It is opt or drop time! What if your child’s body was stuck in fight or flight mode, triggering inflammation and immune imbalances and constant stress? We’re exploring today, PectaSol. Can this gentle product target a hidden driver of all that response and help bring the body back to balance? Let’s find out.
What is PectaSol C?
PectaSol C is a form of modified citrus pectin, so it’s derived from the pith, that white part, of citrus fruit. But it’s not just any fiber. It’s been altered in a very specific way, breaking it down into much smaller parts so that it’s absorbable by your small intestine and can actually get into the bloodstream and do its job on a cellular level.
Unmodified citrus pectin is too large to be absorbed by the gut, so it just passes right out. But PectaSol is clinically proven to enter the circulation, and that’s what makes PectaSol very unique.
What does PectaSol actually do in the body?
The overreactive boss
PectaSol works by blocking a protein in the body called Galectin-3. You can think of Galectin-3 like the boss of your body’s emergency team. When there’s a real problem, it helps fix things. But sometimes this boss doesn’t know when the emergency is over. I’m sure you know bosses like that who just keep escalating, escalating.
So if it keeps sounding the alarm, it can make your body feel like it’s always in danger. Therefore, you’re staying in fight or flight mode even when the danger or the inflammation, or the infection is over. So what happens is that you have too much inflammation and too much stress.
The soother
PectaSol helps calm things down by turning off that false alarm. There are over 90 published research publications involving PectaSol, so it actually has a wide variety of actions in the body, but that’s the mechanism of action.
In the context of autism and neurodevelopmental issues, we’re starting to learn how more and more inflammation and immune dysregulation play such a huge role. Everyone’s familiar with the FRAT test and the antibodies in the brain that block folate; this is all related to the immune system and inflammation. And that’s where PectaSol comes in.
PectaSol, this modified citrus pectin fiber from the actual pith of the citrus fruit, it’s been modified to be very small. And what it does is PectaSol can enter into the bloodstream through the small intestine and then bind directly to galectin-3, therefore neutralizing its harmful effects.
So if you think back to that analogy of the boss, and his ‘there’s problems everywhere’, PectaSol comes in and says, ‘Hey, calm down. Let’s go meditate.’ It’s basically neutralizing those harmful effects.
So you can think of it as an off switch for one of the body’s chronic disease pathways. When you shut that off, this leads to lower inflammation, less tissue fibrosis in organs like the brain, the heart, kidneys, and liver, and also improved immune imbalance. So you can take that and shift off from that fight or flight, that constant, “I’m in stress, I’m under attack”. You can shift your body more to being balanced so that the immune system can react when needed, but also shut off when not needed anymore. And a lot of times, when this gets stuck, people start to get very sensitive to all kinds of things. So this is an important aspect to understand.
Detoxification
You can also increase detoxification. That is exactly what we want for many of our kids. And so this isn’t theoretical. There are over 90 published studies on PectaSol, including human clinical trials that demonstrate these effects. However, I want you to be aware that there is not one single study focusing specifically on autism.
Let’s get into detoxification a little bit. PectaSol helps the body remove heavy metals like lead, mercury, arsenic, and cadmium. There’s published research on that.
No loss of minerals
And here’s why it’s so impressive and unique, and why many doctors like this product. PectaSol can bind to these toxins without affecting essential minerals like calcium, magnesium, or zinc. So if you’ve ever worked with binders, I’m sure your doctor has said, “Okay, we’ve got to make sure we’re adding minerals.” Sometimes you add minerals on the weekends when you can space things out because with school and schedule, it’s too much.
One of the real benefits of PectaSol is that it doesn’t bind up all the beneficial minerals that are in our body. That’s definitely important for kids with autism who might already be dealing with nutritional imbalances; you certainly don’t want to give a product that would make that worse. So it’s important to understand that PectaSol doesn’t bind up essential minerals like other binders can.
Mold detox
PectaSol also gently supports mold detox by binding to those toxins, like mycotoxins, and it helps the body remove them through the urine. PectaSol also reduces inflammation triggered by mold exposure. This is when you start to get into mast cell activation. And so when the body is triggered and is in so much of that fight or flight, everything gets sensitive. So PectaSol, by binding the galectin-3 and reducing that cascade of inflammation and immune modulation, makes the body easier to heal without that overwhelm.
Immune system modulation
Okay, let’s get into immune system modulation a little bit more. PectaSol doesn’t just calm the immune system; it also helps it work better. So it’s been shown to increase the activity of natural killer cells, which are like your body’s frontline defenders, right? So when there’s an infection, that’s what’s getting out there first. But also at the same time, it helps bring balance to overactive parts of the immune system, especially those driven by galectin-3.
So many doctors, after you start healing for a while and you get some progress going, many doctors will then prescribe different drugs that help with immune system modulation. But with PectaSol C, you don’t need a prescription. So this is a very gentle way, but an effective way, and one that’s accessible to parents.
How is it taken
If you could only see, I have a table full of products here. We have powder forms, we have chewables, and we have capsules.
Capsules
So we’ll start out with the capsules. I would say that’s my least favorite. So this is the capsule. It’s like your regular size capsule. The thing is, you need to take six of them for it to be like one serving. And I’ll get into dose a little bit more. But for five grams, you need six capsules. That gets to be a lot. If you’re doing that every day, you can certainly get into pill fatigue, which happens. So there is a capsule, but just keep in mind that you’d have to take quite a bit of them.
Unflavored powder
We have powder, we have unflavored, and we have lime-flavored, and then there’s even berry flavored, and I don’t have that one right here.
I know unflavored is important for kids who have picky eating issues. So let’s test out the unflavored, and I’ll show you what it looks like. So there’s a little scoop. One scoop is one dose. So it’s a pretty small scoop. Get it in some water. I found that if you just dump it all on top all at once, you get these globs.
