By Elena Voropay

From cereals and porridges to muffins and breads, flaxseed is a featured supplement that occupies the health section of all grocery stores and, probably, your home. Is it a newly invented miracle food or a money-making fad? Research reveals the many healthful benefits of this plant. The flax plant is an ancient crop originating in Mesopotamia more than 4000 years ago. Also known as Linseed, the plant Linum usitatissimum (meaning “most useful”) has truly blue flowers. Flaxseed is used throughout the world in more ways than you can imagine. The oil from flaxseed is used in paints, linoleum and varnishes, the fibre is a valuable source for weaving linen for clothing. But the most valuable properties are found in the flaxseed's nutritional value as it contains fibre and lignans, essential fatty acids and amino acids, abundance of vitamins and minerals. Researchers discovered that flaxseed may reduce blood pressure, lower levels of harmful LDL- cholesterol, help with various digestive problems, balance your hormones, reduce inflammation, protect against cancer and heart disease.

The unmatched nutritional make-up of flax is found in its distinctive fibre, lignans, oil, and a combination of vitamins and minerals

Fibre

Flaxseed is an excellent source of dietary fibre, providing 28g of both soluble and insoluble fibre for every100 grams. The fibre has favourable effects for treating various digestive problems, manage blood glucose levels, lower cholesterol, reduce inflammation, improve detoxification and assist with weight loss.

Lignans

Flaxseed is the richest source of lignans, a class of chemical compounds with hormone-like properties known as phytoestrogens. Lignans are converted into substances named enterodiol and enterolactone similar to hormone oestrogen. These agents have shown to protect against breast cancer and heart disease, balance menstrual cycle, help to maintain bone strength, reduce cholesterol levels, decrease insulin resistance and promote digestive health. Flaxseed offers 75 to 800 times more lignans than other grains and vegetables.

Oil

Flaxseed is an admirable source of irreplaceable Omega-3 fatty acids, specifically alpha-linolenic acid (ALA), which has shown to reduce inflammation, lower blood cholesterol, minimize the risk of cardiovascular disease and stroke, preventing the clotting of blood platelets, fight depression, reduce muscle and joint pain, protect your eyes from age-related diseases, improve complexity of skin, hair and nails, increase palatability of foods and facilitate digestion. The only way we can get enough of Omega-3 is by eating plenty of fish or flaxseeds. While other foods supply small amounts of Omega-3, these come naturally mixed together with Omega-6 fatty acids, particularly linoleic acid and arachidonic acid. The unique composition of flaxseed's oil due to the abundance of Omega-3 fats is something no other plant food can offer.

Vitamins and Minerals

Flaxseeds are also a good source of lecithin and other phospholipids responsible for proper emulsification and absorption of all fats and cholesterol. Besides, the plant offers vitamin E and B6, carotene, folate, magnesium, phosphorus, copper and potassium. The combination of these nutrients give flaxseed the power to nourish your body and help you relax, strengthen the nervous system, build stronger bones, help in the metabolism of carbohydrates, amino acids, and fats, stimulate energy production and balance hormone levels.

10 Reasons to Love Your Flax

1. Heal Your Digestion

Poor digestion and elimination are common problems encountered by most of us. Eating fibre-rich foods have shown to counterbalance the effects of poor diet and assist with many digestive problems. As one of the top suppliers of soluble and insoluble fibre, flaxseed may ease the unpleasant symptoms. When you eat flaxseed, it binds with water, swelling to form a comforting protective gel in the digestive tract. This mucilage will soften the stool and increase it in bulk. Like other foods abundant in soluble fibre, eating flaxseed promotes the production of healthy intestinal bacteria and stimulates peristalsis speeding up stool movement. This will ease digestion and elimination and may help in treatment and prevention of gastritis (inflammation of the stomach), diverticulitis and ileitis (inflammation of the intestines), chronic constipation, and irritable bowel syndrome. The fibre will also bind to toxins in the body helping to eliminate them faster minimising toxic stress on the liver. As a result, liver will function more efficiently, detoxify the body faster and give you more energy. Fibre in flaxseed may also have a soothing anti-inflammatory effect on all mucosal surfaces in the body including respiratory and urinary tract [1].

To treat constipation or an upset stomach, take 5 g of freshly crushed seeds soaked in water with a glassful of liquid 3 times daily [2].

2. Manage Blood Sugar

If you experience weight gain, increased appetite and sluggish metabolism, you may be suffering from insulin resistance. Normally, a small amount of insulin is produced after eating, thus signalling the body to absorb the sugars from the bloodstream at a steady rate. In an "insulin resistant" person, sugar remains in the blood longer despite increased insulin production. After several hours of circulation in the blood, the sugar is taken into the cells very rapidly, leading to a steep drop in blood sugar levels afterwards. Insulin resistance is an early warning for type 2 diabetes. Research has uncovered that the fibre together with other unique nutrients in flaxseed are able to decrease insulin resistance, increase the feeling of satiety, reduce appetite and assist with weight loss. Even diabetics may manage their blood glucose by eating flaxseed regularly [3].

