Because flax seeds contain more LNA and lignans than any other source, almost everyone can benefit from adding this ingredient to their diet. (See Note 1)
OK, so what makes flax so good? Three primary ingredients, two of which have already been mentioned: fiber, lignans, and LNA.
The benefits of fiber are pretty well-known: it lowers LDL and raises HDL, helps to keep the "I" part of the "GI" tract healthy, and helps to reduce the risk of colon cancer, heart disease, high blood pressure, and diabetes.
Lignans, at least in non-human studies, can shrink existing colon and breast cancer tumors, and prevent new ones from forming. Flaxseed has at least 75 times more than any other plant source. Human studies are underway.
LNA, an omega-3 essential FA, is abundant in flaxseed. Flax-seed oil is about 50% LNA; much more than in any other plant source. Increasingly, evidence supports omega-3 fats as helping to decrease risk of fatal heart attacks, autoimmune diseases (e.g., rheumatoid arthritis), and other previously mentioned diseases, or medical conditions. The best known, and maybe most effective, source of omega-3 fats is fish, but flaxseed presents a good plant-source alternative.
Flaxseed oil can be obtained from healthfood stores, but the seeds themselves are healthier; that is, they contain all three important ingredients.
Is it safe? Seemingly, since it has been a dietary ingredient since the Stone Age.
Maybe the best known use of flaxseeds is as linseed oil, used in paints and varnishes. This flaxseed product is produced by extracting and then denaturing it, making it toxic - not for human (or non-human) consumption.
It is estimated that to achieve the benefits of flaxseed, it takes from 6-25 grams per day. That is about one level measuring tablespoon to one quarter of a cup. Preground flaxseed is available in many healthfood stores, and can simply be sprinkled (a tablespoon or more) on breakfast cereal, yogurt, soup, or whatever you like. Once a package is opened, it should be refrigerated; and can be kept for up to 6 months. Also note that there are now some products on the market with flaxseed as an ingredient.
This information comes from the April 1997, issue of Prevention magazine.
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Note 1 - There are some people who are highly allergic to flax,
so it should be added to your diet in small increments.
Is there a relationship between female sex hormone level changes and headaches? Yes, according to an article by Dr. Stephen Silberstein in an April 1995, issue of "Post-graduate Medicine." He discusses some of the hormonal events in women's lives, and their relationship to headaches - menstrual migraines, migraines during pregnancy, migraines and use of oral contraceptives, and migraines and menopause.
Menstrual Migraine - They appear to be triggered primarily by decreases in estrogen levels, but a migraine can occur either before or during menstruation.
Before menses, a migraine may be part of PMS and its array of mental and physical ills, while migraines during menstruation are often accompanied by cramp-like abdominal pain.
Menstrual migraines may be resistant to treatment, but preventive meds may be effective when used close to menstrual periods.
Ergotamine and its family members may help as a preventative drug. NSAIDs may also be effective (for both headaches and cramps).
Magnesium supplements (Almora, Magtrate, Slow-Mag) are effective for some women.
Once a migraine has started, a new set of drugs are necessary to mitigate pain, or shorten the duration. Aspirin or acetaminophen works for some - sometimes with caffeine or a barbituate. Stronger narcotic drugs will be more useful for other women - abortive drugs like Darvon, Demerol, or Stadol; but too-frequent use can cause rebound headaches. Beyond that are D.H.E. 45 and Imitrex that are used for non-menstrual migraines.
Hormone therapy is sort of a last resort when all else fails with menstrual migraines. As you get into the later stage of a menstrual cycle, your estogen level is lower and can trigger migraines, in some cases estrogen replacement may mitigate or prevent them.
Menstrual migraines that are resistant to everything else may be alleviated by either Danocrine or Nolvadex.
Migraines and Pregnancy - This combination has a number of possibilities. A woman may experience her first ever migraine during pregnancy. Those who already have a history of migraines may find them worsening, especially during the first trimester. But, on the upside, later in pregnancy most women will experience no headaches at all. Improvements to a menstrual migraine pattern during pregnancy is thought to be a result of sustained high estrogen levels.
Note that use of medications for migraines during pregnancy can increase health risks for the fetus, as well as a newborn, and use should; therefore, be minimized.
