Kidney Disorder: the kidneys are the major regulators of the water electrolyte, and acid-base (pH) content of the blood and, indirectly, all body fluids.  Kidney disease is often the result of damage done to kidneys by exposure to certain drugs or toxins, heavy metals, solvents, poisons or pesticides. Impaired kidney function can also accompany or result from other disorders, such as diabetes, lupus, hypertension, and liver disease.*

     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 human suggest that consumption of flaxseed rich in lignans (concentrated flax hull lignans) retards the development and progression of chronic renal disease.**

     In a study involving the dietary supplement of concentrated flax hull lignans the research showed the existence of proteinuria, or protein in the urine, which is a sign of severe renal disease.  It was noted that lignans produce specific reversible and completive inhibition of PAF.  This PAF factor has been implicated with the onset of renal injury.  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.****

     Flaxseed has been investigated in both immune and non-immune models of renal injury.  It was concluded that in both models, flaxseed was beneficial in slowing the decline in renal function.  Studies comparing defatted flaxseed meal with full meal indicates that components other than the oil, such a fiber or lignans, have desirable properties in some aspects of renal disease.*****_________

*Blach, J., Prescription for Nutritional Healing, 1997, p. 357.

** Velasquez, M.T., Am. J. Kidney Dis., May, 2001, 37(5):1056-68

***Clark, W.F., & Parbtani, A., "Flaxseed in Experimental and Clinical Lupus Nephritis," University of Western Ontario, 2000, p. 17-22.  Hall, A.V., et al., Am. J. Kidney Dis., 1993, 22(2):326-32.

****Ogborn, M.R., et al., "The effect of dietary flaxseed supplementation on organic anion and osmolyte content and excretion in rat polycystic kidney disease," Biochem.  Cell. Biol., 1998, 76(2-3):553-9.

*****Parbtani, A. & W.F. Clark, "Flaxseed and its Components in Renal Disease," Flaxseed in Human Nutrition, 1995, AOCS Press, 244-260.

 

Breast Cancer: The American Cancer Society reports that one in eight women will contract breast cancer.  Unfortunately, breast cancer may be present for as long as 4 years before it can be detected by mammography or self-examination.

     According to Dr. Ross Pelton, author of Preventing Breast Cancer, the largest misconception among women is that if they do not have a history of breast cancer, they are at low risk.  This myth is simply untrue.  Dr. Pelton elaborates in stating that the majority of newly diagnosed cases of breast cancer are in women with no family history of the disease.

     Standard medical treatment for breast cancer includes lumpectomy (partial removal of the breast), mastectomy (total removal of the breast), chemotherapy, and radiation.  None of these are desirable treatments as they are harmful and destructive.  Natural treatments such as SDG are desirable, nondestructive and effective.

     Evidence of lignans in reducing breast cancer came from the University Department of Surgery, Queen Elizabeth II Medical Center, Perth, Western Australia.  In this case-control study, published in Lancet, women with newly diagnosed breast cancer were interviewed by means of questionnaires, and a 72 hour urine collection and blood sample were taken.  The urine samples were assayed for various plant constituents including the lignans enterodiol and enterolactone.  After adjustment for age at menarche, parity, alcohol intake, and total fat intake, high excretion of both equol (a plant estrogen) and enterolactone was associated with a “substantial reduction in breast-cancer risk,” the researchers stated.  They further concluded:

     “There is a substantial reduction in breast-cancer risk among women with high intake (as measured by excretion) of phyto-estrogens—particularly the isoflavonic phyto-estrogen equol and the lignan enterolactone.  These findings could be important in the prevention of breast cancer.”*

    Lignans help prevent or reduce breast cancer partly due to the fact that the lignan constituents in plants such as SDG in flax seed resemble the female hormone estrogen.  Lignans are thus classified as phytoestrogens.  Like other phytoestrogens, they hook onto the same spots on the cell where estrogen attaches.  When natural estrogen is abundant in the body, lignans reduce estrogen’s effects by displacing it from cells.  This displacement of the hormone 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 tumorigenesis 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 mammary tumors per number of rats in each group.  This study showed, for the first time, that SDG has an antitumor effect when provided at the early promotion stage of tumorigenesis. **

