FLAXSEED FACTS
Do
flaxseed muffins fight breast cancer and prostate cancer? Should we all be
eating flaxseeds and using flaxseed oil on our salads? Some people would say
yes, and it's true that recent research on the potential health benefits of flax
has been promising. But it pays to delve deeper.
The flax
plant, an ancient crop, yields the fiber from which linen is woven, as well as
seeds and oil. Flaxseed oil also comes in an edible form, sold mostly at
health-food stores. Like olive, canola, and most other plant oils, it is highly
unsaturated and heart-healthy. And flaxseeds have yet another very interesting
component—lingams—which may have anti-cancer properties.
The heart-healthy side of flax
Besides
lingams, flaxseeds and their oil are also the best food sources of an essential
fatty acid, alpha-linolenic acid. "Essential" means we must consume it, because
our bodies cannot manufacture it. Essential fatty acids are important for cell
membranes, blood pressure regulation, and other functions. Alpha-lanoline acid
is an omega-3, similar to some of the fatty acids in fish oil. Like aspirin,
omega-3s may reduce blood clotting, thus lessening the chance of a fatal heart
attack. Flaxseeds and their oil may also lower total blood cholesterol, as well
as LDL ("bad") cholesterol. But that should come as no big surprise, since any
highly unsaturated oil will do that, particularly if substituted for saturated
fats. The fiber in flaxseeds may also help against cholesterol, since it is
soluble (similar to that in oats).
Several
population studies have linked a high intake of alpha-linolenic acid with a
reduced risk of heart disease and/or death from heart disease. And a French
study, as we reported in 1999, found that a diet relatively rich in alpha-linolenic
acid greatly reduced the risk of second heart attacks. (The alpha-linolenic acid
in that study did not come from flaxseeds, but from canola-oil margarine.)
Besides flaxseeds and canola oil, alpha-linolenic acid is also found in soybean
oil and walnuts. |
