Fruit Pectin As Poison Oak Prevention

Poison oak is a bushlike plant that can cause a serious rash upon contact. Urushiol is the oily substance in the leaves of poison oak. When you brush against the leaves, the oil is left on your skin, where it's rapidly absorbed. A severe rash develops in many people, which includes redness of the skin, swelling, pimplelike pustules and intense itching, depending on how allergic you are to urushiol. The rash, which is an allergic reaction, lasts as long as 12 days. Some people are not allergic to the urushiol in poison oak.

Who Gets Poison Oak?

• About 70 percent of the people in the United States are sensitized (which means allergic) to poison oak; the other 30 percent seem to be able to walk through a field of the offending foliage and not be affected at all. Another group of people are initially immune to urushiol but with sufficient contact lose that immunity.

What Is Fruit Pectin?

• Fruit pectin is most commonly known as a thickening agent used in jams, jellies, gelatin and even diarrhea medicines. It was first commercially derived from apples. Chemically it's a complex carbohydrate existing in and between the cells of some plants. Its function is to regulate the flow of water between cells and help to keep the cells rigid.

Does Fruit Pectin Work?

• Fruit pectin can, perhaps, help build immunity to poison oak and stop the allergic reaction caused by the urushiol. Take a package of fruit pectin, mix it with a glass of orange or grapefruit juice, and drink it each morning. This is not a one-time remedy but rather an ongoing treatment to build up immunity. Make sure that you have taken several doses to build up immunity before going to an area where you may come in contact with poison oak. It's also possible that taking pectin mixed with fruit juice will ameliorate symptoms if taken after contact with the plant.

  People in the traditional medical field tend to discount the effectiveness of pectin as helping in the treatment of poison oak. General practitioner Dr. Gerald Cahill and nurse Samantha Smith, who practice in of Malone, New York, for example, don't believe that pectin would affect an allergic reaction.