3. Balance Hormones and Prevent Cancer

As the richest source of lignans, flax may balance your hormones, guard against cancer and protect integrity of bones. Representing a class of phytoestrogens, lignans supply the body with oestrogen-mimicking compounds at times of deficiency. They may also lessen the negative effects of this hormone when the body produces more oestrogen than it needs for normal body functions [4].

Researches discovered that when postmenopausal women ate 25 grams of ground flaxseed, their levels of cancer-protective oestrogen (2-hydroxyestrone) increased without altering blood hormone levels important in maintaining bone health. Interestingly, consuming 25 grams of soy protein did not show the same benefits. So, flaxseed has something more to offer other than similar phytoestrogens found in other plants, such as soy.

Eating 30 grams of ground flaxseeds a day have also shown to minimize the rate of tumour growth among patients with prostate and breast cancer. Animal investigations with flaxseed have shown promising results in prevention and treatment of colon and skin cancer [5, 6, 7, 8].

4. Decrease Inflammation

Eating too little fat has never been a problem for most people. But eating too little of the essential Omega-3 fat has certainly contributed to many health problems. Most Australians eat a lot of Omega-6 fats, primarily from various vegetable oils, such as corn, sesame, safflower, cottonseed, and sunflower. Omega-3s from seafood and flaxseed are eaten in small amounts and without consistency. This imbalance makes the body vulnerable to different irritants causing inflammation and slowing blood flow in the body. On the other hand, eating slightly more Omega-3 fats helps to reduce and prevent inflammation and improve circulation. This is because Omega-3 fats are used in production of Series 1 and 3 prostaglandins, which are anti-inflammatory hormone-like molecules, while other fats produce pro-inflammatory Series-2 prostaglandins. Like aspirin, omega-3s have power to help reduce blood clotting, lessen the risk of heart disease, osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, asthma and migraine headaches. The Omega-3 fatty acids also have the ability to construct healthy cell walls, transport oxygen to all the cells in the body, and serve as the number one energy source for the heart muscle [9].

5. Reduce Cholesterol

Eating flaxseed on a regular basis have shown to lower cholesterol. After just four weeks of daily supplementation with 50 grams of flaxseed, women's levels of dangerous LDL-cholesterol dropped 18 percent while total cholesterol levels were reduced by nine percent. Similar study have confirmed the cholesterol-lowering power of flax by showing an eight percent drop LDL cholesterol with just three weeks of eating the flax. Such changes in cholesterol are more than enough to significantly lower the risk of heart disease [10, 11].

6. Protect Your Eyes

Loaded with essential Omega-3 fatty acids, flaxseed can reduce the risk of macular degeneration -- an eye disease that destroys vision by damaging nerve cells in the eye. While people with a high intake of other fats from various vegetable oils were more likely to develop macular degeneration, those who eat more Omega-3 were less likely to have the disease. Flaxseed is also good for combating dry eyes due to an insufficient oil layer making the eyes prone to water evaporation. Omega-3 fatty acids help the oil glands in lubricating and coating of the surface of the eyes thus keeping them moist [9].

7. Build a Strong and Healthy Body

Flax seeds are rich in high-quality easily digestible complete protein. Your body needs protein to support all of its needs, including repairing, rebuilding and growing all cells, fighting infections, handling stress and staying healthy. Protein is constantly depleted in sweat, urine and faeces. That means that you constantly need to feed your body with the highest quality of complete protein containing all essential amino acids. Stress, sleep deprivation, even exercise increases your protein needs. Flaxseed may be one of your best choices to help meet the demands of your system. Together with other irreplaceable nutrients, 100 grams of seeds it provides around 25 grams of essential amino acids for every 100 grams of seeds. These include leucine, isoleucine, valine, threonine, phenlalanine, and tryoptophan and smaller amounts of lysine and methionine which can be easily obtained from grains and legumes. As protein from plants is much easier to digest than protein from animals, the body will absorb and use flax's great abundance of amino acids more effectively helping you build a stronger, healthier and leaner body. Adding flax seeds to cereals, shakes, baked products, yogurt and other dishes will also lower the GI (glyecemic index) of these dishes, increase protein content while balancing the macronutrient profile [9].

8. Get Energised

If you want to increase your energy, nourish the nerves and brain, regulate sex hormone production and blood sugar levels, then flaxseed's manganese will help. Just two tablespoons of flaxseed will give you more than 30 percent of this daily essential mineral. Being important in the breakdown of amino acids, carbohydrates and fats, metabolism of Vitamins B1 and E, Manganese activates enzymes necessary for proper digestion & utilization of foods. Signs of manganese deficiency include poor growth, impaired reproductive function, weakened bones and skeletal abnormalities, glucose intolerance, and altered carbohydrate and lipid metabolism. As a exceptional source of manganese, flaxseed may help correct these symptoms with regular supplementation [12, 13].

