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Flaxseed for Hypertension: Implications for Blood Pressure Regulation

  • Pathogenesis of Hypertension (W Elliott, Section Editor)
  • Published:
Current Hypertension Reports Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Hypertension is the single largest risk factor attributed to mortality in the world. Medications are the primary treatment for hypertension; however, adherence to drug regimens is low (~50 %). Low adherence may be a contributing factor leading to uncontrolled blood pressure in patients. An effective alternative or complement to medications in managing hypertension is through lifestyle modifications. Adopting a healthy diet is a valuable strategy. A recent, randomized controlled year-long trial 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. Insight into the proposed anti-hypertensive mechanism of flaxseed and the implications of flaxseed as a potential global anti-hypertensive therapy will be discussed.

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Abbreviations

ALA:

Alpha-linolenic acid

BP:

Blood pressure

DBP:

Diastolic blood pressure

END:

Enterodiol

ENL:

Enterolactone

MAP:

Mean arterial pressure

SBP:

Systolic blood pressure

SDG:

Secoisolariciresinol diglucoside

SECO:

Secoisolariciresinol

SHR:

Spontaneously hypertensive rats

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Acknowledgments

The work was supported through grants from the Canadian Institutes for Health Research (CIHR), the Agri-food Research and Development Initiative, Western Grains Research Foundation and Saskatchewan Flax Development Commission. Indirect research support was obtained from St Boniface Hospital Foundation.

Compliance with Ethics Guidelines

ᅟ

Conflict of Interest

Stephanie P. B. Caligiuri reports a Patient Oriented Research Doctoral Award from CIHR. Andrea L. Edel was a recipient of a Doctoral Research Scholarship from the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada.

Michel Aliani has nothing to disclose.

Grant N. Pierce reports grants from Canadian Institutes for Health Research, Saskatchewan Flax Development Commission, Agriculture Research Development Initiative and Western Grains Research Foundation.

Human and Animal Rights and Informed Consent

This article does not contain any studies with human or animal subjects performed by any of the authors.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Canadian Centre for Agri-food Research in Health and Medicine (CCARM), St Boniface Hospital Research Centre, 351 Taché Avenue, Winnipeg, MB, Canada, R2H 2A6

    Stephanie P. B. Caligiuri, Andrea L. Edel, Michel Aliani & Grant N. Pierce

  2. The Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences, St. Boniface Hospital Research Centre, Winnipeg, MB, Canada

    Stephanie P. B. Caligiuri, Andrea L. Edel & Grant N. Pierce

  3. The Department of Physiology, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada

    Stephanie P. B. Caligiuri, Andrea L. Edel & Grant N. Pierce

  4. Department of Human Nutritional Sciences, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada

    Michel Aliani

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  1. Stephanie P. B. Caligiuri
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  2. Andrea L. Edel
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Correspondence to Grant N. Pierce.

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Stephanie P. B. Caligiuri and Andrea L. Edel contributed equally to this paper.

This article is part of the Topical Collection on Pathogenesis of Hypertension

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Caligiuri, S.P.B., Edel, A.L., Aliani, M. et al. Flaxseed for Hypertension: Implications for Blood Pressure Regulation. Curr Hypertens Rep 16, 499 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11906-014-0499-8

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