Eat Flax Seeds and Lower Your Blood Pressure

April 01, 2019

ReferencesNatural Medicine JournalWorld's Healthiest Foods,


Want to lower your blood pressure by THE MOST EFFECTIVE method I've found yet? This is really interesting.

Take 110 folks, of whom 80% have high blood pressure and were mostly on meds. Have them be randomized and then agree to take 30 grams (1 oz) of ground flax seed a day. About 20 folks dropped out for various reasons. Wait for 6 months. And then see what happens to their blood pressure. It turns out that those folks whose blood pressure was over 140 systolic lost about 15 mm Hg/ 7 mm Hg on their blood pressure. Can you beat that? Isn't that amazing?!! I've not found anything more powerful.


What is 1 oz of flax seeds? It's actually quite a lot. When you grind it up, which you have to do, it turns into about 3 heaping tablespoons of ground product. (If you don't grind it up, you get zero effect. Zero.) That is enough to give you about 7-8 grams of insoluble fiber all in one whack. That is enough to give you a really upset tummy if you do it all at once because it is such a change on your gut all at once. But if you start slow and build up, doing it every day over a month, you will successfully have lovely, smooth, soft, bulky bowel movements, and in six months, lovely, smooth, silky, stretchy arteries with lower blood pressure. Presto! Chango! 


How on early is flax seed so powerful? Silly, little, hard seeds. Filled with more antioxidants than blueberries or olives, they also have more lignans than any other food. There is an extensive published literature on the medical benefits of flax seeds that is out there. Most of it points to the fact that flax seeds soften metabolic syndrome (of which high blood pressure is a part). The essential omega three fats are very abundant in ground flax seed and may be part of that role. But it's likely the fiber in flax seeds that are the secret sauce. Your gut bacteria love that stuff. Their processing of that fiber is very likely making chemicals we have yet to fully understand or measure that makes flax seeds into the powerhouse they are. Can we measure that yet? Nope. Just conjecture. But there is such power in the effect, it must be more than what we currently know.

How to fix flax seeds? You can add them to your cereal or yogurt. You can incorporate them into muffins or any baked goods. In fact, cooking and baking the omega fats within flaxseed has been shown not to degrade their qualities, and thereby reduce the glycemic index of the muffin they are being baked into.


Can you eat flax seeds whole, plain? Nope! They come out the other end whole and undigested. The only benefit they then provide you is what we call, "transit time". No lower blood pressure, no glycemic improvement, no good, nadda.


WWW: What will work for me. I've eaten flax seed for years in my breakfast cereal based on quinoa and blueberries. My blood sugar is lousy but my blood pressure has been ok, so far. 70% of Americans have high blood pressure by the time we get to 70, so I'm only a few years away and want to keep myself low. I'm going to think about how I can sneak some flax seed into my daily plan. There has to be a way of adding it to other foods. Got any ideas?


Pop Quiz

  1. Flax seeds are good for you whole or ground up. T or F. Answer: Decidedly false. No benefit, almost whatsoever, with whole flax seeds. Your chewing just isn't powerful enough to break them open to get their innards, their benefits.
  2. Ground flaxseed will lower your blood pressure how many points if you eat 30 grams (1oz) a day for 6 months? Answer: 15 / 7. The most of any known home-remedy.
  3. Baking flax seeds in muffins destroys the fragile omega 3 fats. T or F. Answer: Another false. You only lose 5-6 %.
  4. Flax seeds have other beneficial qualities besides blood pressure? T or F. Answer: Oh my goodness, yes. Your bowel movements will be softer and your colon cancer risk will likely drop dramatically, along with your blood pressure, your risk of gall bladder disease, diverticulitis, appendicitis.......
  5. You can buy flax seeds in most grocery stores. T or F. Answer: True. Buy the whole seeds and grind them yourself. The omega three fats degrade pretty quickly after being exposed to oxygen. Takes about 5 seconds to grind 30 grams.

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