9. De-Stress

Lack of sleep, fatigue, irritability, susceptibility to diseases, lack of concentration, headaches, muscle cramps are just a few symptoms of stress. Stress depletes our stores of all nutrients. But the one of the most important compounds responsible for relaxation is magnesium which is used up rather quickly during stress. The good news is that it can easily be replenished with flaxseed supplementation. As the second most abundant mineral in flax, Magnesium is essential for immunity, protein synthesis, enzyme action, muscle contraction and coordination, relaxation and bone mineralisation. Magnesium calms all systems and tissues in the body allowing them to recover and prepare for more work. The mineral also helps to reduce the severity of asthma by keeping airways relaxed and open. Through regulation of nerve impulses, the mineral have shown to minimize the symptoms of fibromyalgia, prevent swelling of blood vessels responsible for migraine headaches, relax muscles and relieve cramps and pains, lower high blood pressure and the risk of heart attack and stroke, promote sound sleep and general relaxation [14].

10. Make Your Skin Beautiful

Complexion and colour of your skin reveals the health of your body and requires proper care. Dry and oily skin, acne, rash, blackheads and whiteheads and easy scaring all reveal under-nutrition of some and over-nutrition of other elements. Several nutrients, all found in flaxseed, have shown to protect and repair your skin. Carotene, Vitamins A, E and C, selenium, zinc, and sulphur lessen the skin damage from free radicals of UV sun rays, help repair tissue and promote the growth of new skin cells. Additionally, flaxseed's oil rich in essential fatty acids (EFAs) will moisturise the skin from within creating a smooth velvety complexion. With aging and sun exposure, the skin becomes dry and prone to wrinkles. While creams and lotions may help preserve the superficial skin layer, nutritious diet with plenty of EFAs will stimulate the production of natural moisture protective coating, make the skin more resistant to the environmental damage and help construct new healthy-looking skin [9].

Delicious Ways to Eat Flax

• Pleasant, nutty flavour of flaxseed makes it an excellent tasty addition to cereals, shakes, salads, sandwiches, cottage cheese, ricotta, or yogurts. Sprinkle a few teaspoons of ground flax seeds on top of the prepared dish and enjoy the crunchy texture and earthy look.

• Whole flax seeds are difficult to digest and should be crushed to make all their valuable nutrients more available for the body to absorb. Grind the seeds or chew them very well otherwise they will simply pass through the body. It is best to grind the seeds just before using them as the flavour and nutrient status deteriorates very fast.

  

• Flax oil cannot stand up to high temperatures, therefore it is not suitable for cooking, baking or frying. However, it can be added to a dish after cooking, used in salad dressings or as a dip for breads. Keep the oil in the dark bottle in the refrigerator as it spoils quickly when exposed to light and heat.

References:

1. Tarpila S, Kivinen A. Ground flaxseed is an effective hypolipidemic bulk laxative [abstract]. Gastroenterology. 1997;112:A836.

2. Lini semen, linseed. In: European Scientific Cooperative on Phytotherapy. Monographs on the medicinal uses of plant drugs. Dusseldorf, Germany : IDW-Verlag. 1997:1-5.

3. Lini semen, linseed. In: European Scientific Cooperative on Phytotherapy. Monographs on the medicinal uses of plant drugs. Dusseldorf, Germany : IDW-Verlag. 1997:1-5.

4. Annussek, G. Flaxseed. The Gale Encyclopedia of Alternative Medicine. Gale Group 2001.

5. Thompson LU. Experimental studies on lignans and cancer. Baillieres Clin Endocrinol Metab.1998;12:691-705.

6. Thompson LU, Rickard SE, Orcheson LJ, et al. Flaxseed and its lignan and oil components reduce mammary tumor growth at a late stage of carcinogenesis. Carcinogenesis. 1996;17:1373-1376.

7. Serraino M, Thompson LU. The effect of flaxseed supplementation on the initiation and promotional stages of mammary tumorigenesis. Nutr Cancer. 1992;17:153-159.

8. Yan L, Yee JA, Li D, et al. Dietary flaxseed supplementation and experimental metastasis of melanoma cells in mice. Cancer Lett. 1998;124:181-186.

9. Erasmus, U. Fats That Heal, Fats That Kill. Alive Books 1993.

10. Arjmandi BH, Khan DA, Juma S, et al. Whole flaxseed consumption lowers serum LDL-cholesterol and lipoprotein(a) concentrations in postmenopausal women. Nutr Res. 1998;18:1203-1214.

11. Jenkins DJ, Kendall CW, Vidgen E, et al. Health aspects of partially defatted flaxseed, including effects on serum lipids, oxidative measures, and ex vivo androgen and progestin activity: a controlled crossover trial. Am J Clin Nutr. 1999;69:395-402.

12. Friedman BJ, Freeland-Graves JH, Bales CW, et al. Manganese balance and clinical observations in young men fed a manganese-deficient diet. J Nutr. 1987;117(1):133-143.

13. Kies C. Bioavailability of manganese. In: Klimis-Tavantzis DL, ed. Manganese in health and disease. Boca Raton: CRC Press, Inc; 1994:39-58.

14. Kobrin SM and Goldfarb S. Magnesium Deficiency. Semin Nephrol 1990;10:525-535.