Benign prostatic hyperplasia, or BPH, is a common condition in older males, affecting 20 percent of men in their 40s and up to 90 percent of 70-year-old men. Symptoms of prostate enlargement include difficulty starting a urinary stream, a weak stream, frequent nighttime urination, dribbling and incontinence. Medications are available for treating mild to moderate BPH, and surgical options are available for men with severe BPH. Alternative remedies, many of them unproven, are also widely used. Some flaxseed products may offer benefit, but check with your doctor before using any non-medical treatments for BPH.
Cause and Risk Factors
The cells in your prostate gland are endowed with receptors that respond to dihydrotestosterone, or DHT, which is derived from the enzymatic conversion of testosterone from your bloodstream. DHT stimulates growth in your prostate, which eventually encroaches on the base of your bladder and narrows your urethra, which is the tube that drains urine from your bladder. Multiple other factors increase your risk for BPH, including obesity, diabetes, genetics, sedentary lifestyle and high-protein, high-fat or high-starch diets. In contrast, dietary lignans, such as those found in flaxseed, and alpha-linolenic acid, found in flaxseed oil, may offer protective benefits.
Lignans
Lignans are naturally occurring isoflavones, or phytoestrogens, found in a variety of plants. Flaxseed is a rich source of lignans, some of which are converted to absorbable compounds – enterodiol and enterolactone – in your intestine. These substances appear to exert beneficial effects on the male prostate, both in terms of cancer prevention and reduced risk for BPH. A study published in the June 2008 issue of “Journal of Medicinal Food” demonstrated improvement of BPH symptoms in men taking 300 or 600 mg of flax lignans daily for four months.
Oil
The types of fats in your diet play a major role in your health. Omega-3 fatty acids, such as alpha-linolenic acid, have been credited with a variety of health benefits, including protection from cancer and other inflammatory conditions. In 2009, scientists at Brazil’s State University of Campinas showed that flaxseed oil reduced the numbers of DHT receptors in rat prostate tissue and, over a 10-week period, prevented prostate growth when compared to animals fed a diet rich in saturated fats.
Considerations
Although there is insufficient scientific evidence to reach any conclusions, flaxseed lignans and flaxseed oil may offer some protection from BPH and, in the case of lignans, may even reduce BPH symptoms and improve urinary flow. The optimal dosage of flaxseed lignans or oil for managing BPH has not been determined. While flaxseed oil appears to offer a variety of health benefits, ask your doctor if you should take supplemental flaxseed oil for your prostate.
References
- “American Family Physician”; Diagnosis and Management of Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia; J.L. Edwards; May 2008
- “Current Bladder Dysfunction Reports”; Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia and Male Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms: Epidemiology and Risk Factors; J.K. Parsons; December 2010
- “BMC Microbiology”; Production of Enterodiol from Defatted Flaxseeds Through Biotransformation by Human Intestinal Bacteria; C. Wang, et al.; April 2010
- “Journal of Medicinal Food”; Effects of Dietary Flaxseed Lignan Extract on Symptoms of Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia; W. Zhang, et al.; June 2008
- “Prostate”; Dietary Fatty Acid Quality Affects AR and PPARgamma Levels and Prostate Growth; E.L. Escobar, et al.; April 2009
