Flaxseed is very healthy for you, but Is Flaxseed Good For Diabetics? Flaxseed is beneficial for lowering your blood sugar. In fact, when your diet is supplemented with flaxseed you could experience a 20% drop in your glucose levels. This is significant. Let’s find out why.
How is Flaxseed Beneficial to you as a Diabetic?
It’s the fiber contained in the flax that is believed to be responsible because it contains a gooey like substance of fiber known as mucilage that slows your digestion and allows the glucose from the foods you eat to be digested and then released much slower into your bloodstream.
The mucilage and fiber inflate in your stomach when they come in contact with water. This aids in making you feel full for a longer period of time than do carbohydrates that are refined and this occurs from your stool bulking up.
Flaxseed oil is rich in Omega 3 fatty acids which are not only beneficial for your heart, but also for lowering your blood sugar levels.
How Flaxseed Controls your Blood Sugar Levels:
- It is a whole grain.
- Flaxseed is an awesome source of fiber, giving you that feeling of fullness for a longer period of time.
- It contains Omega 3 fatty acids which are beneficial to making your brain feel satisfied and helping to halt your food cravings.
- Flaxseed helps to avert any spiking in your blood glucose and keeps your glucose levels steady for longer.
- Because flaxseed is low on the glycemic index level it aids in stabilizing your sugars for longer than normal.
- It’s so easy to add flaxseed to your diet everyday and it can help lower your blood sugar drastically
- The protein that flax contains helps your body with obtaining nutrition that may take a longer time with the processing and digestion. This will give you additional nutrition for a longer time.
Flaxseed contains lignan which is an antioxidant that reduces insulin resistance, inflammation, and helps to impede the progression of diabetes. There was research done in China back in 2007 that revealed that after consuming 360 mg of lignan for a period of three months, A1C levels were moderately decreased with folks who were type 2 diabetic. And this of course is good news.
There are many different things you can do to change your lifestyle and control your type 2 diabetes. Not any one thing is going to be the be all and end all but everything no matter how big or small is going to help. Flaxseed is not going to end your diabetes. But you can help yourself in getting there by making flax part of your diet. It’s healthy for you plain and simple. All you have to do is take action.
Flaxseed oil is what you want and need to fight not only your diabetes, but to make yourself a healthier person. And you can’t say that you won’t have it because of its taste. You’ll have to come up with a better excuse than that.
Look, if you’re going to buy it and make it a part of your healthy life, then make sure that you get Non-GMO organic flaxseed oil. It should be cold pressed. You want to have the one with the most nutritional value of flaxseed available.
Check Out the Video Below for More about Flaxseed and Diabetes
What are the Health Benefits of Flaxseed?
1) Health of your Blood
There is a mineral that is exceptionally important for for the health of your blood and your bones and that is manganese. Manganese can also be responsible for battling osteoporosis and anemia which are conditions of the bones and blood. Flax can help win this battle because it contains 100% of your daily recommended allowance of manganese.
2) Lower Cancer Risks
You can help to decrease your risks of ureteral, breast, and prostate cancers with the lignans contained in flaxseeds. These plant compounds known as lignans are extremely effective in the production and imitating oestrogen in the body. The lignans responsibility is decreasing cancer that is linked to a reduction in the oestrogen count which can result in a positive effect for protecting women from cancers such as the uterus and breast cancers.
3) Phosphorous
Flaxseed contains large quantities of phosphorus. This mineral is responsible for maintaining your dental health and the density of your bones. It’s beneficial for the health of all your cells.
4) Digestion
Flaxseeds are an excellent source to improve your digestion. There’s nothing good about that feeling of constipation and flaxseed helps because it contains fiber, both soluble and insoluble.
They have a high content of soluble fiber or mucilage gums which act as a laxative to help with constipation. This can help to soothe and relax you.
5) Cholesterol
I’m sure that you are aware of your cholesterol levels and what they should be. It’s important to keep the HDL good cholesterol up and the LDL bad cholesterol down. Research was done and showed that your plasma glucose levels and your lipid profile can be improved by supplementing your diet with flaxseeds.
And in addition to that the flaxseed can help you along with cardiovascular issues because of its ability to enhance responses to vascular relaxation. Flaxseeds for balancing cholesterol levels are another way to help better your health.
6) Immune System
Your immune system is what protects you from disease and helps keep you alive. Anything that you can do to keep your immune system strong is going to help you live healthier and longer. Flaxseed has plentiful amounts of glutamine and arginine which have been proven to aid in boosting our immune system.
But glutamine (an amino acid which is a building block for proteins) is especially important because as studies revealed it has the ability to to lower infections and mortality by actions that are anti-inflammatory and through the support of the immune system.
7) Health of your Brain
There is a specific omega 3 fatty acid known as ALA or alpha linolenic acid and it is rich inside flaxseed. It is very healthy for your your brain and its functions. Your brain is obviously important in many ways and especially when you get older you need all the help you can get. I can attest to that at my age! LOL
But since your brain controls everything you do and it happens to be the one organ that is richest in the lipids in your body it makes total sense that ALA would and does help with the cerebral and visual functions as well.
