The health benefits of flax seeds

The flax seed is a small seed, but it turns out that it can provide some amazing health benefits. The article reviewed here is a summary of research on flax lignans which are found in the shell of the flax seeds and not in the oil.

Flax lignans have been documented to reduce lipid and glucose concentrations, lowering blood pressure and decreasing oxidative stress and inflammation (Adolphe JL, et al. 2010). This means that flax seeds may have a preventive and protective effect for cardiovascular disease and the metabolic syndrome. The metabolic syndrome includes a cluster of symptoms, some of them being insulin resistance, elevated lipids (cholesterol, triglycerides) and elevated blood pressure.

Flax seeds may also reduce cancer risk by preventing pre-cancerous cellular changes and by reducing angiogenesis and metastasis. Angiogenesis is the process of growing new blood vessels and is one of the steps in the formation of cancerous tumors.

Ground up flax seeds will also help to keep your gastrointestinal tract in good working order because it provides plenty of fiber.

This is an easy way to introduce flax seeds into your daily regime. Buy organic whole flax seeds and grind 2 tablespoons in a coffee grinder for approximately 10 seconds. Put it in a glass of water, stir and drink once to twice daily. You may want to introduce it slowly so you get used to the additional fiber and be sure you drink plenty of water.

I suggest you only grind what you are going to use at the time since the ground up seeds when exposed to the air will oxidize quickly. This is why I recommend to grind the seeds yourself instead of buying a big bag of already ground up seeds.

Another benefit you may notice especially if you use flax seeds twice daily is a softer and smoother skin, it will prevent dryness.