How we rate
“Strong” = several concordant meta-analyses or systematic reviews. “Moderate” = one synthesis, or several controlled trials. “Limited” = early trials only. The rating is about the quality of the studies, not about how useful the supplement is.
Pectin
Fruit pectin slightly lowers LDL (6 to 10% at 6-15 g per day) and promotes satiety, especially in gel form. It did not change blood glucose or the gut in healthy or prediabetic individuals.
Benefits
- Slightly lowers LDL: 15 g per day of citrus or apple pectin for 4 weeks reduced it by 7 to 10% compared to cellulose, and 6 g per day for 3 weeks by 6 to 7%, in individuals with slightly elevated cholesterol.
- In 27 people with high cholesterol, 16 weeks of grapefruit pectin reduced cholesterol by 7.6 % and LDL by 10.8 % versus placebo, without changing the rest of their diet.
- Promotes satiety: 5 to 20 g mixed into orange juice increased satiety in 74 adults for up to 4 hours; in 9 obese individuals, 15 g in a meal slowed stomach emptying (116 versus 71 minutes) and increased satiety.
- Blunts meal blood glucose: 10 g added to breakfast marmalade lowered blood glucose at 15 minutes (5.64 versus 6.18 mmol/l) and insulin; in 12 type 2 diabetics, 20 g per day for 4 weeks improved glucose tolerance.
- Helps hospitalized children with persistent diarrhea: in boys aged 5 to 12 months, a rice-based diet enriched with pectin cured 59% of them by the third day compared to 15% with rice alone, and halved stool weight.
Precautions
EFSA sees no safety issues at food additive doses, and 36 g per day for 6 weeks produced no adverse effects in humans. It slows stomach emptying: about twice as slow after 4 weeks at 20 g per day in healthy volunteers, returning to normal 3 weeks after stopping. Limits: in 10 healthy volunteers with normal cholesterol, 12 g per day changed neither total cholesterol, nor HDL, nor triglycerides. In individuals with abnormal blood glucose (22 on pectin out of 66 in the trial), 12 weeks of sugar beet pectin drink improved neither fasting or post-meal blood glucose, nor the lipid profile. Fullness does not mean eating less: in the trial that measured the following meal, gelled pectin, the most satiating, did not reduce what was eaten afterwards. In healthy individuals, blood glucose does not always budge: 5.2 g in a meal or 20 g per day for 4 weeks did not change it. In a placebo-controlled trial in 52 healthy young adults and 48 healthy elderly people, 15 g per day for 4 weeks changed neither gut permeability nor the microbiota. Many trials are old and small (6 to 12 people for stomach emptying and blood glucose), and the effect against diarrhea in ICU adults is only a trend.
Recommended dosage
6 to 15 g per day with meals for cholesterol; 5 to 20 g in a drink or a meal for satiety.
How to take it
- For cholesterol: 15 g per day with meals for 4 weeks, or 6 g per day for 3 weeks, in people with slightly elevated cholesterol.
- Type matters: highly esterified citrus and apple pectins with a high molecular weight lowered LDL the most; an unesterified pectin much less.
- For satiety: the gelled form suppresses appetite, the same pectin in capsules or dissolved in a liquid much less; 5 g was enough in orange juice.
- For blood glucose: the effect of 20 g per day in type 2 diabetics had disappeared 3 days after stopping.
- Trial duration: from 2 weeks to 16 weeks.
Did you know?
The same pectin, at the same dose of 10 g, suppresses appetite when served as a gel, but much less in capsules or dissolved in a liquid: it is its texture in the stomach that matters.
What the studies say
This randomized study examined how different pectin properties (swelling, viscous, gelling) and its supplementation methods (liquid, capsules) affect appetite and energy intake in 29 subjects. A 10 g dose of gelling pectin significantly reduced appetite and delayed gastric emptying, while gelling and viscous pectins decreased insulin responses. The study highlights that the physicochemical properties and administration form of pectin differently influence its effects on appetite and energy intake.
Wanders AJ, Feskens EJ, Jonathan MC, Schols HA, de Graaf C, Mars M. — Physiology & behavior (2014) — View the source study
For information only: not a substitute for medical advice. Dietary supplements are not a replacement for a varied, balanced diet. Learn more