Product Sheet

Ultra Flaxseed Lignans

…Intended to support breast, cardiovascular & prostate health


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Link to Ultra Flax Seed Lignans

Ultra Lignan Flax Seed Oil

  


Features & Benefits

  • Standardized lignan extract guarantees SDG concentration
  • Exhibits phytoestrogenic activity
  • Significant antioxidant and cholesterol-balancing activity for healthy arteries
  • Intended to provide nutritive support for:
    • breast, cardiovascular and prostate health
    • healthy cell replication


Facts About Flax Lignans

Lignans are a family of phytonutrients that have unique and useful functions in the human body. Lignans are produced by bacteria in the human digestive tract from precursors found in plant foods. The most concentrated source of dietary lignan precursors is flaxseed.1

Plant-derived lignans are soluble in both fats and water and exhibit powerful antioxidant activity in both, which means they can protect a wide range of human tissues against free radical attack.2,3,6

Fruits, whole grain products, and some vegetables contain plant lignans such as secoisolariciresinol diglycoside (SDG). Technically, plant lignans are considered mammalian lignan precursors. After ingestion, our intestinal bacteria convert SDG and other lignan precursors into animal lignans: enterolactone and enterodiol.4,5,6

Standardized Flax Lignans
Two rounded tablespoon of flaxseed meal is equal to about 14 grams. This amount provides approximately 1.5% of lignans as SDG. One gram of standardized extract contains approximately 20% of lignans as SDG.


Facts About Flax Seed Oil

While the purified oil derived from the seeds of the flax plant does not contain lignans, it is rich in essential fatty acids, which contribute to the primary structural components of all human cell membranes and are especially vital to maintaining healthy nerves and skin. Flax oil is also is one of nature’s richest plant sources of omega-3 essential fatty acids. Typically, flax oil contains 55%-60% omega-3 fatty acids as alpha-linolenic acid (ALA). The human body can partially convert ALA to the omega-3 fatty acids found in fish – EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid) and DHA (docosahexaenoic acid).7 Omega-3 fatty acids play important roles in numerous physiological processes,8,9 including the maintenance of healthy blood pressure, control of the natural inflammatory response, and overall protection of the cardiovascular system.10,11 Nature’s Life Ultra Lignan Flax Seed Oil includes 775 mg of flax seed oil per softgel.

Women’s Health
Enterolactone and enterodiol provide beneficial hormonal effects in women, depending on their menstrual status: in postmenopausal women, the effect is estrogenic, whereas in premenopausal women, the effect is antiestrogenic.7 Accordingly, lignans from flax may help maintain a homeostasis, or balance, of female estrogen levels.

High lignan intake from flaxseed has been associated in human studies with relief from menopausal symptoms.1 Some clinical studies have found that women with healthy breast tissue tend to have higher urinary lignan levels, signifying increased dietary intake.13,14,15 One clinical trial, involving 28 postmenopausal women, studied lignans’ effect on breast health. Researchers examined two pathways of estrogen metabolism that compete in the production of estrogen metabolites. The researchers found after seven weeks that supplementation with flaxseed significantly altered this ratio in the direction associated with improved health of breast tissue.16 The study also showed that a higher dose of flax led to a greater positive response than did a lower dose.

Men’s Health
Lignans are a significant constituent of prostate secretions,17 suggesting a potential role for lignans in prostate health. Phytoestrogens derived from flax lignan work to block the overproduction of the hormone estrone within fat cells. Weight gain can trigger fat cells synthesis of estrone, which in turn may encourage prostate cells to overproduce Dihydrotestosterone (DHT). Prostate health depends on balanced levels of DHT production. In a pilot study, 25 men were given a fat-restricted diet and whole flaxseeds. This protocol led to a more normal replication of prostate cells according to several indices tracked by the researchers.18

Heart Health
Lignan intake has also been linked to markers associated with a healthy heart. Scientists recognize a connection between symptoms such as high blood pressure, obesity and elevated cholesterol levels with an increase in the risk of heart disease. Trials conducted to assess effects of dietary estrogens for women in Western populations have found that those with the highest intake of lignan precursors, compared to the lowest, showed lower blood pressure, waist-hip ratio, triglyceride levels, and higher overall cardiovascular health.19,20


Dosage and Contraindications

Clinical trials studying lignan for its phytoestrogenic and antioxidant activities have used between 5 g and 25 g of flaxseed per day.

