Flax seeds are plant-derived food sources and are available in various forms, including seeds, oil, tablets, and powder. These dynamic seeds provide various health benefits as they are rich in nutrients such as fibres, lignans, omega-3 unsaturated fats, proteins, and essential unsaturated fats. Flax seeds are available in the market as whole or grounded. Using them in different recipes, you can easily add flax seeds to your daily diet regimen. Besides the various health benefits of flax seeds, they add a crunch and a nutty flavour to dishes. You can add flax seeds to smoothies, oatmeals, pancake batter, or veggie sandwiches.
What are the Different Benefits of Flax Seeds?
Studies have shown that these tiny flax seeds can significantly benefit human health. They help mitigate problems related to digestion, the heart, and high cholesterol. Let’s delve into the numerous advantages of incorporating flax seeds into our daily diet, from heart health to helping reduce cholesterol levels.
These are the benefits of flax seeds when incorporated into your regular diet::
- Makes your heart healthy
- Protects from cancer
- Helps in reducing cholesterol levels
- Stabilises blood sugar levels
All the mentioned health benefits of flaxseed are discussed in detail below.
- Makes Your Heart Healthy
To have a healthy heart and body, choose a healthy diet. You can incorporate flax seeds into your diet to enhance its health quotient. Flax seeds contain fibres and omega-3 fatty acids that will help boost your heart health. They also contain lignans, which prevent cardiovascular diseases. Omega-3 is not produced naturally by our body. However, they are essential to keep your heart healthy. It also prevents the chances of stroke. Oily fish typically contains Omega-3 oils. If your diet is strictly plant-based, you can use flax seeds for fish.
- Protects Against Cancer
Flax seeds contain Omega-3 fatty acids and lignans. These nutrients prevent the growth of cancer cells. Lignan contains various cancer-fighting properties. Notably, flax seeds have 75-800 times more lignans than other plant-based foods. Females who regularly consume flax seeds are less vulnerable to breast cancer. Flax seeds can also safeguard from skin damage and cellular lung breakdown.
- Helps reduce cholesterol Levels
Flax seeds also help reduce cholesterol levels. Other than lignans, flax seeds contain phytosterols. Phytosterols and cholesterol have almost the same chemical structure. Phytosterols prevent cholesterol from getting absorbed into the bloodstream. Phytosterols reduce the low-density lipoprotein (LDL). In other words, they remove the “bad” cholesterol.
Flax seeds work best for people with high cholesterol levels. The soluble fibre in flax seeds can combat the bad cholesterol and expel it from the body, resulting in low blood cholesterol levels.
- Stabilises Blood Sugar Levels
The health benefits of flaxseeds extend further. They can help stabilise the glucose levels in your blood. Flax seeds can prevent blood sugar and insulin resistance. Insulin resistance is a condition in which the body cannot regulate blood sugar properly.
We know that flax seeds contain soluble fibre. This fibre reduces the absorption of sugar in our blood. This feature can be partly attributed to this soluble fibre content, which slows down food digestion and decreases the absorption of sugar.
Flax seeds are very popular worldwide as one of the world’s oldest crops. Though just a tiny seed in appearance, flax seeds brim with a wide array of nutrients. They are also packed with antioxidants, which help remove free radicals that trigger various diseases.
Alpha-linolenic acid (ALA), a specific type of omega-3 unsaturated fat, isn’t usually produced by our bodies and is present in plant-based food sources. Hence, it’s essential to include such foods in our diet to ensure the intake of this beneficial acid, which can support heart health. Flax seeds can provide us with these nutrients. ALA can also reduce inflammation. Furthermore, it assists in preventing the accumulation of cholesterol in blood vessels, ultimately decreasing the likelihood of developing ischemic heart disease.
One tablespoon of grounded flax seeds contains 2 grams of fibre. This number is around 5℅-8℅ of the daily recommended fibre intake for men and women. Flax seeds contain two types of fibre: soluble and insoluble fibre. Soluble fibre gives stool bulk. Apples, bananas, barley, oats, and beans are good sources of soluble fibre. Insoluble fibre helps expedite food movement in the digestive tract and helps prevent constipation.