     Another study was conducted to determine if the lignan SDG could reduce mammary tumor growth at the late stage of carcinogenesis.  Flax SDG supplementation began 13 weeks after carcinogen administration to see if it would reduce the size of established mammary tumors (present at the start of treatment), and the appearance of new tumors in rats.  After 7 weeks of SDG treatment established tumor volume was over 50% smaller in all treatment groups, while there was no change in the rats on the normal control diet.  New tumor number and volume were also lower in the SDG group.  The conclusions were that SDG is beneficial throughout the promotional phase of carcinogenesis, and at the stage when tumors have already been established. ***

     During lactation breast development occurs involving the terminal end bud (TEB) structures in the breast.  A test was conducted to see if flaxseed lignans affected the development of the mammary gland in rats during lactation.  This was important because mammary glands with more TEBs are more susceptible to carcinogens.  The results were that lignans taken during early postnatal life induced structural change in the mammary gland that may reduce the risk of developing breast cancer. **** Thus lignans work in several different ways to fight breast cancer._____________

*Ingram, D., et al. “Case-control Study of Phyto-oestrogens and Cancer.”  Lancet, 1997; 350(9083):990-4.

**Thompson L.U., et al., “Antitumorigenic Effect of a Mammalian Lignan Precursor from Flaxseed.” Nutr. Cancer, 1996: 26(2):159-65.

***Thompson, L.U. Richard, S.E., “Flaxseed and its Lignan and Oil Components

Reduce Mammory Tumor Growth at a Late Stage of Carcinogenesis,” Carcinogenesis, 17(6):1373-6

****Tou, J.C., “Exposure to Flaxseed or its Lignan Component During Different Development Stages Influences Rat Mammary Gland Structures,” Carcinogenesis, Sep. 19.

 

 

Colon Cancer: Several factors put people at risk for colon cancer—lack of dietary fiber and calcium, a build up of toxins in the colon, continued constipation and/or diarrhea, a polyps, a high-fat diet.

     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 study it showed that SDG lignan over the short term decreases some early markers of colon cancer risk.  Studies at the University of Toronto, Department of Nutritional Medicine, were conducted which showed that over the long term flaxseed lignan still exerts a colon cancer protective effect.  Six groups of rats were fed for 100 days either a regular diet or one supplemented with 2.5 or 5% defatted flaxseed.  All rats were injected with a single dose of azoxymethane one week prior to commencing the dietary treatments.  This was done to induce colon cancer. The rats which were fed the defatted flax diet had significantly reduced number of aberrant crypts in the colon compared to the control group. It was concluded that flaxseed has a colon cancer protective effect that is due, in part, to the lignan SDG; and that the protective effect of flaxseed and SDG is associated with increased beta-glucuronidase activity.*

     Another research we performed which involved the mammalian lignans enterolactone (ED), which are derived from SDG.  In this research four human colon tumor cell lines were incubated with various levels of EL, ED, or 17 betal-estradiol for 8 to 10 days.  At 100 microM concentration, both lignans significantly reduced cell proliferation of all cell lines.  EL was more than twice as effective as ED at this concentration.  The growth was not affected by the presence of 17 beta-estradiol, implying that these cells are not estrogen sensitive.  The conclusion was that lignans are growth inhibitors of colon tumor cells and may act through mechanism(s) other than antiestrogenic activity. **

_________________

*Jenab, M., & Thompson, L., “Influence of Flaxseed and Lignans on Colon Carcinogenesis,” Carcinogenesis, 1996; 17(6):1343-1348.

**Sung. M.K., Lautens, M., Thompson, L., "Mammalian Lignans Inhibit the Growth of Estrogen-Independent Human Colon Tumor Cells,” Anticancer Res., 1998, May-Jun; 18(3A):1405-08.

 

 

Prostate Cancer: is cancer of the prostrate gland and is the second leading cause of death among men.  It is a disease that primarily occurs in men over sixty years old.  By the age of eighty, 80 % of all men have prostrate cancer to some extent.  Fortunately, in most cases prostrate cancer is a slow-growing cancer, doubling in mass every six years.  Like all cancers, the rate of prostrate cancer is rising in the US.  Part of the reason is due to high-fat diets and exposure to chemicals.  Current treatments are radical prostatectomy and radiation therapy.