Where abortive migraine treatment is appropriate, NSAIDs may be useful. Some women may find that caffeine, either alone or taken with other analgesics, like acetaminophen, will provide some relief. Small amounts of caffeine apppear to produce no measurable risk for a fetus.
Aspirin, on the other hand, can affect the fetal environment, and the newborn. It is suggested that aspirin not be used late in pregnancy.
Preventative therapy may be appropriate if frequency and severity of migraines increase, and are accompanied by nausea and vomiting, which may result in dehydration, leading to fetal distress.
Migraines and Oral Contraceptives (OC) - As might be expected a wide range of migraine possibilities may result from using OCs - they might start, be modified, be exacerbated, or mitigated. However, the most common reaction is no reaction at all.
There is some support for the idea that OCs taken by migraine sufferers increases the risk of stroke, but it is still a controvercial theory. If there truly is a risk, it seems to be dose-dependent (the estrogen content of the pill). The lower the dose, the lower the risk. But it may be that migraine itself is a risk factor. Note that there are some projestogen-only OCs that have no blood clotting or platelet aggregation, and are, therefore, the OCs of choice for women with high blood pressure.
The Migraine-Menopause Connection - The quantity of migraines tends to decrease with advanced age, but at menopause there are the usual possibilities: regression, worsen, or no change.
During menopause, hormone replacement with estrogen-only or estrogen and progestin is often prescribed to treat menopausal symptoms like hot flashes, and to prevent or lessen osteoporosis. That replacement therapy, in itself, can cause migraines. Often, just changing the type of estrogen, or reducing the amount may, at least, decrease frequency.
The bottom line is that estrogen replacement during menopause can have adverse affects on migraines, but there are some preventative or abortive tools that you and your doctor can choose from.
Following is an article from Kansas State University:
There are many different ways of making food safe, but a question remains about whether or not consumers will pay for those measures. John Fox, assistant professor of economics at Kansas State University, works on finding the answer.
Fox conducted a study to determine if consumers would be willing to pay for products made safe by irradiation, and if so, how much they would be willing to pay.
According to a pamphlet released by the United States Department of Agriculture, irradiation "destroys insects, fungi, or bacteria that causehuman disease or cause food to spoil. The energy in food irradiation is not strong enough to cause food to become radioactive. Irradiation pasteurizes food by using energy, just as milk is pasteurized using heat. By law, all irradiated foods must be labeled with the international symbol for irradiation, simple green petals (representing the food) in a broken circle (representing the rays from the energy source). This symbol must be accompanied with the words, 'Treated by Irradiation' or 'Treated with Radiation.'"
Fox's study focused on two questions about consumer acceptability of irradiation. "We were looking at basically two things: Are consumers prepared to pay more for safer foods? and, If the food is made saferthrough irradiation, will they accept that? It can be looked at in a number of ways. We used surveys, we used experiments and we used retail trials." Fox and his team started their study with a mail survey which was sent out to 400 randomly selected subjects. The primary grocery shopper of the household was asked to complete the survey. The USDA pamphlet, "Ten Most Commonly Asked Questions About Food Irradiation," was included and respondents were asked to read the pamphlet before filling out the survey.
"In that survey we talked about boneless, skinless chicken breasts and we asked people whether they would choose regular or irradiated at different prices."
Of the survey respondents, 81 percent said they would prefer the irradiated meat if it were the same price; at a 10 percent premium, 31 percent said they would; and at a 20 percent premium, 15 percent said they were willing to choose the irradiated product.
"So the indication was that irradiation was generally acceptable to the population and that a substantial number were prepared to pay a premium for it," Fox said.
To further test these findings, people were brought in for an experimental study. "We brought another randomly selected group in for an experimental study," Fox said. "In the experiment we asked people to read the USDA pamphlet about irradiation and then asked them to actually purchase either irradiated or non-irradiated chicken using the same prices used in the mail survey. The results were again very positive. For example, at equal prices for irradiated and non-irradiated chicken, 77 percent of participants actually purchased irradiated chicken.
"We were surprised by that result because, in other studies, we had found substantial differences between what people said they would do in a survey compared to how they actually behaved in an experimental market." Fox gave an example of a woman in a telephone survey who said she would pay $20 to avoid eating irradiated pork. "When she participated in an experiment following the survey, we found that she only bid 10 cents to consume regular pork instead of irradiated pork. And she actually did consume the irradiated pork."
