Fwd: Diabetes, Heart & Flaxseed Oil

[Guest guest]

" *§_@y "

" Elaine "

Fri, 29 Aug 2003 19:58:09 -0700

Diabetes, Heart & Flaxseed Oil

 

> Dear Reader,

>

> In a recent posting on the HSI Forum, a member named Scott

> submitted these comments to a discussion about the use of

> flaxseeds:

>

> " There's lots of organic golden flaxseed available out there

> and it's delicious in any recipe. I use it daily in my

> garden of life shake, in my organic brown rice and free

> range turkey dish, in my own special three meat burgers,

> etc. The flaxseeds when freshly ground provide not only the

> worlds best flaxseed oil but fiber also! The golden flax has

> a slight almondy flavor. The seeds keep forever, not like

> the oil, which must be guarded in black bottles, etc.

> Flaxseeds are one of the best natural sources of essential

> omega three fats, so enjoy and be healthy! "

>

> I don't know about you, but I think I'd enjoy stopping over

> at Scott's for dinner sometime. Especially because a new

> study shows that a regular intake of flaxseed may help

> reduce two critical risk factors for diabetes and heart

> disease.

>

> -----------------------------

> Checking triglycerides

> -----------------------------

>

> Because flaxseed and soy protein have both been shown to

> help prevent a number of diseases, scientists at the

> Beltsville Human Nutrition Research Center in Maryland

> designed a study to test the beneficial effects of these two

> nutrients on liver steatosis (excess liver fat accumulation -

> a pre-diabetic condition) and hypertriglyceridemia

> (elevated triglyceride levels - a prominent marker for heart

> disease).

>

> Two groups of rats were used: one group was lean, while the

> other was a " SHR/N-cp " rat - a variety considered to be a

> genetic model of obesity. Each of the two groups were then

> separated into sub-groups which were fed diets that

> delivered 20 percent of energy through either flaxseed meal,

> soy protein, or (for a control group) a milk based protein

> called casein.

>

> After six months, analysis of the livers and plasma showed

> that while the obese rats experienced far more fat build up

> in the liver than the lean rats, those of both groups that

> were fed flaxseed showed far less liver fat accumulation.

> Additionally, triglyceride blood levels were lowered by

> almost 40 percent in lean rats fed flaxseed, and more than

> one-third in the obese rats that received flaxseed.

>

> Overall, both the lean and obese rats fed flaxseed

> experienced a significantly greater drop in triglycerides

> and reduced liver fat accumulation than those fed soy

> protein. (Rats fed soy and flax far outperformed those fed

> casein in all categories.) Researchers didn't attempt to

> explain why this was so, but stated that their results

> strongly established the basis for further studies in

> humans.

>

> -----------------------------

> The omega-3 factor

> -----------------------------

>

> The results of the Beltsville test were not entirely a

> surprise. As I told you in an e-Alert I sent last fall

> ( " Just The Flax " 11/18/02), flaxseed contains lignans, a

> good source of alpha-linolenic acid, which is converted by

> the body into omega-3 fatty acids, which improve cell

> function in the lining of the heart and blood vessels, lower

> triglyceride levels, and inhibit platelet clumping.

>

> As I've pointed out in a number of previous e-Alerts, the

> optimal balance of omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids should be

> 1:1. Most diets, however, are high in omega-6 (readily

> available in the oils used in many processed foods) and low

> in omega-3. The most common dietary source of omega-3 is

> fish, especially dark-meat fish like swordfish and tuna. But

> a high intake of these deep-water fish presents the problem

> of ingesting too much mercury.

>

> This is just one of the reasons why flaxseed is such a

> welcome addition to just about anyone's diet - an addition

> that may help promote good digestion, colon health, and even

> improved memory function through increased omega-3 levels.