     Flaxseed ingestion produces large amounts of mammalian lignans with weak estrogenic/anti-estrogenic properties.  In tests these properties reduced adult relative prostrate weight and cell proliferation, suggesting potential protection against prostatic disease, without affecting sex hormone levels.*

     Researchers from the University Of Wales College Of Medicine, Cardiff, United Kingdom, determined the concentration of lignans in prostrate fluid from Portuguese, Chinese and British men.  The mean concentration or enterolactone and other plant estrogens were very high among Portuguese and Asian men, respectively.  The research team concluded that the levels of lignans and related plant estrogens may be responsible, in part, for lower incidences of prostate cancer in men from Mediterranean countries. **

     A very recent study involved twenty-five patients with prostrate cancer which were given a lignan-rich flaxseed supplementation.  The results show a favorable affect on prostrate cancer biology and associated biomarkers. ***

_______________

* Tou, J., et al., Jour. Toxicol Environ. Health, 1999, 56(8):55.

** Morton, M.S., et al. “Lignans and Isoflavonoids in Plasma and Prostatic fluid in men: samples from Portugal, Hong Kong, and the United Kingdom.”  Prostrate, 1997: 32(2):122-8.

***Demark-Wahnefried, W., et al., Urology, Jul., 2001, 58(1):47-52.

 

 

Heart Disease: 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.  But now evidence is revealing that SDG lignan in pure, concentrated form has an equal or greater effect in fighting heart disease.

     Researchers produced a high concentration from flax meal consisting of 99% pure SDG.  The 99% pure SDG was fed to rabbits on a high cholesterol diet for a period of 8 weeks.  Another group was fed a diet high in cholesterol but received no SDG treatment.   After 8 weeks the rabbits were sacrificed.  It was discovered that the addition of SDG resulted in a 73% reduction in atherosclerotic plaques compared to the untreated rabbits.  It was also noted that there was a 33% reduction in serum cholesterol in the SDG-fed rabbits.  This shows that flaxseed SDG is effective in reducing hypercholesterolemic atherosclerosis.*

     The ability of SDG in reducing atherosclerosis is partly due to its antioxidant activity.  Oxygen free radicals have been implicated in the development of the disease.  Dr. Prasad states that oxygen free radicals damage the lining of the blood vessels and set the stage for development of atherosclerosis.**  SDG’s antioxidant activity has the ability to remove toxic metabolites of oxygen or free radicals, thus retarding atherosclerosis.

     Recent work from the University of Saskatchewan, has demonstrated that the reduction of hypercholesterolemia atherosclerosis is greater with SDG than with the whole flaxseed. *** The decrease is associate with a reduction of serum cholesterol and LDL-cholesterol.  These studies show the need for a more pure and concentrated form of lignan than what is in most “lignan flax oils” in order to obtain the greater benefits it offers against heart disease.

     In one study several dogs were pretreated with lignan-rich flaxseed.  The pretreatment attenuated endotoxin induced cardiac dysfunction and cellular damage.  Thus the lignans

Antioxidant and anti-PAF agents may be effective in the treatment of endotoxic shock. ****

_________________

*Prasad, K., Atherosclerosis, 1997, 132(1):69.

**Prasad, K., J. Kalra, “Oxygen Free Radicals and Hypercholesterolemic Atherosclerosis,” Am. Heart Jour.., 1993, 125:958-973.

*** McLennan, B., “Flaxseed-Lignan Research: the Potential for Inproved Health Care.”  College of Medicine & Alumni Review, University of Saskatchewan, 1996, 4(2): 7-8.

**** Pattanaik, U., Jour. Cardiovasc. Pharmacol.  Ther., 1995, 3(4):305

 

Skin Cancer & Melanoma: There are several different types of skin cancer, some of which are benign and others malignant.  An estimated 600,000 Americans develop some type of skin cancer each year, and over 10,000 die from the disease.  A recent review suggests that both isoflavonoids and lignans are natural cancer protective compounds, and useful against skin cancer. *

     Research from the Department of Biomedical Sciences, Creighton University School of Medicine, Omaha, Nebraska, investigated the effect of dietary supplementation of flaxseed, the richest source of lignans, on experimental melanoma cells.  Flax reduces tumor occurrence by up to 63%.  The addition of flaxseed to the diet also caused a dose-dependant 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. **

________________

*Adlercreutz, H., “Phytoestrogens: Epidemiology and a Possible Role in Cancer Protection,” Environ. Health Perspectives, 1995, 103:103-112.

