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Ensuring Your Golden Years are Golden:
Protecting Your Health with Lignans
by Dr. Christine Homer – Doctor’s Prescription for Healthy Living
If you dread getting older, you’re not alone. Most
Americans fear aging because we think it is normal to lose our good health
as we age. Unfortunately, for most of us, it’s true. A lifetime of poor
eating habits and lifestyle choices catches up with most of us women around
menopause. Menopause shines a light on the imbalances that we have
cultivated. First, it’s hot flashes, mood swings, insomnia, and weight
gain—followed by osteoporosis, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, heart
disease, diabetes, and cancers of the breast and colon. For men, the story
isn’t much different. They too are prone to the same long list of
undesirable conditions, but instead of hot flashes and breast cancer,
prostate cancer takes a top position on their marquee of
“Most-Unwanted-But-Tragically-Most-Common-Diseases.” No wonder we fear
aging. But the good news is we don’t have to.
Good or poor health is usually not an accident. We have
tremendous influence on whether we enjoy vibrant health or suffer or die
prematurely with a chronic disorder. The foods we eat and the activities we
choose every day will tip the scales in one direction or the other. Stress,
inactivity, smoking, alcohol and eating a diet high in red meat, sugar,
refined carbohydrates, and bad fats, such as transfats and saturated animal
fats, are a recipe for disaster. On the other hand, a plant-based diet
combined with intelligent supplementation; the daily practice of an
effective stress-reducing technique, such as meditation or yoga; regular
exercise; and nurturing loving relationships will stack the odds in our
favor of staying healthy.
Lignans to the Rescue
Certain foods and supplements act as powerful natural
medicines that can protect our health and ward off disease. Plants high in
lignans, such as flaxseeds, or the all natural flax lignan supplement called
Brevail® are great examples. Research shows
that lignans possess a multitude of health benefits. In fact, when it comes
to your fears of hormonal imbalances and aging, lignans can alleviate most
of them.
Menopausal Symptoms
Women who take Brevail report
improvement in perimenopausal symptoms. When 100 women were given Brevail
for three months in a usage study conducted by the University of Washington,
many reported that their hot flashes decreased and they experienced a
greater sense of well-being.
In a study published in the Annals of Medicine in 1997, Finnish researcher
H. Aldercreutz explains that the reason lignans reduce hot flashes and
vaginal dryness in postmenopausal women is because they have weak estrogenic
and anti-estrogenic properties.
Osteoporosis
If you are worried about osteoporosis, lignans may be just
the prescription you need. Several studies show that lignans protect against
osteoporosis by preventing bone loss and increasing bone density. If you
don’t consume enough lignans, your risk of osteoporosis is much higher. In a
study published in the journal Clinical Endocrinology in March 2002, Korean
researchers found that women with osteoporosis had much lower levels of
enterolactone—a type of lignan—than women with normal bone density.
Protection Against Cardiovascular Disease
Heart disease is the number-one killer of Americans. But,
you can significantly increase your chances of maintaining your heart health
by consuming plenty of lignans. Lignans help protect cardiovascular health
in four major ways. First, they help maintain healthy blood pressure levels.
A study from the Netherlands published in the Journal of Hypertension in
July 2004 found that postmenopausal women who consumed high levels of
lignans had statistically significant lower systolic and diastolic blood
pressures (the top and bottom numbers) and a lower prevalence of
hypertension. Second, they block the initial steps that lead to
atherosclerotic plaques in your arteries. Third, lignans possess
anti-platelet activating factor activity—also important for preventing
plaque formation. Fourth, lignans help maintain healthy cholesterol levels.
If your lignan levels are low, your risk of cardiovascular
problems may be much higher. A study published in Atherosclerosis in 2002
found that a low level of enterolactone is a significant risk factor for
coronary artery disease. In another study published in the prestigious
British journal Lancet in 1999, men who had the highest levels of
enterolactone had a 58.8 percent lower risk of heart attacks than men with
the lowest levels.
Anti-Aging/Antioxidant
San Diego-based Pantox Laboratory researcher M. F. McCarty
found that lignans may also help to slow human aging. In a study published
in the journal Medical Hypothesis in June 2003, McCarty reported that there
“is a considerable amount of evidence…that systemic IGF-1 (insulin-like
growth factor-1) activity acts as a pacesetter in the aging process.” In
other words, IGF-1 accelerates aging, so decreasing IGF-1 levels may slow
aging. There are many natural ways to lower the amount of IGF-1 that our
liver produces, such as exercising and consuming diets high in fiber and low
in fat. Research shows that flax lignans are also very effective at
decreasing IGF-1.
There is another way that lignans help to slow down
aging—they act as antioxidants. Antioxidants neutralize oxygen free
radicals. Excess oxygen free radicals cause damage to our cell membranes and
DNA that accelerates aging and promotes chronic disease. A Canadian study
published in the journal Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry in 1999 found
that the flaxseed lignan SDG (secoisolariciresinol diglucoside) showed good
antioxidant activity even at low doses. Chinese researchers reported in the
journal Free Radical Biology and Medicine in 1992 that lignans protect
against the free radical damage to the brain that normally occurs with
aging. And a study published this year in the Journal of Nutrition reported
that consuming high amounts of lignans may preserve cognitive function in
postmenopausal women.
Cancer
Lignans have enormous protective properties. For example,
there are over a dozen different ways that they help protect breast health:
Lignans lower the overall production of estrogen in our bodies, block
environmental estrogens from attaching to breast tissue, create more of a
“good” protective type of estrogen, protect our breast tissue from the
damaging effects of environmental toxins, decrease three different growth
factors associated with the growth of breast cancer, and lengthen the
menstrual cycle.
Studies show that lignans not only promote breast health, but they also
effectively help protect the colon and the prostate. In general, people with
high lignan levels have better histories of breast, colon and prostate
health.
Obesity and Diabetes
Lignans are also beneficial for lowering risk factors
associated with obesity and diabetes. According to a study conducted by the
Harvard School of Public Health and published in the Journal of Nutrition in
2005, lignans lower fasting insulin secretion. Another study published in
The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition in 2002 found that flaxseeds
improve glucose control and insulin resistance, and balances levels of
cholesterol and blood lipids—all of these effects are beneficial against
obesity and diabetes.
Brevail: Lignan Assurance
A simple way to ensure that you get optimal amounts of
lignans every day is take Brevail. Brevail is
made of highly absorbable, isolated, concentrated and purified lignans from
flaxseeds. The daily standardized dose—just one capsule of Brevail—provides
the same amount of lignans found in women with a history of excellent breast
health.
With all the research-proven tremendous health benefits of
lignans, you’ll definitely want to make sure that you consume optimum doses
of them every day—and taking Brevail is one of the best ways to ensure that
you do.
Resources
Brevail is
distributed by Christine’s Cleanse Corner, Inc
Click here for Brevail product or ordering
information. Or visit us on the web at
www.TransformYourHealth.com
or call us toll-free at 877-673-0224.
Christine Horner, M.D., is a board-certified and
nationally recognized surgeon, author, professional speaker and a relentless
champion for women's health. She spearheaded legislation in the 1990s that
made it mandatory that insurance companies pay for breast reconstruction
following mastectomy. She is the author of the new book, Waking the Warrior
Goddess: Dr Christine Horner’s Program to Protect Against and Fight Breast
Cancer.
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