Friday Favorites: Benefits of Flaxseeds for Inflammation

Aug 24, 2023

Friday Favorites: Benefits of Flaxseeds for Inflammation

Elevated levels of pro-inflammatory, aging-associated oxylipins can be normalized by eating ground flaxseed.

Here’s the video I did on Flax Seeds for Hypertension (https://nutritionfacts.org/video/Flax…

What about flax and cancer? See:
• Flaxseeds \u0026 Breast Cancer Survival: Clinical Evidence (https://nutritionfacts.org/video/flax…)
• Can Flax Seeds Help Prevent Breast Cancer? (https://nutritionfacts.org/video/Can-…)
• Flaxseed vs. Prostate Cancer (https://nutritionfacts.org/video/flax…)
• Flaxseeds \u0026 Breast Cancer Prevention (https://nutritionfacts.org/video/flax…)

I also have one on diabetes: Flaxseeds vs. Diabetes (https://nutritionfacts.org/video/flax…)

And weight loss: Benefits of Flaxseed Meal for Weight Loss (http://nutritionfacts.org/video/benef…)

But what about the cyanide content of flax? I answered that in
How Well Does Cooking Destroy the Cyanide in Flaxseeds? (http://nutritionfacts.org/video/how-w…) and Should We Be Concerned About the Cyanide from Flaxseed? (http://nutritionfacts.org/video/shoul…)

What else can help fight inflammation? Check out:
• Inhibiting Platelet Aggregation with Berries (https://nutritionfacts.org/video/inhi…)
• Turmeric Curcumin and Osteoarthritis (https://nutritionfacts.org/video/turm…)
• Turmeric Curcumin and Rheumatoid Arthritis (https://nutritionfacts.org/video/turm…)
• Which Spices Fight Inflammation? (https://nutritionfacts.org/video/whic…)
• Dietary Treatment for Painful Menstrual Periods (https://nutritionfacts.org/video/diet…)
• Benefits of Turmeric Curcumin for Inflammatory Orbital Pseudotumor (https://nutritionfacts.org/video/bene…)
• The Effects of Avocados and Red Wine on Meal-Induced Inflammation (https://nutritionfacts.org/video/effe…)

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Thanks for watching. I hope you’ll join in the evidence-based nutrition revolution!
-Michael Greger, MD FACLM

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Content

0.71 -> [Music]

2.159 -> foreign

3.91 -> [Music]