** Yan, L., et al. “Dietary flaxseed supplement and experimental metastasis of melanoma cells in mice.” Cancer Lett, 1998; 124(2):181-6.

 

Women’s Health: Since lignans are phytoestrogens, they are effective in treating several health issues for women.  If there is little estrogen in the body lignans may act like weak estrogen; but when natural estrogen may act like weak estrogen; but when natural estrogen is abundant in the body, lignans may instead reduce estrogen’s effects by displacing of the hormone can help prevent breast cancer.

     A clinical study has shown that SDG phytoestrogen in particular, exhibits agonist properties to the estrogen receptor.* This property is of specific value to post-menopausal women, which typically exhibit low estrogen levels. 

     Women consuming lignan-rich flaxseed oil 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.

     For years people have been trying to regulate menstrual cycles.  Lignans in flaxseed have been shown to regulate women’s menstrual cycle.  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.  It resulted in elevated progesterone/estradiol ratios in the luteal phase: this was due to a decreased estradoil concentration.  The concentration of lignans measured in the urine showed the level of lignans absorbed.  Thus flax lignans clearly has a significant impact on controlling women’s menstrual cycle. ****

     In a study with rats, the effects of flax and its lignan SDG was compared with tamoxifen, an antiestrogen drug, by monitoring rat estrous cycling.  After four weeks 66% of the rats taking flax SDG had more regular cycling produced by a cessation or lengthening of estrous cycles.  In the rats given tamoxifen, 83% of the animals had irregular cycles or were in persistent diestrous.  The conclusion was that flaxseed and SDG were effective in being antiestrogenic without gross tissue toxicity.*****  The control which lignan has over the menstrual cycle has an influence on cancer growth.  This is because the less time a women spends in the luteal phase the lower the risk of breast cancer.******

     A study of 28 postmenopausal women was conducted in which they consumed lignan-rich flaxseed.  The supplementation significantly increased urinary excretion of the estrogen metabolites 2-hydroxyestrogen and 16 alpha-hydroxyestrone.  These results suggest that lignan from flaxseed may have chemoprotective effects in postmenopausal women. *******

     Because of the potential effects lignans have on estrogen, women who are pregnant or nursing should avoid taking large amounts of this supplement It is considered safe when used in moderation at this time.

___________________

*Brzezinski A., and Cebi A, Eur. J. Obst. Gyn. Reprod. Biol., 1999; 85:47-51.

** Knight D.C and Eden J.A., Obstet. Gynecol., 1987 (5 pt.2), 897-904.

***Lampe JW et al. “Urinary lignan and isoflavonoid excretion in premenopausal women consuming flaxseed powder.”  Am. Jour. Clin. Nutr., 1994; 60:122-8.

****Phipps, W. & Martini, M., Jour. Clin. Endocrinol Metab., 1993, 77:1215-1219.  Lampe, J., Am. Jour. Clin. Nutr, 1994, 60:122-128.

***** Orcheson, L.J., et al., “Flaxseed and its Mammalian Lignan Precursor Cause a Lengthening or Cessation of Estrous Cycling in Rats.” Cancer Lett., 1998, 125(1-2):69-76.

****** Henderson, B., et al., Cancer, 1985, 56:1206-1208.

******* Haggans, C.J., “Effect of Flaxseed on Urinary Estrogen Metabolites in Postmenopausal Women,” Nutr. Cancer, 1999, 33(2):188-95.    

 

Men’s Health: The biological properties of lignans have several beneficial effects for men.  Their potent anti-estrogenic effect has drawn the interest of bodybuilders who are always looking to increase their testosterone to estrogen ratio.  Here is one cheap, natural way to do it without adverse effects or putting yourself on the wrong side of the law.

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

____________

* Ko, K.M., Duncan, H., Phytotherapy Research, vol.10, Issue 5, 1996,pp.450-452.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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