>

> Of course, you can also increase your omega-3 fatty acid

> intake with fish oil supplements, cod liver oil or grass-fed

> beef (which tends to be very expensive, and most grocery

> stores don't carry it at all). But as Scott made clear in

> his message on the Forum, flaxseed meal provides a

> delicious, versatile, and highly nutritious addition to a

> wide variety of food preparations. As Scott put it so

> well, " Enjoy and be healthy! "

>

> **************************************************************

>

> **************************************************************

>

> ...and another thing

>

> Over the past few weeks I've received a number of e-mails

> regarding the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS)

> epidemic, but I've been reluctant to address this issue for

> two reasons: 1) The e-Alert is not designed to be a news

> outlet (and even if it was, every new SARS development I

> might tell you about would almost certainly be old news by

> the time the e-Alert arrived in your in-box). And 2) In

> spite of the supposed breakthrough several weeks ago when

> SARS was identified as coronavirus, it's clear that the more

> we learn about SARS the more confusing this situation is

> becoming.

>

> For instance, a report on sarstravel.com late last month

> revealed a statement from Dr. Frank Plummer (Canada's

> leading SARS microbiologist) that the coronavirus could only

> be detected in 30 percent of SARS patients. This would seem

> to be a clear set-back in unraveling the mystery of SARS,

> and yet you didn't hear about it on the evening news reports

> with the same fanfare that the " breakthrough " was given.

>

> Meanwhile, early last week the World Health Organization

> (WHO) revised its estimate of the percentage of SARS victims

> who have died from the disease from 6 percent to 15 percent - quite a

> significant jump! And on Friday, WHO acknowledged

> that health authorities in Beijing, China, have not been

> diligent in tracking the transmission reports that indicate

> how each patient has contacted the disease.

>

> In other words: confusion reigns. And it's at least partly

> due to misinformation. As William Campbell Douglass II,

> M.D., pointed out in a recent Daily Dose e-letter ( " SARS

> Scars " 5/2/03), WHO downplays the communicability of the

> virus, even though one theory reported in the Washington

> Post suggests that hundreds of residents of a 33-story Hong

> Kong apartment building may have been exposed to SARS

> through sewage pipe gasses - a far cry from the person-to- person contact

> we've been hearing about.

>

> So it seems that it may be awhile before we'll be able to

> fully trust the daily news we hear from different parts of

> the globe, coming from various government agencies and

> health organizations that may have reasons to downplay or

> even alter information.

>

> In the midst of all this, last week the British medical

> journal The Lancet released what they call the first major

> epidemiological study of SARS. The Lancet material

> emphasizes these two important points that I believe will

> remain reliable throughout this health crisis:

>

> * When the symptoms of SARS are recognized, patients should

> seek medical care immediately in order to increase their

> chances of survival and to reduce the risk of transmission.

> * This is especially true for patients 60 years of age and

> older, who tend to be most vulnerable to mortality caused by

> the disease

>

> These precautions may seem simple or even obvious, but if

> they're not taken seriously and rigorously adhered to, SARS

> could spread with geometric leaps. The good news from The

> Lancet study is that the disease appears to be controllable

> when concerted public-health interventions are in place.

> Hopefully that will prove to be true. But health

> practitioners can only be as diligent as the patients who

> respond quickly and responsibly when their symptoms arise.

>

> To Your Good Health,

>

> Jenny Thompson

> Health Sciences Institute

>

> **************************************************************

 

>

> Sources:

> " Dietary Flaxseed Meal is More Protective Than Soy Protein

> Concentrate Against Hypertriglyceridemia and Steatosis of

> the Liver in an Animal Model of Obesity " Journal of the

> American College of Nutrition, Vol. 22, No. 2, 157-164,

> 2003, jacn.org

> " Flaxseed - More Protective Than Soy Protein Against Heart

> Disease? " Natural Ingredients, 4/11/03,

> naturalingredients.com

> " SARS Scars " William Campbell Douglass II, M.D., Daily Dose,

> 5/2/03, realhealthnews.com

> " Confused Quacks Ignoring Vital SARS Evidence " Fintan Dunne,

> 4/27/03, homepage.eircom.net

> " Research Studies Shed New Light on SARS Virus " Patricia

> Reaney, Reuters, 5/8/03, asia.reuters.com

> " Results of First Major Epidemiological Study of SARS " Press

> release from The Lancet, 5/7/03, thelancet.com

>

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>