🍎🍏 What is apple pectin?
Apple Pectin is a water-soluble fiber that mainly exists between the skin and flesh of apples. It is not only used in food processing, but also widely used in beauty products. Eating apple pectin has the following five health benefits:
1. Weight loss benefits
Apple pectin is a water-soluble fiber that is not absorbed by the body. It will expand when encountering water, forming gel shape. If taken before meals, it can slow down the absorption rate of cholesterol in food by the stomach, create a sense of fullness, reduce food intake, and achieve weight loss.
2. Stabilize blood sugar levels
After food is digested by the gastrointestinal tract, most carbohydrates are converted into blood sugar. Apple pectin can slow down and prevent the absorption of carbohydrates, preventing a significant increase in blood sugar levels after meals.
3. Maintain intestinal health
Fiber itself has the function of cleaning the intestines and helping with defecation. Meanwhile, fibers also absorb bile acids from bile, which are produced by cholesterol metabolism. The liver will therefore need to consume more cholesterol to produce bile acid, which helps stabilize cholesterol levels in the body.
4. Improve emotional issues
Butyrate not only affects intestinal health, but is also associated with emotional problems. Butyrate can stimulate brain astrocytes to produce brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), thereby improving mood, relieving stress, and reducing depression.
5. Eliminate heavy metals from the body
Apple pectin can eliminate heavy metals and radioactive isotopes such as cesium-137 from the body. Pectin carries a negative charge and can attract heavy metals with a positive charge when it enters the intestine. The role of pectin is like a cleaner, carrying the adsorbed heavy metals out of the body and preventing these pollutants from continuing to circulate in the body.