Though Fox admits the experiment has its limitations, he maintains it gives a more reliable indication of consumer preferences than a survey.
"In the experiment, we put people in situations where they have to make a real choice between two products and we're going to ask them to consume one or the other at the end of the experiment. They are parting with real money when they make their bids. It's certainly a contrived situation but it gets much closer to reality than does a telephone survey or a mail survey because they're actually dealing with the products."
The question still remained, however, whether or not people would actually buy irradiated chicken in a supermarket. The next step in the study involved retail trials in grocery stores in Manhattan.
"We put the irradiated chicken on the shelf in two supermarkets here in town. The irradiated chicken was clearly labeled as being irradiated. It had an irradiation symbol on it and the words, 'treated by irradiation.' We conducted the trial over four weekends and we varied the price each weekend in line with the prices that were used in the mail survey.
"We were looking at the proportion of people buying irradiated chicken versus the regular store-brand chicken. So, all we measured was the disappearance of the two."
At the same price, the irradiated chicken accounted for 43 percent of total sales. Discounted, it accounted for 62 percent; at 10 percent premium 30 percent of sales; and at 20 percent premium, 15 percent of sales.
"The 40 percent share at the same price is a very good performance for a new product on the shelf. We did have information about irradiation available in the store, right on the meat counter in front of the product, but very few people took the time to take a leaflet. That probably accounts for the substantial difference between the number of people who purchased irradiated in the experiment versus the number who purchased irradiated when it was available to them in the store."
In a separate study, Fox found that the type of information given to consumers has a major impact on their choice between regular or irradiated meat. He found that whenever negative information is provided, no matter how incorrect or unproven it is, it always dominates.
"That sort of result is a major problem for companies who might want to use irradiation. It shows how easy it is to turn people away from this process even though it is perfectly safe, proven safe."
Prepared by Angela Hall. For more information, contact John A. Fox, (785)532-4446
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This has been a post from Health-L, an electronic mailing list about health and fitness topics, utilizing expertise from Kansas State University sources. This is a low volume list, providing one or two news releases each month.
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Pink grapefruit is best. It has the same number of calories and vitamin C as white grapefruit, but pink has 25 times more of the antioxidant betacarotene. [And it wins the taste test hands down.]
(Q) Do you know of any low intensity, lower back exercises for someone with occasional sciatica or low back pain of one kind or another?
(A) Yes, here are some: 1) Lie in a prone position, face-down, and raise your thighs an inch or two - just enough to feel the erector spinae muscles in your lower back contract. Pause, then lower to the initial position. About 10 reps should be sufficient; 2) do the same thing, only raise your head and shoulders; 3) raise both ends at the same time; 4) from the prone position, raise one arm and the leg on the opposite side (a Superman, or Superwoman, if you prefer) - this can be done on all fours; and 5) in the prone position with a rolled-up towel or cushion/pillow under your hips, have a workout partner hold your feet (or you put them under a piece of furniture - anything to "anchor them); then lift your trunk off the floor until your body is straight (i.e., avoid significant back hyperextension).
You can change the intensity of the "extension" exercises by altering arm positions; just like with crunches. The easiest is to keep your arms along your sides (or hands clasped behind your back). The next position is to keep your arms pointed out to your sides (or hands behind your head). Then arms extended out past your head. Each position alters your center of gravity and changes intensity. And remember that it is important to work the entire abdominal cavity. Muscular balance is important.
(Q) I do a lot of business travel, and sometimes have to stay where there is no gym, but I hate to miss a week's worth of workouts. Do you have any ideas about what I could do, except "virtual" exercise?
(A) Yes, I used to recommend bicycle tubes, but one isn't usually enough. They are still good, but my current preference (I don't know its actual name) is a tube gadget (something like surgical tubing and about five feet long) with a plastic handle on each end. You can stand on it, wrap it around door handles or furniture legs, loop it over doors; and do just about any exercise imaginable with it. Add push-ups, lunges and crunches, and you couldn't ask for more.
Lady Macbeth, Los Alto, CA
T.B.K.M.F.M., Gaudyville, U.S.A.
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