lower blood glucose and insulin levels, assists with healthy weight management, and is a useful agent for delivery of cancer drugs.

Many scientists and nutritionists feel apple pectin has the ability to support many other health issues. According to Susan Sungsoo Cho in her book, Fiber Ingredients, apple pectin may slow the rate at which your body absorbs sugars. Cho says apple pectin works by slowing your digestion of sugars and fats, which leads to lower blood glucose levels and a reduced insulin demand. Cho also believes apple pectin may help protect against colon cancer, since it speeds up excretion, which helps the body to eliminate cancer-causing substances more quickly (3).

A. Stewart Truswell, human nutrition expert at the University of Sydney, Australia, and author of a commentary published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, says apple pectin works better than oat bran, psyllium or guar gum in lowering cholesterol. Researcher M. Gonzalez, lead author of a study published in the Journal of Physiology and Biochemistry, found that apple pectin works best for blood cholesterol.

ProPectin contains 100 percent pharmaceutical-grade apple pectin, sourced from some of the highest quality apples in the world. It takes 250 kilos of apples to make one kilo of ProPectin. A six-step patented process turns this powerful apple pectin into a concentrated powder that can easily and quickly be mixed in a glass of water, making it the only 100% soluble, high grade apple pectin.