The pop in of lignan found in flaxseeds and whole grains showed the highest association.
Alexandra Shytsman
Its no secret that here atEatingWell, we loveplant-based foods.
Many also contribute necessary healthy fats.
Photo:Alexandra Shytsman
Some plant-based foods contain plant compounds called lignans, which function asinflammation-fighting antioxidantsas well as phytoestrogens.
If youve never heard of phytoestrogens before, these plant compoundsact like estrogenin some of the bodys tissues.
Many plant-based foods contain small amounts of lignans, but they are especially concentrated in flaxseeds and sesame seeds.
Might they have other health benefits?
Lets see what these researchers found.
How Was This Study Conducted & What Did It Find?
A total of 201,111 participants were included, with an average age of 45 at baseline.
About 80% of them were female.
Participants in the NHS, NHS II and HPFS filled out food frequency questionnaires every two to four years.
Participants in the MLVS filled out two sets of seven-day diet records over the course of the study.
The food frequency questionnaires identified foods the participants ate that contained lignans.
Researchers included the frequency of eating these foods as well as the foods' lignan content in their calculations.
They further broke the lignans down into categories, since there are several types of lignans.
This would help them see whether certain types of lignans held more value for certain health outcomes.
Women who were going through menopause or had already gone through it were also asked about hormone therapy.
These diagnoses were confirmed with medical record reviews.
Researchers found that the results suggest that higher intakes of lignans were associated with a lower rate of diabetes.
This was true for all types of lignans except for onelariciresinol.
One jot down of lignan also came out on top.
How Does This Apply to Real Life?
So preventing it or managing it if you have it is imperative.
In some cases, you may even be able toreverse punch in 2 diabetesthrough diet and lifestyle changes.
One of ourMediterranean diet meal planswould be a great place to start.
If youre not ready for a full overhaul of your habits, try adding ground flaxseed to your meals.
It goes great in smoothies, yogurt and oatmeal.
you’re able to even add it to ground meat for meatballs,meatloafor burgers.
Weve even seen some people mix it into their water and chug it down.
Hey, whatever works!
