Preserving Youth
OPTIMAL HEALTH AND LONGEVITY WITH LIGNANS

View the PDF

IF YOU DREAD GETTING OLDER, YOU'RE NOT ALONE. Most Americans fear aging because we think it is normal to lose our good health as we age. Unfortunately, for most of us, it’s true. A lifetime of poor eating habits and lifestyle choices catches up with most of us women around menopause. Menopause shines a light on the imbalances that we have cultivated. First, it’s hot flashes, mood swings, insomnia, and weight gain—followed by osteoporosis, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, heart disease, diabetes, and cancers of the breast and colon. For men, the story isn’t much different. They too are prone to the same long list of undesirable conditions, but instead of hot flashes and breast cancer, prostate cancer takes a top position on their marquee of "Most-Unwanted-But-Tragically-Most-Common- Diseases." No wonder we fear aging. But the good news is we don’t have to.

GOOD OR POOR HEALTH is usually not an accident. We have tremendous influence on whether we enjoy vibrant health or suffer or die prematurely with a chronic disorder. The foods we eat and the activities we choose every day will tip the scales in one direction or the other. Stress, inactivity, smoking, alcohol and eating a diet high in red meat, sugar, refined carbohydrates, and bad fats, such as trans fats and saturated animal fats, are a recipe for disaster. On the other hand, a plant-based diet combined with intelligent supplementation; the daily practice of an effective stress-reducing technique, such as meditation or yoga; regular exercise; and nurturing loving relationships will stack the odds in our favor of staying healthy.

LIGNANS TO THE RESCUE
Certain foods and supplements act as powerful natural medicines that can protect our health and ward off disease. Plants high in lignans, such as flaxseeds, or the all-natural flax lignan supplement called Brevail®, are great examples. Research shows that lignans possess a multitude of health benefits. In fact, when it comes to your fears of hormonal imbalances and aging, lignans can alleviate most of them.

Menopausal Symptoms
One hundred women participated in a trial usage program with Brevail and reported improvement in mood, sense of well-being and peace of mind, as well as relief from symptoms related to PMS, peri-, pre- and postmenopausal discomforts. In a study published in the Annals of Medicine in 1997, Finnish researcher H. Aldercreutz explains that the reason lignans reduce hot flashes and vaginal dryness in postmenopausal women is because they have weak estrogenic and antiestrogenic properties.

Osteoporosis
Several studies show that lignans protect against osteoporosis by preventing bone loss and increasing bone density. If you don’t consume enough lignans, your risk of osteoporosis is much higher. In a study published in the journal Clinical Endocrinology in March 2002, Korean researchers found that women with osteoporosis had much lower levels of enterolactone—a type of lignan— than women with normal bone density.

Protection Against Cardiovascular Disease
Heart disease is the number-one killer of Americans. But, you can significantly increase your chances of maintaining your heart health by consuming plenty of lignans. Lignans help protect cardiovascular health in four major ways. First, they help maintain healthy blood pressure levels. A study from the Netherlands published in the Journal of Hypertension in July 2004 found that postmenopausal women who consumed high levels of lignans had statistically significant lower systolic and diastolic blood pressures (the top and bottom numbers) and a lower prevalence of hypertension. Second, they block the initial steps that lead to atherosclerotic plaques in your arteries. Third, lignans possess anti-platelet activating factor activity—also important for preventing plaque formation. Fourth, lignans help maintain healthy cholesterol levels.

A study published in Atherosclerosis in 2002 found that a low level of enterolactone is a significant risk factor for coronary artery disease. In another study published in the prestigious British journal Lancet in 1999, men who had the highest levels of enterolactone had a 58.8 percent lower risk of heart attacks than men with the lowest levels.

Anti-Aging/Antioxidant
San Diego-based Pantox Laboratory researcher M. F. McCarty found that lignans may also help to slow human aging. In a study published in the journal Medical Hypothesis in June 2003, McCarty reported that there "is a considerable amount of evidence…that systemic IGF-1 (insulin-like growth factor-1) activity acts as a pacesetter in the aging process." In other words, IGF-1 accelerates aging, so decreasing IGF-1 levels may slow aging. There are many natural ways to lower the amount of IGF- 1 that our liver produces, such as exercising and consuming diets high in fiber and low in fat. Research shows that flax lignans are also very effective at decreasing IGF-1.

There is another way that lignans help to slow down aging—they act as antioxidants. Antioxidants neutralize oxygen free radicals. Excess oxygen free radicals cause damage to our cell membranes and DNA that accelerates aging and promotes chronic disease. A Canadian study published in the journal Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry in 1999 found that the flaxseed lignan SDG (secoisolariciresinol diglucoside) showed good antioxidant activity even at low doses. Chinese researchers reported in the journal Free Radical Biology and Medicine in 1992 that lignans protect against the free radical damage to the brain that normally occurs with aging. And a study published this year in the Journal of Nutrition reported that consuming high amounts of lignans may preserve cognitive function in postmenopausal women.

Cancer
Lignans have enormous protective properties. For example, there are over a dozen different ways that they help protect breast health: Lignans lower the overall production of estrogen in our bodies, block environmental estrogens from attaching to breast tissue, create more of a "good" protective type of estrogen, protect our breast tissue from the damaging effects of environmental toxins, decrease three different growth factors associated with the growth of breast cancer, and lengthen the menstrual cycle. Studies show that lignans not only promote breast health, but they also effectively help protect the colon and the prostate.

Obesity and Diabetes
Lignans are also beneficial for lowering risk factors associated with obesity and diabetes. According to a study conducted by the Harvard School of Public Health and published in the Journal of Nutrition in 2005, lignans lower fasting insulin secretion. Another study published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition in 2002 found that flaxseeds improve glucose control and insulin resistance, and balance levels of cholesterol and blood lipids—all of these effects are beneficial against obesity and diabetes.

BREVAIL: LIGNAN ASSURANCE
Brevail is made of highly absorbable, isolated, concentrated and purified lignans from flaxseeds. The daily standardized dose—just one capsule of Brevail— provides the same amount of lignans found in women with a history of excellent breast health. With all the research-proven, tremendous health benefits of lignans, you’ll definitely want to make sure that you consume optimum doses of them every day—and taking Brevail is one of the best ways to ensure that you do. References available at www.freedompressonline.com