Michael Mosley has spoken about a superfood that has a huge impact on lowering a person’s blood pressure and cholesterol levels. Speaking on his BBC podcast Just One Thing, the healthy eating expert added that eating flax can cut the risk of a heart attack or stroke by half.
He suggested eating flaxseeds by sprinkling them on porridge or breakfast cereal, adding ground flaxseeds to a salad, or perhaps baking them into bread or muffins. Flaxseeds, or linseeds, come from the flax plant, which is also used to make linen, and the seeds are rich in fatty acids as well as antioxidants.
Dr Mosley said it has also been shown to have a positive effect on the skin. He said: “A small German study of women with sensitive skin found that when they took a 2g flaxseed oil supplement for 12 weeks, their skin quality improved. Not only did their sensitivity decrease, but they also experienced an increase in both hydration and smoothness. Why? In this case, researchers think it could be the effect of a fatty acid called alpha-linolenic acid, or ALA, which is found in high amounts in flaxseed.”
Dr. Grant Pierce of the University of Manitoba in Canada is researching the effects of flaxseed on blood pressure and cardiovascular health. He explains: “Flaxseed has three components that are good for you. It contains ALA-alpha lactic acid, an omega-3 fatty acid. ALA has anti-inflammatory properties and we know that inflammation plays an important role in most diseases, including cardiovascular disease.
“The second component is, of course, fiber, which lowers cholesterol. We know that cholesterol is also important in heart disease. The third component is lancets and vesicles, both of which are antioxidants, and we know that oxidation is a major component of most diseases. So flax is unique because it contains all three of these components.”
In terms of its positive health effects, Dr. Pierce said, “It seems to prevent blockages in the arteries. It seems to stop irregular heartbeats that we don’t want. It seems to help with heart attacks and heart attack recovery. And most importantly, it seems to lower blood pressure in people with high blood pressure, or what we now call hypertension.”
