Posted on 08/09/2011 8:27:28 AM PDT by decimon
A diet of flaxseed shows protective effects against radiation in animal models
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PHILADELPHIA - Flax has been part of human history for well over 30,000 years, used for weaving cloth, feeding people and animals, and even making paint. Now, researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania have discovered that it might have a new use for the 21st century: protecting healthy tissues and organs from the harmful effects of radiation. In a study just published in BMC Cancer, researchers found that a diet of flaxseed given to mice not only protects lung tissues before exposure to radiation, but can also significantly reduce damage after exposure occurs.
"There are only a handful of potential mitigators of radiation effect, and none of them is nearly ready for the clinic," says the principal investigator Melpo Christofidou-Solomidou, PhD, research associate professor of Medicine, Pulmonary, Allergy and Critical Care Division. "Our current study demonstrates that dietary flaxseed, already known for its strong antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, works as both a mitigator and protector against radiation pneumonopathy."
In several separate experiments, the researchers fed one group of mice a diet supplemented with 10 percent flaxseed, either three weeks before a dose of X-ray radiation to the thorax or two, four, or six weeks after radiation exposure. A control group subjected to the same radiation dose was given the same diet but receiving an isocaloric control diet without the flaxseed supplement. After four months, only 40 percent of the irradiated control group survived, compared to 70 to 88 percent of the irradiated flaxseed-fed animals. Various studies of blood, fluids, and tissues were conducted.
Dr. Christofidou-Solomidou and her colleagues found that the flaxseed diet conferred substantial benefits regardless of whether it was initiated before or after irradiation. Mice on flaxseed displayed improved survival rates and mitigation of radiation pneumonitis, with increased blood oxygenation levels, higher body weight, lower pro-inflammatory cytokine levels, and greatly reduced pulmonary inflammation and fibrosis.
The latter finding is especially exciting, because while radiation-induced inflammatory damage can be potentially treated with steroidal therapy (in radiotherapy patients for example), lung fibrosis is essentially untreatable. "There's nothing you can give to patients to prevent fibrosis," Dr. Christofidou-Solomidou points out. "Once a lung becomes "stiff" from collagen deposition, it's irreversible. We have discovered that flaxseed not only prevents fibrosis, but it also protects after the onset of radiation damage."
Dr. Christofidou-Solomidou and her colleagues are focusing further research on the bioactive lignan component of flaxseed, known as SDG (secoisolariciresinol diglucoside), which is believed to confer its potent antioxidant properties. The lignan component also "regulates the transcription of antioxidant enzymes that protect and detoxify carcinogens, free radicals and other damaging agents", she says.
Flaxseed boasts many other qualities that make it particularly attractive as a radioprotector and mitigator. "Flaxseed is safe, it's very cheap, it's readily available, there's nothing you have to synthesize," Dr. Christofidou-Solomidou notes. "It can be given orally so it has a very convenient administration route. It can be packaged and manufactured in large quantities. Best of all, you can store it for very long periods of time." That makes it especially interesting to government officials looking to stockpile radioprotective substances in case of accidental or terrorist-caused radiological disasters.
Co-author Keith Cengel, MD, PhD, assistant professor of Radiation Oncology at Penn, explains that in such cases, "a big issue is the 'worried well' -- all the folks who probably weren't exposed but are concerned and want to do something." Many potential radioprotectors, however, could have risky side effects. Dr. Christofidou-Solomidou adds, "When you give something to 4 or 5 million 'worried well,' you have people with preexisting medical conditions. You can't give just anything to people with heart disease, for example. But this is absolutely safe. In fact, it is known to increase cardiovascular health, a finding shown by another group of Penn investigators a few years ago. It's loaded with omega-3 fatty acids."
Along with other researchers at the Perelman School of Medicine, the authors are conducting further pilot studies on the potential of flaxseed for mitigation of lung damage in patients awaiting lung transplants and those undergoing radiation therapy for the treatment of intra-thoracic malignancies. Dr. Christofidou-Solomidou is even conducting a pilot study for NASA on the benefits of flaxseed for astronauts on extended deep space missions. Lengthy space exploration missions require that the astronauts perform extravehicular activities (EVAs) for repairs, during which they can face exposure to high levels of solar and galactic radiation with the added risk factor of breathing 100 percent oxygen. "Hyperoxia superimposed with radiation could potentially cause some lung damage and some reason to worry for the astronauts," she says. "We are one of a handful of teams in the US that can study radiation in addition to hyperoxia. So now we're adding another level of complexity to the one-hit, radiation damage studies; the double-hit model is something novel, nobody has done it before."
The researchers are already convinced enough to incorporate flaxseed into their own routine. "I actually eat it every morning," says Dr. Cengel, noting, "The potential health benefits are significant and there is no known toxicity—it just makes good sense to me."
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The study is funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) and the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) under a grant initiative focused on the development of novel medical countermeasures to prevent or mitigate pulmonary injury or restore function after exposure to ionizing radiation.
Penn Medicine is one of the world's leading academic medical centers, dedicated to the related missions of medical education, biomedical research, and excellence in patient care. Penn Medicine consists of the Raymond and Ruth Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania (founded in 1765 as the nation's first medical school) and the University of Pennsylvania Health System, which together form a $4 billion enterprise.
Penn's Perelman School of Medicine is currently ranked #2 in U.S. News & World Report's survey of research-oriented medical schools and among the top 10 schools for primary care. The School is consistently among the nation's top recipients of funding from the National Institutes of Health, with $507.6 million awarded in the 2010 fiscal year.