  • Each tablet of Nature’s Life® Ultra Flaxseed Lignans contains 30 mg of flax lignans, which is equivalent to the lignans content of 10 grams of whole flaxseed.
  • Each softgel of Nature’s life® Ultra Lignan Flaxseed Oil contains 10 mg of flax lignans and 775 mg flaxseed oil.
  • There are no known contraindications from consumption of flax seeds or flax seed lignans.

References
  1. Thompson LU, Rickard SE, Cheung F, et al. Variability in anticancer lignan levels in flaxseed. Nutr Cancer 1997;27:26-30.
  2. Thompson LU, Rickard SE, Cheung F, et al. Variability in anticancer lignan levels in flaxseed. Nutr Cancer 1997;27:26–30.
  3. Kilkkinen A, Stumpf K, Pietinen P, et al. Determinants of serum enterolactone concentration. Am J Clin Nutr 2001;73:1094–1100.
  4. Thompson, LU, Robb, P, Serraino, M, Cheung, F. Mammalian lignan production from various foods. Nutr Cancer 1991;16:43–52.
  5. Kitts DD, Yuan YV, Wijewickreme AN, Thompson LU. Antioxidant activity of the flaxseed lignan secoisolariciresinol diglycoside and its mammalian lignan metabolites enterodiol and enterolactone. Mol Cell Biochem 1999;202:91–100.
  6. Prasad K. Hydroxyl radical-scavenging property of secoisolariciresinol diglucoside (SDG) isolated from flaxseed. Mol Cell Biochem 1997;168:117–23.
  7. Harper A, Kerr DJ, Gescher A, Chipman JK. Antioxidant effects of isoflavonoids and lignans, and protection against DNA oxidation. Free Radic Res 1999;31:149-60.
  8. Prasad K. Antioxidant activity of secoisolariciresinol diglucoside-derived metabolites, secoisolariciresinol, enterodiol, and enterolactone. Int J Angiol 2000;9:220-5.
  9. Prasad K. Reduction of serum cholesterol and hypercholesterolemic atherosclerosis in rabbits by secoisolariciresinol diglucoside derived from flaxseed. Circulation 1999;99:1355-62.
  10. Prasad K. Flaxseed: a source of hypocholesterolemic and antiatherogenic agents. Drug News Perspect. 2000;13:99-104.
  11. Thompson, LU Experimental studies on lignans and cancer ; Baillieres Clin Endocrinol Metab 1998;12:691-705 [review].
  12. Thompson LU, Seidl MM, Rickard SE, et al. Antitumorigenic effect of a mammalian lignan precursor from flaxseed. Nutr Cancer 1996;26:159–65.
  13. Lemay A, Dodin S, Kadri N, et al. Flaxseed dietary supplement versus hormone replacement therapy in hypercholesterolemic menopausal women. Obstet Gynecol 2002;100:495-504.
  14. Rickard SE, Yuan YV, Thompson LU. Plasma insulin-like growth factor I levels in rats are reduced by dietary supplementation of flaxseed or its lignan secoisolariciresinol diglycoside. Cancer Lett 2000;161:47-55.
  15. Lin X, Gingrich JR, Bao W, et al. Effect of flaxseed supplementation on prostatic carcinoma in transgenic mice. Urology 2002;60:919-24.
  16. Adlercreutz H, Heikkinen R, Woods M, et al. Excretion of the lignans enterolactone and enterodiol and of equol in omnivorous and vegetarian postmenopausal women and in women with breast cancer. Lancet 1982;2(8311):1295-9.
  17. Hutchins AM, Martini MC, Olson, B Amy, et al. Flaxseed influences urinary lignan excretion in a dose-dependant manner in postmenopausal women. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2000;9:1113–8
  18. Lampe JW, Martini MC, Kurzer MS, et al. Urinary lignan and isoflavonoid excretion in premenopausal women consuming flaxseed powder. Am J Clin Nutr 1994;60:122–8.
  19. Cunnane SC, Hamadeh MJ, Liede AC, et al. Nutritional attributes of traditional flaxseed in healthy young adults. Am J Clin Nutr 1995;61:62–8.
  20. Haggans CJ, Hutchins AM, Olson BA, et al. Effect of flaxseed consumption on urinary estrogen metabolites in postmenopausal women. Nutr Cancer 1999;33:188–95.
  21. Morton M. S., Chan P. S. F., Cheng C., Blacklock N., Matosferreira A., Abranchesmonteiro L., Correia

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