The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of daily consumption of dietary flaxseed (as a source of linolenic acid, LNA) on plasma lipid concentrations in mildly hyperlipidemic patients.
Methods: 40 hyperlipidemic patients with plasma total cholesterol greater than 240 mg/dL were distributed in 3 groups: 10 patients who received hypo-lipidic diet (diet group), 10 patients who received hypo-lipidic diet plus statins (diet+HL group), 20 patients who received hypo-lipidic diet plus 20 g ground flax-seeds/day (diet+flax group). Body mass index (BMI), serum total cholesterol (TC), HDL-cholesterol (HDL-C), LDL-cholesterol (LDL-C), triglycerides (TG) and cholesterol/HDL-cholesterol ratio were measured at the beginning and after 60 days of treatment.
Results: Flaxseed supplementation was associated with significant reductions in TC (-17.2%), LDL-C (-3.9%), TG (-36.3%) and TC/HDL-C ratio (-33.5%). There were no significant differences in absolute change in BMI nor in percentage change in TC, HDL-C, LDL-C, TC/HDL-C ratio between flaxseed and statin groups.
Conclusions: Dietary flaxseed significantly improves lipid profile in hyperlipidemic patients and may favorably modify cardiovascular risk factors.