I find that if you just sprinkle it more on top of the water rather than just dump it in, it avoids getting these clumps. But you can see that’s clumpy, so you just have to then stir a lot more. So if you just sprinkle on top, I found that is what works the best. Although I have to say when it’s the lime flavor, you get this burst of lime, and I don’t know, it’s fun. It’s a little like bubble tea.
This is what it looks like. Obviously, it’s going to change how a drink looks. I feel like there’s a taste, but not a taste. I think it’s more of a texture difference that is making me think it tastes different. There’s not much of a taste difference, but I do feel like it changes the texture a little bit. Then you can perceive it as tasting a little bit, but there’s no taste and there’s no smell.
Lime-flavored powder
The lime, I am surprised at how good it tastes. I first thought lime, that’s gross. Who wants to drink lime?
But I really like it. I’ll show you what I mean by sprinkling it on top. I have another glass of about eight ounces of water. You just lightly sprinkle, like when you salt food, you just spread it evenly, a little bit around, a little bit at a time. You can see how a lot of it is floating at the top. That’s what you want because then you don’t have as many clumps. I’m going to stir.
Color-wise, it’s the same. So this is the lime, and then this is the unflavored. But I will tell you, I was very surprised. The lime tastes pretty good. I would drink that as a drink, which is weird because I’m not really a fan of lime, but it’s done really well. Now, your child may not like lime, but taste-wise, this is pretty good. Let’s just keep going.
Chewable
There is a chewable. How many chewables do we need? Two chewables for 2.4 grams. I think I like the powder form the best because you put it in a drink and it’s done. But I know we like to have options for our kids.
They’re pretty big. You need four of these to equal one of those scoops of the powder. That’s a lot of chewing. Let’s see how it tastes.
Taste-wise, it’s fine. It does have this nice tangerine flavor to it. It’s not overpowering. It’s not gross for sure. There’s no added sugar, so that’s good. It’s sweet without sugar.
I could do one of those, but the thought of having to do three more is a little too much for me. I’m like, ‘Oh, really? Do I have to?’ It’s not bad. It’s just that that’s a decent size amount, and it’s on the thick side. If your child likes these kinds of chewable things, I think it would be a great option. I can see how that wouldn’t work for some kids, for sure. But it’s great. You have all these options.
When to take
Okay, so let’s just talk about how you take it in, dosing, and all that stuff. It’s best taken on an empty stomach, away from food and supplements. So that means either 30 minutes before food or an hour and a half after.
At school pickup, that’s when you would give this, because your child probably hasn’t eaten in 30 minutes or so. You give them this, whichever formulation you want, you drive home, and boom, by the time you’re home and you’re ready to eat, it’s been 30 minutes.
Or your kid gets off the bus, you give it to them then, and they putz around and be like, Okay, we got to change and just settle in. And then before you know it, it’s 30 minutes.
What to look out for
If you’re starting out, the suggestion is to start low and slow. Watch for different signs of detox or reactions. There’s usually not, because this is a very gentle approach, but you always want to be mindful. So you want to look for mood swings or digestive changes. Fatigue.
It’s important to stay hydrated, 100%. You’ve got to stay hydrated when you’re taking binders and you’re wanting to flush things out in the urine. You need urine to flush it out. So you’ve got to stay hydrated. Sometimes, I don’t hear this often, but every once in a while, there might be an issue with constipation. Typically, when you take binders and there’s an issue with constipation, it’s more of the strong, harsh ones like charcoal or some of those other binders that are available, which are good and appropriate, but you just have to keep all this in mind. So, constipation is typically not an issue. But again, you have to stay hydrated.
Dosage
Teenagers
I’ve seen doctors recommend taking up to 20 grams a day for an active dose. Now, the research is showing lots of different active doses. A maintenance dose for teenagers and adults is five grams, so that would be one scoop. And so if you’re taking 20 grams a day, that’s four scoops. And some of the clinical trials that have been published they’ve been giving this twice a day, which, when someone’s in school, it’s a bit harder to organize the schedule for taking something that needs to be away from food twice a day.
Smaller children
For smaller kids, the dose is 5 grams once a day, and you work up to it. You can take this with other supplements. Many doctors usually say, ‘Just take it on its own, ’ just to be safe. But you can, like with probiotics, you can take it with other things. Prescriptions are usually taken at least an hour before PectaSol.
Sensitive children
And for kids who are very sensitive, PectaSol C can help calm those overreactive mast cells by lowering galectin-3. So sometimes, I’ve seen doctors even just start with just a few sprinkles, so not even a quarter of a scoop, right? You really start low, and you start with a very small amount, and you work your way up that way.
And when you reduce these mast cells, and you’re reducing the triggers there, right? Getting at the root cause, you’ve got to do both. Then you can see symptoms like histamine intolerance of different food sensitivities, and brain fog. You might see changes of focus, and also skin reactions. And then, as the kids can tolerate a higher dose, you increase those. And you also see that they can tolerate much higher doses of different supplements and prescriptions. So again, once you’re low empowering that fight or flight, then the body can open up to a lot more.
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Conclusion
To summarize, we have PectaSol. PectaSol is a clinically studied, highly absorbable galectin-3 blocker that may support inflammation reduction, immune system balance, gentle detox of heavy metals and mold, organ and tissue repair, amongst so many other things. It’s safe, it’s definitely well-studied, and it’s widely used in functional medicine. If you’re building a personalized plan for your child or yourself, it certainly might be worth exploring. And that is why PectaSol is definitely an opt without a doubt. It is definitely something good to have, and evaluate it if it makes sense for you.