8) Minerals and Antioxidants
The antioxidant polyphenols otherwise known as lignans protect against oxidative damage and have been associated with the improvement of prostate and colon health, and cardiovascular health as well. Flaxseeds contain a great deal of the lignans which is another great reason for them to be a part of your diet.
9) Hair and Skin
Research has been done for many years going back to ancient times actually and proven that flaxseeds are beneficial for your hair and skin. They help to improve the shine and sheen of your hair. It’s because of the essential fatty acids in the flaxseed that make this possible.
You want your hair to look good, don’t you? And your skin, being the largest organ in your body and only organ that is visible to everyone should look just as good, right?
10) Your Heart
Omega 3 fatty acids are vital for heart health. You can increase your Omega 3’s with flaxseed oil which will be beneficial in helping to prevent heart disease.
A daily dose of ALA from flaxseed supplements can increase DHA and EPA fatty acids in your bloodstream. Flaxseed is heart healthy for sure!
11) Kidneys
How important are your kidneys? Especially with diabetes? Yes, they are that important! Tests were done with male and female rats who were put on flaxseed diets and this aided in lowering kidney damage, predominantly more in the female rats.
One particular antioxidant SDG together with the flaxseed oil helped in preventing excess protein in the rat’s urine and the female rats suffered less oxidative damage.
This gives you some idea of what flaxseeds can do for us humans when it comes to your kidneys. They are especially important when you are a diabetic. So let’s consume flaxseed to fight back against diabetes and keep our kidneys healthy. It’s a win win situation.
12) Losing Weight
Why are flaxseeds able to help you to lose weight? The reason is the high content of soluble fiber they contain. It’s this fiber that curbs your sugar and hunger cravings and this can lead you to losing weight.
Let’s note here that the fiber is what’s responsible for decreasing your weight by giving your stomach that full feeling and then encouraging the receptors that in turn send signals to your brain to stop eating! Sometimes eating is mind over matter. Let flaxseeds matter to helping you lose weight.
13) Blood Pressure
It’s no secret that you need to maintain a normal blood pressure. Flaxseeds are great at lowering your blood pressure too and that is because of the lignans and the ALA Omega-3 fatty acid they contain. Lowering both your systolic and diastolic pressures can lower your risk of a stroke by about 12% and your risk of a heart attack diminishes by more than 30%. Get a blood pressure monitor and take your blood pressure at home regularly!
Medical disclaimer
The information that I provide on my website is purely based on my own personal experience and subsequent research into the diabetes disease. It is not intended to take the place of medical advice,diagnosis and treatment. Care and investigation should always be sought from an appropriate health care provider. I am happy to discuss my own symptoms, diagnosis and history of my diabetes disease but want to stress that I am not medically trained in any way. All opinions on my website are my own. I have created this site as a way to share information and experiences.
In Conclusion
Is Flaxseed Good For Diabetics? Now you have the answers as to how it is good for you as a diabetic. It’s healthy to consume flaxseed for diabetes, but it’s always important to check with your doctor with anything that you do because everyone is different. It’s better to let a medical professional guide you.
While flaxseed is something that is going to benefit you and not harm you, always make sure that you read the labels and take the recommended amount. Flaxseed is easy to add to any meal and you’ll be getting the health benefits including lowering your blood sugars and helping your type 2 diabetes.
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Hi Rob,
My family has a long history of type 2 diabetes and we are also vegetarians. So naturally our issue with controlling blood sugar stems from our heavy dependence on rice and other simple carbs. Incorporating flaxseed could prove to be a really good way to help keep it under control! Does sprinkling flaxseed into daily cooking work well in masquerading or do you suggest a different way to incorporate it?
Janani
Hi Janani!
It seems like everyone has type 2 diabetes lately. It’s all about what we eat, lack of exercise, and many other issues too.
But flaxseed is something I would have never thought about having years ago because I didn’t know anything about it and how healthy it is for you especially if you have type 2 diabetes.
There’s no right or wrong way to incorporate it into your diet. I love sprinkling it on my salad.
Thank you so much for commenting!
Cheers!
~Rob
Hello,
You did a wonderful job-very thorough and complete- of explaining all the benefits of using flaxseed in one’s daily diet. I’ve always had the opinion that if its “natural”, it is beneficial and good.
What about effects on a person’s energy level and stress? What do you have to say about that?
I look forward to hearing from you. Thanks.
Hey Terry,
I wanted to be through with regards to flaxseed. It’s really healthy and important for you.
Diabetes is tough and we need everything that’s good to fight it.
I have to tell you that flaxseed is a wonderful energy booster and it’s helped me with stress too.
I noticed it after I started adding it to my meals.
Thanks for your input 🙂
Rob