Breast Cancer

Standard medical treatment for breast cancer includes lumpectomy (partial removal of the breast), chemotherapy and radiation.

Evidence of lignans containing SDG being effective in reducing breast cancer came from the University Department of Surgery, Queen Elizabeth II Medical Center, in Perth, Australia. In this controlled study, published in Lancet, women with newly diagnosed breast cancer were interviewed, and urine samples were assayed for various plant constituents including the lignans enterodiol and enterolactone. After adjustments, high excretion of both equol and enterolactone was associated with a “substantial reduction in breast cancer risk.”

Lignans help prevent or reduce breast cancer partly due to the fact that the lignan constituents in plants, such as SDG in flaxseed, resemble the female hormone estrogen. When natural estrogen is abundant in the body, lignans reduce estrogen’s effects by displacing it from cells. This displacement can help prevent those cancers, such as breast cancer, that depend on estrogen to start and develop.

In a 1996 study, SDG was tested for effects on mammary tumor genesis in rats. The consumption of the flaxseed lignan SDG resulted in a 37% reduction in the number of tumors per tumor-bearing rat, and a 46% reduction in the number of tumors per number of rats in each group.

Colon Cancer

Since the plant lignan SDG is converted into the mammalian lignans enterolactone and enterodiol directly within the colon, SDG is particularly effective in combating cancer of the colon.

In a 1992 study, it was discovered that flaxseed ingestion produced anti-carcinogenic lignans in the colon. Following an injection to induce carcinogenesis, five groups of male rats were fed a high-fat diet with or without supplementation with flax meal for 4 weeks. In the colons of the supplemented groups, the total number of aberrant crypt and foci were significantly reduced by 41–53% and 48–57% respectively.

Studies at the University of Toronto Department of Nutritional Medicine showed that over the long term flaxseed lignan still exerts a colon cancer protective effect. The conclusion was that flaxseed had colon cancer protective effect due, in part, to the lignan SDG.

Diabetes

Several studies at the University of Saskatchewan indicate that the lignan SDG from flaxseed can help prevent or significantly delay the development of diabetes. In a study with rats published in 2001, Dr. Prasad of the College of Medicine found that SDG reduced development of adult-onset (type 2) diabetes by 80 percent, and delayed the development of the disease significantly.

These studies built on Dr. Prasad’s previously published studies involving two animal models of type 1 (juvenile) diabetes, which showed that SDG reduced the development of type 1 diabetes by 71 and 75 percent respectively. Dr. Prasad has shown that both types of diabetes are associated with oxidative stress, and SDG’s potent antioxidant activity is effective in preventing and reducing the development of diabetes by reducing this oxidative stress.

Heart Disease

It is well known that flax oil fights heart disease by lowering dangerous LDL cholesterol and triglycerides, and reducing the build-up of atherosclerotic plaque on artery walls. Now evidence reveals that SDG lignan in a concentrated form has an equal or greater effect.

Researchers produced an extract from a flax meal consisting of 99% pure SDG and fed it to rabbits on a high cholesterol diet for 8 weeks. After 8 weeks, the addition of SDG resulted in a 73% reduction in atherosclerotic plaques compared to untreated rabbits. There was also a 33% reduction in serum cholesterol and an increase in the “good” or protective cholesterol in the SDG-fed rabbits.

In a study of 29 hyperlipidemic subjects placed on a diet of 50 grams of partially defatted flaxseed, their LDL cholesterol was reduced 7.6% after only three weeks. Since there was no oil in the flaxseed, the component responsible for those effects was the lignans.

Kidney Disorders

There is growing evidence that dietary phytoestrogens, such as flax lignan, have a beneficial role in chronic renal (kidney) disease. Recent findings from dietary intervention studies performed in animals and humans suggest that consumption of flaxseed rich in lignans retards the development and progression of chronic renal disease.

In a study involving dietary supplementation of flax lignan, mice with lupus were fed a diet supplemented with 15% flaxseed for 14 weeks. The flaxseed diet significantly delayed the onset of proteinuria (a sign of severe renal disease). Mortality was lower in the flaxseed-fed mice.

In a study at the University of Manitoba, it was discovered that lignans in flaxseed improve kidney function in certain types of kidney diseases. When rats with kidney dysfunctions were given flaxseed in their diet, it preserved renal function and reduced histological injury.

