Flaxseed Supplementation in Metabolic Syndrome Management: A Pilot Randomized, Open‐labeled, Controlled Study

Abstract

The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of flaxseed supplementation plus lifestyle modification in comparison with lifestyle modification alone in the management of metabolic syndrome (MetS). A randomized controlled clinical trial was conducted on 44 patients with MetS. Participants were assigned to receive either the lifestyle advice and 30-g brown milled flaxseed daily or only the lifestyle advice as the control group. The percentage of individuals with MetS decreased from baseline by 50% and 82% in the control and intervention group, respectively. The reversion rate of central obesity was higher in the flaxseed group (36%) than control group (13%). Moreover, greater reduction in insulin resistance was observed in flaxseed group in comparison with control group (p < 0.001). Body weight, waist circumference, and body mass index decreased significantly in both groups with a significantly greater reduction in flaxseed group in comparison with controls (p < 0.05). There were no significant changes in blood pressure in any groups. Our results indicate that co-administration of flaxseed with lifestyle modification is more effective than lifestyle modification alone in management of MetS; whether these effects will be sustained with longer treatment durations remains to be determined. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The effect of flaxseed supplementation on body weight and body composition: a systematic review and meta‐analysis of 45 randomized placebo‐controlled trials

“…Among the full‐text articles evaluated, 24 studies were excluded for the following reasons: duplicate report ( n = 2), not randomized placebo‐controlled studies ( n = 2), no anthropometric measurements performed ( n = 17) and use of flaxseed in combination with other components without an appropriate control group ( n = 3). Forty‐five eligible RCTs with 49 treatment arms were included in the meta‐analyses . Of these, 28 articles reported effects of flaxseed on weight , 35 articles on BMI and 13 articles on WC .…”

“…Nine of the 45 trials were performed exclusively on women and nine on men , and the remaining trials included both sexes; however, three studies did not mention sex composition of participants . Eligible studies were published between 1995 and 2016, and most of them were conducted in the USA , Canada , Iran and Brazil . The remaining studies were conducted in China , Australia , Greece , Germany , Denmark , Romania India and Japan .…”

“…Twenty‐two treatment arms used whole , ground or deffated flaxseed for the intervention. Sunflower seed , raw rice , collagen , wheat germ , manioc flour , cassava flour , wheat bran and wheat were used for the control groups.…”

“…Twenty‐nine trials were classified as high quality (Jadad score ≥ 3) , and 16 trials were of low quality (Jadad score < 3) . The last column of Table provides the quality assessment results of the studies.…”

“…Three of the 45 included articles did not report randomization , but excluding these three studies had no impact on the meta‐analyses. Thirty‐two studies did not adequately explain the randomization procedure . Twenty studies reported double blinding , but 28 studies did not clearly describe the blinding procedure .…”