Eating flax-seeds could help slash the threat of dying from breast cancer later in life by forty percent, allege researchers. The special plant composite known as phytoestrogens are found in foods including wheat, seeds and vegetables. The most significant among these compounds are lignans.
These composites destroy cancer cells and avert secondary tumours by halting the growth of new blood vessels. Flaxseeds were particularly high in lignans. flax-seeds can be sprinkled on salads, mixed in with yoghurt and can be added to cakes. On reaching in the body these phytoestrogens stick on to oestrogen, and are thought to help protect against cancer.
For their study German researchers examined blood samples of more than one thousand women who were diagnosed with breast cancer over the period of three years. The levels of enterolactone, which is what phytoestrogens turned to be when entered the bowel. The study findings showed that women who have higher levels of enterolactone had diminished rate of mortality two fifths.
It was also found that having a high level of enterolactone also provided analogous levels of shielding against the spread of cancer and the formation of secondary tumours. Phytoestrogens helped cut back cancer due to its hormonal traits and by destroying cancer cells and averting the growth of new blood vessels. The study was published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.
The study offered a clue as to why Asian women are less prone to be affected by breast cancer in comparison to British women. According to study author Prof Jenny Chang-Claude, from the German Cancer Research Centre in Heidelberg, now they have first clear evidence showing that lignans lower not only the risk of developing postmenopausal breast cancer, but also the mortality risk.
The outcome was substantial only for the cluster of tumors that have no receptor for the ER-negative tumors. This offers cause to suspect that enterolactone shields against cancer not only by its hormone-like effect. Irrefutably, studies of cells and animals had previously offered substantiation signifying that the substance also has sway on cancer growth irrespective of oestrogen, stated Prof Chang-Claude.
Consequently, it encourages cell death and restrains sprouting of new blood vessels. They would discourage people from taking food supplements to improve levels of lignan because they do not completely recognize the impact they have on hormones. A diet rich in whole meal products, seeds and vegetables, is considered to be health-promoting anyway, she added.
source : http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health