The benefits of flaxseed for the intestine that also makes your skin beautiful+ how to use it
The benefits of flaxseed for the intestine: Flaxseeds are accessible, inexpensive, and ridiculously good for you—and, best of all, don’t even have to be cooked.
It’s the truth: multiple well-conducted studies have found that eating flaxseeds has a number of benefits, among them improved digestion and improved heart health, as well as lower risk of certain cancers, obesity, and diabetes.
The benefits of flaxseed for the intestine: Eating flaxseed might even ease menopausal symptoms, which—among its many other nuisances—can often include GI issues. But the appeal doesn’t end there: Flaxseeds are so filled with nutrients that, recently, influencers have even been using them in DIY beauty treatments for their skin and hair. “This is Botox that you make at home,” one viral Tiktok proclaims. “And the best part is, it’s two ingredients: flaxseeds and water. It works as a natural shampoo as well.”
The benefits of flaxseed for the intestine: While comparing flaxseed to Botox might be a stretch, there’s no doubt that they do have many transformative properties, especially when ingested. But what exactly are flaxseeds, how should you use them, and how do they specifically benefit your health? Read on to find out what the experts recommend.
Stay with this section of Medicinal plants in the health and beauty section of Eternal Pen magazine.
What are flaxseeds?
The benefits of flaxseed for the intestine: Flaxseed is exactly what it sounds like: the seed of a plant called flax. The seeds are very small—similar in size and shape to a sesame seed—and either golden or brown. And, here’s a fun fact: Humans have been growing the flax plant for thousands of years for its seeds, oil, and fibers; your favorite linen shirts are actually made from its fibrous stems.
The benefits of flaxseed for the intestine
Flaxseeds for digestion
The benefits of flaxseed for the intestine: Flaxseeds’ magical ability to reduce cholesterol and “increase fat excretion” is thanks to a very specific kind of fiber called “mucilaginous gum”—a gelatinous type of soluble fiber also found in seaweed and legumes. If you’ve ever soaked flaxseeds in water and noticed how slimy they get—as seen in the aforementioned Tiktok—that’s mucilaginous gum doing its job.
All this fiber also means good things for the gut microbiome as well. “Flaxseed fiber can also feed beneficial gut bacteria,” says Panitz. “Along with its high amounts of ALA omega-3 fatty acids, it has been shown to alter the gut microbial composition to promote more good-for-you species of bacteria that help maintain and heal the gut lining, which in turn increases insulin sensitivity, slows the progression of diseases like cancer, and decreases inflammation.”
Beauty and the seed
The benefits of flaxseed for the intestine: Eating flaxseeds can also be a game-changer when it comes to improving skin health. One recent randomized controlled study found that adding flaxseed oil to participants’ daily diets diminished skin sensitivity and improved skin barrier function after just twelve weeks. “Flaxseed oil led to significant decreases in sensitivity, roughness, and scaling, while smoothness and hydration were increased,” it reports.
While there aren’t a ton of studies on the benefits of flaxseed or flaxseed oil applied directly to the face, there have been some promising results from studies done on the application of omega 3 fatty acids from fish oil, which has many of the same properties. “Clinical trials for skin application are still limited,” one recent study explains. But it found that “omega-3 fatty acids can improve skin barrier function, inhibit UV-induced inflammation and hyperpigmentation, attenuate dry skin and pruritus elicited by dermatitis, accelerate skin wound healing, and prevent skin cancer development” and that “all of those benefits can be achieved by different administration routes including topical application.”
As for hair, applying a mixture of freshly ground flaxseed and water to your hair definitely won’t hurt, and it just might add some moisture and even promote hair growth. One recent study found that the lignans in flaxseed oil could “potentially be used as a treatment for alopecia,” while another earlier study found that omega 3 fatty acids stimulated hair growth when applied to the hair follicles of rodents.
However, there is one thing to note: because the molecules in flaxseed oil are larger than those of other oils, it might be challenging for the skin or scalp to absorb them fully. So, you’re probably better off eating your flaxseed instead of relying on topical application alone.
What’s the best way to eat flaxseeds?
The benefits of flaxseed for the intestine: Flaxseeds are incredibly easy to incorporate into your current diet, and you don’t even need to eat cup-fulls of them to reap the benefits. “Most of the health benefits of flax come from eating just one to two tablespoons a day, which is easy to do,” says Scheinman. “Flaxseeds are a great food to include in a longevity-focused diet.”
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