The C.A.M. Report
Complementary and Alternative Medicine: Fair, Balanced, and to the Point
  • About this web log

    This blog ran from 2006 to 2016 and was intended as an objective and dispassionate source of information on the latest CAM research. Since my background is in pharmacy and allopathic medicine, I view all CAM as advancing through the development pipeline to eventually become integrated into mainstream medical practice. Some will succeed while others fail. But all are treated fairly here.

  • About the author

    John Russo, Jr., PharmD, is president of The MedCom Resource, Inc. Previously, he was senior vice president of medical communications at www.Vicus.com, a complementary and alternative medicine website.

  • Common sense considerations

    The material on this weblog is for informational purposes. It is not medical advice or counsel. Be smart, consult your health professional before using CAM.

  • Recent Posts

  • Recent Comments

    Flaxseed product fails to lower cholesterol in women

    Researchers at Iowa State University’s Nutrition and Wellness Research Center in Ames determined whether the main compound in a flaxseed product, secoisolariciresinol diglucoside, could lower cholesterol.

    Here’s a preview of the results they will present during the American Society for Nutrition’s annual meeting.

    First, the details.

    • 90 participants with high cholesterol levels were included in the study — twice as many men as women.
    • The participants were randomly divided into 3 groups: daily consumption of tablets containing zero, 150, or 300 mg of flaxseed compounds for 12 weeks.
    • They had no other underlying health conditions.

    And, the results.

    • The flaxseed product used in this study lowered cholesterol in men.
    • It did not produce a significant change in women.

    The bottom line?

    “We’re really puzzled about that because we were looking at post menopausal women and these lignans [compounds] are known as plant estrogens, so they have a very weak but measurable estrogen effect,” concluded the authors.

    The tablets used in this study are not currently available in the US.

    A recent review confirms that women do respond to flaxseed.

    5/10/10 20:33 JR

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