Crushing, Milling Flaxseed May Improve Lignan Bioavailability

WAGENINGEN, Netherlands--Crushing and milling flaxseeds appears to improve the bioavailability of the seed's lignans, according to a study published in the Journal of Nutrition (135:2812-2816).

Dutch researchers investigated whether crushing and milling flaxseeds enhances the bioavailability of enterolignans in plasma. A randomized, crossover study was conducted with 12 healthy subjects who supplemented their diet with 0.3 g of whole, crushed or ground flaxseed. Subjects consumed flaxseed for 10 successive days separated by 11 day run-in/wash-out periods, during which the subjects consumed a diet poor in lignans. Blood samples were collected at the end of each run-in/wash-out period and at the end of each supplement period. Plasma enterodiol and enterolactone were measured using LC-MS-MS. The mean relative bioavailability of enterolignans from whole compared with ground flaxseed was 28 percent, whereas that of crushed compared with ground flaxseed was 43 percent.

Researchers concluded crushing and milling the flaxseed substantially improved the bioavailability of the enterolignans.

Share this article: Email, Slashdot, Digg, Del.icio.us, Yahoo!MyWeb, Windows Live Favorites, Furl
Add this article feed to: RSS, My Yahoo, Newsgator, Bloglines