Abstract

EFFECT OF FLAXSEED SUPPLEMENTS ON HYPERTENSION: A CRITICAL REVIEW

Rakesh Verma*, G. P. Rauniar, Bhawesh Koirala and Utshav Chapagain

ABSTRACT

Hypertension is one of the major risk factor for global mortality. Approximately half of 17 million cardiovascular deaths worldwide are accounted for HTN. Multiple research for cost-effective medication for management of hypertension is going on. An effective alternative to medications in managing hypertension is through lifestyle modifications. Adopting healthy diet is a valuable strategy. Randomized controlled year-long trials observed impressive reductions in blood pressure in patients with hypertension consuming flaxseed daily. Therefore, attention has been garnered for flaxseed as a potentially valuable strategy for the management of hypertension. This review will highlight the recent data for flaxseed and its extracts in blood pressure regulation in both animal models and clinical trials. Based on results of clinical trials, epidemiological investigations and experimental studies, ingestion of flaxseed has been suggested to have a positive impact on hypertensive patients. The purpose of this review is to identify the protective effects of flaxseed and Alpha Linolenic Acid (ALA) on hypertension. Insight into the proposed anti-hypertensive mechanism of flaxseed and the implications of flaxseed as a potential global anti-hypertensive therapy will be discussed. It will also discuss promising research directions for the future to identify benefits of dietary flaxseed in healthy as well as pre-hypertensive population.

Keywords: Hypertension, Flaxseed, ALA, SBP, DBP, Trial.