Lupus

Lupus is a chronic inflammatory disease that can affect many of the body’s organs and skin. There is no cure and complete remissions are rare. At least 90 percent of those that contract the disease are women.

Research at the University of Western Ontario indicates that SDG has a therapeutic role in animal and human lupus nephritis. Lignans act as PAF receptor antagonists, which means the lignans reduce the accommodation of PAF’s (platelet activating factors), which have been implicated with the onset of renal injury.

A test with eight lupus patients given 15, 30, and 45 grams of flaxseed per day for four weeks showed that PAF-induced platelet aggregation was inhibited by all doses. The flaxseed conferred significant benefits in the pathogenesis of lupus nephritis.

Men’s Health

The biological properties of lignans have several beneficial effects for men. Their potent anti-estrogenic effect has drawn the interest of those looking to increase their testosterone to estrogen ratio naturally — without adverse side-effects.

Lignans may also offer a benefit to men who are athletic, do heavy lifting or strenuous work by preventing damage to muscles. It was demonstrated that rats which were pretreated with lignan-enriched extract were protected against physical exercise-induced muscle damage.

Prostate Cancer

Cancer of the prostate gland is the second leading cause of cancer death among men. Flaxseed ingestion produces large amounts of mammalian lignans with weak estrogenic/anti-estrogenic properties. In tests, these properties reduced adult relative prostate weight and cell proliferation, suggesting potential protection against prostatic disease.

Researchers from the University of Wales College of Medicine determined the concentration of lignans in prostate fluid from Portuguese, Chinese, and British men. The mean concentrations of enterolactone and other plant estrogens were very high among Portuguese and Asian men. The research team concluded that the level of lignans and related plant estrogens may be responsible, in part, for lower incidence of prostate cancer in men from Mediterranean countries.

A very recent study involved twenty-five patients with prostate cancer who were given a lignan-rich flaxseed supplementation. The results showed a favorable effect on prostate cancer biology and associated biomarkers.

Skin Cancer & Melanoma

A recent review suggests that both isoflavones and lignans are natural cancer protective compounds, and are useful against skin cancer.

Researchers from the Department of Biomedical Sciences, Creighton University School of Medicine, investigated the effect of dietary supplementation of flaxseed on experimental melanoma cells. Flax reduced tumor occurrence by up to 63%. The addition of flaxseed to the diet also caused a dose-dependent decrease in tumor area and volume, showing that it could be beneficial in both prevention and treatment. Further, the rich source of lignans reduced metastasis and inhibited the growth of the metastatic secondary tumors in the animals tested.

Women’s Health

Because lignans are phytoestrogens, they are effective in treating several health issues for women. If there is little estrogen in the body (after menopause, for example), lignans may act like weak estrogen; but when natural estrogen is abundant in the body, lignans may instead reduce estrogen’s effects by displacing it from cells.

Women consuming lignan-rich flaxseed products generally report a reduction in breast tenderness, bloating, hot flashes, sweating, vaginal dryness, and other symptoms related to PMS and menopause. This is due to the lignan’s estrogenic activity.

In one study, women consuming lignans in flaxseed did not miss a single cycle, compared to the control group that missed several cycles. In another study women supplemented their diet with a dose of 10 g/day of flax, resulting in elevated progesterone/estradiol ratios in the luteal phase.

A study of twenty-eight postmenopausal women found that lignan-rich flaxseed supplementation significantly increased urinary excretion of estrogen metabolites, suggesting that lignan from flaxseed may have chemo-protective effects in postmenopausal women.

Other Uses & Treatments

There is evidence that lignans are anti-parasitic. In one test, vitamin E deficient diets containing 5 to 20% ground flaxseed protected mice against the malarial parasite Plasmodium yoelii as shown by decreased parasitemia and enhanced survival.

Dietary supplementation with SDG significantly reduced pulmonary metastasis of melanoma cells and inhibited the growth of metastasis tumors that formed in the lungs, aiding in the fight against lung cancer.

There is clinical and laboratory evidence which indicates that phytoestrogens, such as flaxseed lignan, have an anti-proliferation effect on the breast, and positive effects on the lipoprotein profile and bone density.

Flax lignan is useful for pets and livestock. Horse owners have reported using it to produce glossy looking coats and to the diets of pets to improve their appearance and general health.

Flaxseed and its lignan have been shown to reduce inflammatory responses, but did not prevent macrophages (cells of the immune system) from killing bacteria.