Research
Macro partitioning
Consuming 50g of high alpha-linolenic acid (ALA) flaxseed daily for 4 weeks significantly lowers serum total cholesterol by 9% and LDL cholesterol by 18% in healthy women.
Add 50 grams of ground flaxseed to your daily diet for at least 4 weeks to potentially lower your LDL cholesterol by nearly 20%. You can mix it into yogurt, soups, or bake it into bread. This is safe and tastes fine for most people.
GoodSupportsHIGH confidence
Flaxseed also lowered serum total cholesterol by 9% and low-density-lipoprotein-cholesterol by 18%.
Why this rating
Randomized controlled trial with a small sample size (n=9) but clear statistical significance (P<0.01).
Source
High α-linolenic acid flaxseed (<i>Linum usitatissimum</i>):some nutritional properties in humans
Stephen C. Cunnane et al. · British Journal Of Nutrition · 1993
DOI 10.1079/bjn19930046
crossover · n=14Cited 455×
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
More from this paper
- Consuming 50g of flaxseed or 25g of flaxseed mucilage with a carbohydrate meal reduces postprandial blood glucose responses by approximately 27%.Good
- Consuming 50g of flaxseed daily for 4 weeks raises plasma and erythrocyte alpha-linolenic acid (ALA) and long-chain n-3 fatty acids, with bioavailability from ground flaxseed flour being equivalent to flaxseed oil.Good
- Baking flaxseed into muffins eliminates detectable levels of cyanogenic glycosides (linustatin, linamarin, neolinustatin), addressing safety concerns about raw consumption.Good
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