Hello,
I have some general questions here regarding flax seed oil, that I'm hoping someone can help me with. For women, flax seed oil/lignans looks good, but for men the studies appear to be conflicting. Some studies show it protects men from prostate cancer, while other studies show that it promotes it.
First up, from what I've read, it seems ALA might be the culprit regarding increasing prostate cancer, and lignans might protect. I've also read one article (forget where), that states a certain percentage of people can't digest flax properly, thereby increasing inflammation rather than decreasing it -- which I guess could potentially cause health problems.
My questions:
Are flax lignans without the oil the preferred form for men? Any dangers with taking lignans only?
And can lignans decrease testosterone (which would be a bad thing for most men)? I've read some articles that say it might decrease testosterone, while some others say it can increase it -- so I'm again confused here.
Besides possibly preventing cancer, do lignans help with cholesterol at all? Or is that the EFA content/fiber from seeds which might help with cholesterol?
And finally, is Flax Essence from Jarrow a good product, if one wishes to try flax? It's a concentrated form of lignans without the ALA content.
Thanks
