flax seed benefits
Flaxseed, also known as Linseed, is one of the most ancient plants to be cultivated around the world, first known in Egypt and China. Because it’s rich in useful vitamins, it’s considered one of the healthiest crops to be eaten and one of nature’s most helpful medicines. It is often told that King Charles The Great believed in flaxseed’s health benefits so much that he passed laws to ensure that his subjects would eat as much of it as possible! This was often used as proof to support than flaxseed has a lot of benefits, and here we are supporting this with scientific information.
Flaxseed is rich in linoleic and linolenic acids, that are both under the category of PUFA, polyunsaturated fatty acids, which are considered quite essential to our bodies and can protect against plenty of cardiovascular and heart diseases. Do you want to know the 6 ways flaxseed can help you become more healthy? Read on.
1 It Lowers Cholesterol Levels In Blood:
Polyunsaturated fatty acids in general and especially the essential alpha-linolenic acid is very helpful to turn the harmful LDL (low density lipoprotein) into the good HDL (high density lipoprotein.) Both are kinds of cholesterol, with the HDL being the good, healthy type. So you can see how flaxseed decreases cholesterol levels in blood. This can make your heart stronger and protect you against many cardiovascular diseases, such as blood clotting and high blood pressure.
2 Protects Against Radiations:
Flaxseed is an excellent anti-oxidant with high anti-inflammatory properties, making it very effective in protecting your skin tissues from radiations. This is what researchers at Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania strongly support, claiming that by increasing dietary flaxseed consumption, your skin becomes stronger to face such threats. In fact, it’s been proven that linseed is so useful to skin health that it protects it from skin cancer.
3 It Protects From Three Types of Cancer:
It’s true, as flaxseed decreases risk of colon, prostate and breast cancer. This is due to its content of lignans, which prevent tumors from forming new blood vessels in themselves thanks to their anti-angiogenic properties. Furthermore, flaxseed contains omega-3 fatty acids which prevent malignant tumor cells from attaching themselves to other body cells.
4 Improves Bowel Movements:
If you suffer from constipation or even diarrhea, consuming more flaxseed may help you. This is because flaxseed contains a high amount of both soluble and insoluble fibers although what matters here is the insoluble kind-this fiber doesn’t dissolve in water and instead, it bulks up in your digestive tract and helps move things through.
5 Works As A Great Anti-Depressant:
In case you’ve been suffering from low spirits lately, adding some flaxseed to your diet may help you. According to a Japanese study, people suffering from depression also suffer from significantly low levels of docosahexaenoic and eicosapentanoic acids which are found in some foods-most notably flaxseed.
6 Protects Liver From Diseases:
It’s still unclear how exactly flaxseed can improve your liver’s functions and protect it better, but it’s most likely due to its content of lignans. A recent study showed that men who consumed flaxseed regularly had a smaller chance of developing serious liver diseases.
Are you still contemplating increasing your flaxseed intake? If you are, this article should convince you to stop hesitating and having some linseed stored in your kitchen right away.