Plant hormones: cancer protection?
Lignans are a type of fiber, and at the same time a type of phytoestrogena chemical similar to the human hormone estrogen. Flaxseeds are the richest source of lignans. When you eat lignans, bacteria in the digestive tract convert them into estrogen-like substances called enterodiol and enterolactone, which are thought to have anti-tumor effects. Lignans and other flaxseed components may also have antioxidant propertiesthat is, they may reduce the activity of cell-damaging free radicals. (Flaxseed oil lacks lignans, but some processors add them to their oil.) Recently small studies of cancer patients who consumed flaxseeds have produced some encouraging results. In one study men with prostate cancer who ate an ounce of ground flaxseeds (almost three tablespoons) a day as part of a very-low-fat diet were able to slow the progress of their cancers between the time they were diagnosed and the time of surgery.
Lignans are a type of fiber, and at the same time a type of phytoestrogen – a chemical similar to the human hormone estrogen. Flaxseeds are the richest source of lignans. When you eat lignans, bacteria in the digestive tract converts them into estrogen-like substances called enterodiol and enterolactone, which are thought to have anti-tumor effects. Lignans and other flaxseed components may also have antioxidant properties – that is, they may reduce the activity of cell-damaging free radicals. (Flaxseed oil lacks lignans, but some processors add them to their oil.) Small studies of cancer patients who consumed flaxseeds have produced some encouraging results. In one study, men with prostate cancer who ate an ounce of ground flaxseeds (almost 3 tablespoons) a day as part of a very low-fat diet were able to slow the progress of their cancers between the time they were diagnosed and the time of surgery. A similar study of women awaiting surgery for breast cancer found that those who ate a
Lignans are a type of fiber, and at the same time a type of phytoestrogen—a chemical similar to the human hormone estrogen. Flaxseeds are the richest source of lignans. When you eat lignans, bacteria in the digestive tract convert them into estrogen-like substances called enterodiol and enterolactone, which are thought to have anti-tumor effects. Lignans and other flaxseed components may also have antioxidant properties—that is, they may reduce the activity of cell-damaging free radicals. (Flaxseed oil lacks lignans, but some processors add them to their oil.) Recently small studies of cancer patients who consumed flaxseeds have produced some encouraging results. In one study men with prostate cancer who ate an ounce of ground flaxseeds (almost three tablespoons) a day as part of a very-low-fat diet were able to slow the progress of their cancers between the time they were diagnosed and the time of surgery. A similar study of women awaiting surgery for breast cancer found that those wh
