Flaxseed and Hot Flashes

Okay, we'll go for a food trifecta this week ..

A new,small study finds women taking 40 g daily of crushed flaxseed had an appreciable drop in the number of hot flashes they normally endure. These were women who didn't want to take any estrogen treatment - and the flashes diminished by about half.

The study ran for 6 weeks. It's believed the weak estrogenic properties of flaxseed are responsible for the results. The study was done at the Mayo Clinic and is reported in the summer 2007 issue of the Journal of the Society for Integrative Oncology.

HOWEVER . .this is only a phase 2 clinical study which means it still needs to be reviewed and repeated with a much larger population. But it's interesting. Keep in mind though, some of the 23 women in the study had abdominal side effects. And as always, if you give it a try remember to tell your doctor you're using flaxseed when they ask what if any meds you're taking.