A new study finds that pectin, a type of fiber in fruits and vegetables which is used to make jams, kills prostate cancer cells. The study found that exposing prostate cancer cells to pectin in the lab reduced the number of cells by up to 40 percent, according to the researchers at the University of Georgia led by Debra Mohnen and Vijay Kumar at the VA Medical Center in Augusta.They found that the cells self-destructed via apoptosis, which is programmed cell death. Pectin even killed the prostate cancer cells that were not sensitive to hormone therapy. When the same experiment was run with non-cancerous cells, cell death did not occur.
Pectin has also been shown to lower cholesterol and glucose levels in humans. Studies using rats and cell cultures have found that pectin can reduce metastasis and prevent lung and colon cancer.
