If you are trying to stay off the dreaded blood pressure medication and looking for natural ways to keep yourself heart healthy, this is good news.
Scientists have discovered that a cost-effective seed, easily available from your supermarket, can drastically lower your blood pressure.
During 2015, two teams of researchers independently conducted scientific literature reviews on the ability of flaxseed to reduce blood pressure. Both considered only properly controlled scientific experiments to improve the validity of their results.
The first of these, published in The Journal of nutrition, concluded that, on average, flaxseed consumers had a 1.77 mmHg lower systolic blood pressure and a 1.58 mmHg lower diastolic blood pressure than those who consumed no flaxseed. Remember that these are the average. You may be one of the lucky ones for whom it works a lot better.
According to the review, whole flaxseeds are more effective than flaxseed oil at reducing systolic blood pressure, while both work on diastolic blood pressure. Further, those who use it for more than 12 weeks benefit more than those who use it for a shorter period.
The second review, published in Clinical Nutrition, included only studies on flaxseed supplements, and reached even bigger conclusions.
• When all types of supplements and duration of consumption were calculated together, there was an average systolic drop of 2.85 mmHg and diastolic drop of 2.39.
• Those who took a flaxseed supplement for more than 12 weeks enjoyed a systolic drop of 3.10 mmHg and a diastolic drop of 2.62, which genuinely are impressive reductions.
• Those who took a powder supplement shed both systolic and diastolic points, those who took an oil supplement shed only diastolic points, and those who took a lignan extract did not benefit at all.
This review indicates that it is not the lignans in flaxseed that are responsible for the results. The active ingredients are probably the fiber and omega-3 fatty acids, or more specifically the alpha-linolenic acid (ALA) from which your body produces omega-3.
This is why researchers have also found that fish oil can lower blood pressure. It also contains omega-3 fatty acids, just in the form of eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA).
For example, a 2009 scientific literature review in the journal Current Vascular Pharmacology concluded that long-term supplementation with omega-3 fatty acids brought about a significant drop in blood pressure.
According to the authors, omega-3 seems to:
– promote the excretion of sodium in urine,
– promote the flexibility of blood vessels,
– decrease the production of substances that constrict blood vessels and cause inflammation,
– reduce ACE activity (similar to some blood pressure medication),
– enhance nitric oxide in the arterial lining
– activate the parasympathetic nervous system, and
– play a role in many other biological systems that regulate blood pressure.
Is there much this amazing antioxidant can’t do?
Luckily, flaxseed is easy to incorporate in your diet. Raw flaxseeds are tough to eat, so you may want to buy flaxseed meal or at least a flourmill to grind your own flaxseeds.
Once you have the ground flaxseeds, you can add them to smoothies, salads, cereal, and any other vegetable dish.
Flaxseed meal works well as an egg substitute for vegans. Just take 1 tablespoon flaxseed meal and mix it with 2 tablespoons of water. This makes one egg.
Flaxseed oil needs to stay cold, so it works brilliantly in salads and smoothies.
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Quite I'm formative article, thanks for sharing,
This is a completely useless piece of information. If I take my blood pressure two consecutive times, within a few minutes, my systolic and diastolic readings will often vary by more than the drop in blood pressure reported in the study you quoted. So, as far as I’m concerned, the reduction in blood pressure is statistically insignificant.
I first read this article 8 days ago on the 1st of December 2015. I picked up a bottle of pressed Flaxseed Oil that very day and mixing 1 tablespoon of Flaxseed Oil with some yoghurt to make it palatable has done the trick. My blood pressure is no longer "high", each reading is easily within the healthy range. Tomorrow, I will stop taking the prescribed tablets and just take the Flaxseed solution for a period of a week and test it on its own. It has been interesting to note that the usual "side effects" from taking the high blood pressure medication have not nearly been as bad over the past week or so.
To Geoff Heyblom
Geoff, please check with your doctor and or Pharmacist about how to ween off your blood pressure medication !!!
Depending on what you are taking for meds can be a nightmare for you to STOP ALL AT ONCE.
It also could have DANGEROUS SIDE EFFECTS.
YOUR PHARMACIST CAN ADVISE YOU AS TO THE DANGERS OF STOPPING YOUR MEDS. AND HOW TO WEEN OFF THEM.
I HOPE YOU GET THIS MESSAGE BEFORE YOU STOP THE MEDS. THE KEY IS “WEEN OFF MEDS.” NOT COLD TURKEY !!!
BEST WISHES.
checkreality
I hear you Marianne Varno. I will ween off the meds as suggested. I am given to White Coat Syndrome, so a visit to the Dr is something I am reluctant to do too often. My blood pressure levels are not high high, just higher than what is recommended (135/85). My search for an alternative to medication for high blood pressure came about because the unwanted side effects are becoming all consuming and cause much anxiety. Pinched skin feeling, chest pain, irregular heartbeat, dizzyness for starters and potential damage to my kidneys are all reasons to find an alternative. Flaxseed Oil has already made a huge difference. I will ween off slowly and consult a pharmacist in due course. Bottom line Big Pharma do not create solutions to a health issue they create a crutch one cannot live without.
I hear you Marianne Varno. I will ween off the meds as suggested. I am given to White Coat Syndrome, so a visit to the Dr is something I am reluctant to do too often. My blood pressure levels are not high high, just higher than what is recommended (135/85). My search for an alternative to medication for high blood pressure came about because the unwanted side effects are becoming all consuming and cause much anxiety. Pinched skin feeling, chest pain, irregular heartbeat, dizzyness for starters and potential damage to my kidneys are all reasons to find an alternative. Flaxseed Oil has already made a huge difference. I will ween off slowly and consult a pharmacist in due course. Bottom line Big Pharma do not create solutions to a health issue they create a crutch one cannot live without.
How do you take the Flaxseed? I’ve put it on food and it’s not so good, thanks,