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Flax Lignans for Mens Health |
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Flax Lignans for Men's Health
by Jocelyn Mathern, R.D.
Flax lignans have benefits for men,
specifically related to prostate health.
A lot of attention is being focused on
benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) because it
is a growing public health problem. The
American Urological Association estimates
that BPH affects 50 percent of men aged 50 to
60 and up to 90 percent of men over the age
of 80. Simply stated, BPH is a non-cancerous
condition where the prostate becomes
enlarged. This can be a problem because the
urethra, the tube carrying urine from the
bladder to outside the body, runs through
the prostate. A growing prostate can pinch
off the urethra and cause uncomfortable
symptoms, like a frequent and overwhelming
urge to urinate and painful urination.
The exact cause of BPH is unknown but
male hormones seem to play a role.
Hormones also play a role in another
prostate condition—prostate cancer, the
second leading cause of cancer death among
men.
Lignans have been shown to interfere
with testosterone metabolism—more specifically
the conversion of testosterone into
dihydrotestosterone (DHT). DHT is the
active form of testosterone. While DHT is
needed for normal prostate cell growth, too
much may lead to abnormal growth. In addition,
lignans may also reduce the amount of
testosterone available for the body to use. By
reducing male hormones that fuel BPH and
prostate cancer growth, lignans have the
potential to reduce prostate size, alleviate
symptoms of BPH and protect against
prostate cancer.
Studies have shown that lignan concentrations
are higher in the prostate fluid of
men with a lower risk of prostate cancer than
those at increased risk. In a more recent
study, 25 prostate cancer patients were given
a low-fat diet plus flaxseed. At the end of the
study, the men had reduced testosterone
levels, lower rates of cancer cell growth and a
trend towards lower prostate specific antigen
(PSA) levels. The study was done with whole
flaxseed so the authors couldn’t determine
how much of the effect was due to lignans.
Therefore, they conducted another study
using lignans derived from flaxseed. The lignans
inhibited growth of human prostate
cancer cells in a test tube, which supports the
idea that lignans are protective against
prostate cancer.
While it is too early to say that eating
flaxseed and its lignans will reduce the risk of
prostate cancer and BPH, evidence is
pointing in that direction.
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