The University of Pennsylvania Health System's patient care facilities include: The Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania -- recognized as one of the nation's top 10 hospitals by U.S. News & World Report; Penn Presbyterian Medical Center; and Pennsylvania Hospital – the nation's first hospital, founded in 1751. Penn Medicine also includes additional patient care facilities and services throughout the Philadelphia region.
Penn Medicine is committed to improving lives and health through a variety of community-based programs and activities. In fiscal year 2010, Penn Medicine provided $788 million to benefit our community.
Ping
I add flax meal to almost everything. I don’t add a lot but a little here and there all adds up. :)
I used to always put a few tablespoons in my yogurt, people at work nicknamed it my “Dirt,” lol. “Look, he’s eating dirt again.” Maybe I get the last laugh.
P.S. I’m still unclear as to whether the entire kernel of flax must be eaten or not (Haven’t finished the article), but warehouse stores sell flax oil (in capsules) at a very low cost, and it doesn’t have cod liver oil gaseous anomaly (insofar as I have found).
Something the article left out is that due to its high fat content it goes rancid quickly and will get wormy, so it must be kept in the refrigerator, or freezer. It should be in an airtight opaque container.
I thought of the current unpleasantness in Japan. Maybe some flaxseed would help combat the effects of the radiation they are suffering.
I immediately though of that as well. Fukushima is an argumentative topic on FR with a lot of opinionated blowhards, so I elected not to even bring it up. In any event, I believe God made all things for the use of man (in one way or another, and no, personally I don’t count “Roll it up and smoke it” as one of them), and I particularly believe that the full benefits of various forms of plant life have been largely undiscovered.
I have never had wormy flaxseed, but I have had some that I do believe went rancid (kept above the stove), and it was a lot less pleasant. I wonder if growing flax is all that difficult?
we grind flax seeds, altho’ not daily.
i’m not sure whether one should grind daily, or store the ground flax in the fridge, or whether storing in the cabinet a week or so is ok.
if one wants omega 3, then my doc says to store the ground in the fridge. but we take other omega 3’s.
The seeds are very hard for the body to digest. You can buy the seeds and grind them yourself in a coffee grinder or purchase the flax meal (already ground). I’ve tried the oil but didn’t like it.
When using the meal, start with small amounts in your food. Too much can change the texture and make things slimy or rubbery.
Couple of examples. If I’m making something (soup, stew, casserole) and its going to take up most of a 6 qt Dutch Oven then I usually add 1 1/2 - 2 teaspoons, a meatloaf using 1 1/2 lbs of ground beef I might add 1 tsp, cookie dough for around 3 dozen cookies - 1 tsp.
You can certainly add more, I just don’t want family members turned off by its addition because then they won’t eat it and get no benefit, while keeping the amount lower, you can’t tell its there so nobody is saying it tastes funny.
LOL How much yogurt were you adding 2 T to? Just curious. I used to add it to cranberry juice, totally unsweetened cranberry juice, but it was tough to drink.
Flax meal isn’t affected by cold or heat from cooking. A cousin of mine didn’t refrigerate hers and it got wormy. I keep mine in the fridge with a second bag in the freezer.
My son is majoring in plant genetics at Michigan State University. I sent him this article. Right now he is finishing up his Fellowship for the American Society of Plant Biologists. He researching Atropa Belladonna and trying to fill in gaps in various stages and or parts of the plant so that we can make synthetic drugs. This is why some medicines are so expensive, because they are derived from plants, because we don’t know to make them ourselves.
It isn’t the area he wants to stay in though. He last mentioned an interest in barley.
I’d add about 2 T (Milled, not whole seeds) to a cup or so of yogurt. It gave it the look and consistency of mud which is why they’d call it “dirt” at work. I personally like the taste of flax I used to add about 1 T of it when I made bread (About 1T to each of the 1.5 Lb loaves). A lot of people don’t like flax, but I grew up eating a lot of grains. I dislike most breat that isn’t 7 grain or higher, though I dislike the 12 grain because I don’t like the sunflower seeds.
I worked in a bakery out of H.S. and we had a no wheat bread made of mostly flax flour. I liked it a lot, it was very, very dense, and frankly a bit rubbery like you mentioned. I liked to toast it, but my dad made sandwiches out of it (Being a diabetic, my dad was the reason I started to use the flax bread). I have never eaten flax in anything other than a smoothie, yogurt, bread, or just straight (it IS like eating DIRT, haha), but I’ll have to see about adding it to some things. Thanks for the ideas, I’d have never thought of cookies.
Rosemary also protects against radiation.
Probably storing it in a cabinet for a week isn’t too bad, but I would think it depends on how warm the cabinet gets.
Thanks for the information. The milled flax I have always kept in the fridge. Interestingly I have always had a passion for plants. I’m thinking of going back to school and getting a graduate degree in botany/agriculture, but am not sure if I feel like making the commitment. I may just have to continue reading what I find and become a farmer, like my progenitors, haha.
I add to most everything though I sometimes forget so I have to set it out when I get ready to cook or bake so that I remember.
I have recipe for flax pizza dough and for making flax crackers. I haven’t tried them yet.
I don’t know how you can eat it plain! lol When I tried adding it to juice it just wanted to float and so it would get stuck in the throat a bit.
I have considered adding a bit to my yogurt. Lately I have been adding a couple of teaspoons of old fashioned oats and some nuts to my yogurt.
coastal california.
it’s cooler this year.
we still have “june gloom” mornings.
They had to do an expensive study to tell us this?
Honestly, I’ve been using flax and flaxseed oil for many many years. Any health food storw ill tell you the same.
Now, watch the FDA come out and try to regulate it somehow.
Yes, I am cynical. I wonder if the study was funded with stimulus money...
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