Flax Lignans for Breast Health

Studies have shown that lignans, the phytoestrogens found in plants, can help with the prevention of and fight against breast cancer. Lignans are found in foods like seeds, nuts, berries, grains and fruits, with flax seed hulls having the highest lignan concentration.

Phytoestrogens are chemicals found in plants that mimic the hormone estrogen. High exposure to estrogen over a lifetime has been linked to a higher risk of breast cancer. So how do lignans, a phytoestrogen, help to minimize breast cancer risk?

The secoisolariciresinol glucoside (SDG) lignan in flax seeds act as nature's selective estrogen receptor modulators, effectively managing estrogen in the body.

Flaxseed and its lignans protect cell chromosomes from damage and undesirable mutation, leading to cancer. Lignans have been shown to increase the production of hormone binding globulin. This is produced in the liver and binds estrogen, reducing the amount of free estrogen circulating in the body that will potentially enter tissue. This action helps to reduce the effect of excess estrogen on tissue growth. It is this displacement of estrogen that can help to prevent certain cancers, such as breast cancer, that depend on estrogen to start and develop.

It is believed that the SAD diet – the Standard (North) American Diet, is lacking whole foods, including high lignan producing foods such as garlic, carrots, broccoli, asparagus, and dried apricots and prunes, and that it is for this reason that women cannot modulate estrogen naturally, as they used to.

Lignans rely on essential gut bacteria to transform secoisolariciresinol glucoside or SDG in flax hulls to mammalian lignans. It is key that your diet be rich in probiotic foods in order to obtain the best results from flax lignans. Keep your intestinal tract well populated using the Osumex LB17 product, available in capsules and paste. LB17 contains seventeen strains of friendly, live bacteria. It is vegan and non-GMO. The paste is pleasant tasting, shelf-stable and easily administered to children and seniors alike.

Learn more about our flax hull lignans and live probiotic by visiting our website.