11.599 -> the potent anti-hypertensive effect of

14.58 -> dietary flaxseed in hypertensive

16.98 -> patients this was a double randomized

20.34 -> placebo-controlled trial where they

21.96 -> disguised ground flaxseed and baked

24.119 -> goods versus like flax free Placebo

27 -> muffins and got an extraordinary drop in

29.58 -> high blood pressures as you can imagine

31.679 -> the flaxseed industry was overjoyed

34.8 -> praising the impressive findings as was

37.2 -> I after all high blood pressure is the

39.899 -> single largest risk factor for death on

42.78 -> the planet Earth

44.219 -> yes we give people medications lots and

48.3 -> lots of medications but most people

51 -> don't take them as in nine out of 10

53.7 -> people take less than 80 percent of the

55.559 -> prescribed blood pressure pills just

57.12 -> eight percent

59.28 -> it's not difficult to understand why

61.559 -> patients are asked to follow An

63.719 -> Inconvenient potentially costly regimen

65.88 -> which will likely have detrimental

68.22 -> effect on their health related quality

69.78 -> of life to treat it mostly asymptomatic

72.96 -> condition so they may feel worse instead

76.26 -> of better due to the side effects the

78.6 -> answer then is to give them more drugs

81.18 -> too counteract the effects of the first

82.619 -> drugs like giving men Viagra to counter

85.08 -> the erectile dysfunction caused by their

87.54 -> blood pressure pills how about using a

90.06 -> dietary strategy instead especially if

92.759 -> it can just be as effective and indeed

95.22 -> the drop in blood pressures they got in

97.14 -> the flaxseed study was greater than the

99.72 -> average decreased observed with the

101.64 -> standard dose of antihypertensive drugs

103.74 -> and flax seeds are cheaper too compared

106.799 -> to even single medications than most

108.54 -> patients are on multiple drugs and has

112.14 -> good side effects beyond their

113.72 -> anti-hypertensive actions but not all

116.46 -> good taking tablespoons of flaxseed a

118.799 -> day is a lot of fiber for people who've

120.899 -> been you know living off of

122.1 -> cheeseburgers and milkshakes their whole

123.479 -> lives it can take a little while for

124.92 -> your gut bacteria to adjust to the new

128.039 -> Bounty so people who start out with low

130.619 -> fiber diets may want to take it slow at

133.68 -> first

135 -> not all Studies have shown significant

137.4 -> blood pressure lowering effects there

138.959 -> have been over a dozen trials by now

140.7 -> involving more than a thousand subjects

142.56 -> and though yes you know put them all

143.879 -> together and overall there were

145.319 -> significant reductions in both systoc

147.599 -> and diastolic blood pressures the upper

149.28 -> and lower numbers following

150.78 -> supplementation with various flaxseed

152.34 -> products none were as dramatic as that

154.86 -> six-month trial the longer trials tended

158.04 -> to show better results and some of the

160.14 -> trials just used flaxseed oil or some

162.54 -> kind of flax seed extract and the

164.76 -> thought is that the whole is greater

166.5 -> than the sum of its parts

168.9 -> the components of interest within

170.94 -> flaxseed the Omega-3s the the

172.8 -> cancer-fighting lignans all the soluble

175.2 -> fiber and plant proteins all contribute

177.239 -> toward the blood pressure reduction okay

180 -> but how why right what's the mechanism

183.84 -> some common blood pressure medications

185.94 -> like Norvasc or Procardia work by

188.459 -> reducing the ability of the heart to

190.98 -> contract or slowing the heart down and

193.2 -> so it's possible that's how flax seeds

195.48 -> work too but no dietary flaxseed reduces

198.659 -> blood pressure without cardiac

200.22 -> involvement but rather through changes

202.58 -> in plasma oxylipins

206.42 -> what are oxy lipids oxy lipins a group

209.94 -> of fatty acid metabolites involved in

212.099 -> inflammation and as a result have been

213.9 -> implicated in many pro-inflammatory

216.06 -> conditions including cardiovascular

217.739 -> disease and aging the best characterized

220.44 -> oxy lipids in relation to cardiovascular

222.599 -> disease are derived from the long-chain

225.06 -> omega-6 fatty acids known as arachidonic

228.239 -> Acid found pre-formed in animal products

230.34 -> particularly chicken and eggs and can be

233.459 -> made inside the body from junky omega-6

235.68 -> Rich oil such as cottonseed oil but

238.14 -> elevated levels of pro-inflammatory oxy

240.299 -> lipids in older subjects are normalized

242.819 -> by flax seed consumption see that's how

246 -> we think flaxseed consumption reduces

247.799 -> blood pressure in patients with

248.819 -> hypertension by inhibiting the enzyme

251.459 -> that makes these pro-inflammatory

253.08 -> oxylipins also

255.78 -> spare you from the acronym overload but

258.359 -> basically eating flax seeds inhibits the

260.459 -> activity the enzyme that makes these

262.32 -> pro-inflammatory oxylipins called

264.02 -> leukotoxin dinos which in turn May lower

267.24 -> blood pressure identifying the molecular

269.58 -> mechanisms adds confidence to the

271.56 -> antihypertensive actions of dietary

273.54 -> flaxseed but that's not all oxy lipids

276.36 -> do oxy lipens may play a role in the

278.639 -> aging process but we may be able to

280.8 -> beneficially disrupt these biological

283.139 -> changes associated with inflammation and

284.88 -> aging with nutritional intervention like

287.82 -> flaxseed older adults around age 50 have

291.66 -> higher levels of these arachidonic acid

293.82 -> derived oxy-lipens compared to younger

296.58 -> adults around age 20. and these elevated

299.34 -> concentrations are pro-inflammatory

301.44 -> oxalip into the older age group may help

303.36 -> explain the higher levels of

304.86 -> inflammation in older versus younger

307.199 -> individuals I mean as we get older right

309.72 -> we're more likely to be stricken with

311.699 -> inflammatory conditions like arthritis

313.5 -> so this elevation of pro-inflammatory

316.08 -> oxy lipids May predispose individuals to

318.479 -> chronic disease conditions

320.699 -> but what if you took these older adults

322.74 -> and gave them muffins ground flaxseed

326.639 -> containing muffins four weeks later

329.699 -> their levels dropped to here right

333.18 -> down to like 20 year old levels

335.58 -> demonstrating that a potential

337.139 -> therapeutic strategy to correct the

338.94 -> deleterious pro-inflammatory oxylipin

341.16 -> profile is via dietary supplementation

343.74 -> with flax

348.47 -> [Music]

354.539 -> thank you

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bedVW65m0No