Flaxseed May Reduce Stress, Atherosclerosis Risk

Flaxseed May Reduce Stress, Atherosclerosis Risk

LONDON, Ontario--Flax lignans and phytoestrogen may improve responsesto stress, thereby protecting against atherosclerosis, according to Canadianresearchers (J Am Coll Nurt, 22, 6:494-501, 2003) (www.jacn.org).Flaxseed contains large quantities of alpha-linolenic acid, which has been shownto protect against vascular disease.

The random-sequence, double blind, Latin square crossover study compared theeffects of three strains of flaxseed: Flanders (low in lignan, high inalpha-linolenic acid), Linola 989 (high in lignan, low in alpha-linolenic acid)and AC Linora (intermediate in both lignan and alpha-linolenic acid). All threestrains significantly reduced blood pressure in the 35 postmenopausal women withvascular disease between the ages of 54 and 70 who participated in the study;researchers wrote the strain with the highest lignan and lowest alpha-linolenicacid (Linola 989) was associated with the least increase in peripheralresistance during stress, the greatest reduction in plasma cortisol duringstress and the smallest increase in plasma fibrinogen during mental stress.