Animal studies suggest that adding flaxseed oil to the diet could reduce the risk of osteoporosis in post-menopausal women and women with diabetes.
Osteoporosis is a disease characterized by low bone mass and structural deterioration of bone tissue, leading to bone fragility and an increased risk of fractures of the hip, spine, and wrist. For women, bone loss is fastest in the first few years after menopause, and osteoporosis is most common in women after menopause, when it is called postmenopausal osteoporosis.
Researchers studied the effect of diabetes on bone health and evaluated how flaxseed oil in the diet might delay the onset of osteoporosis. They studied 70 female albino rats of which 30 had their ovaries removed (ovx) to simulate the post-menopausal state and experimental diabetes was induced in one group of rodents. The researchers then classified the rats into groups. The diabetic, ovx, and ovx-diabetic groups received flaxseed oil in the diet.
After two months, they collected urine and blood samples from the rats and measured serum insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) and the bone-creating protein osteocalcin. They found that these two compounds were present at higher levels in the ovx and the diabetic ovx groups, but much lower in the non-ovx diabetic group. The concentrations of IGF-1 and osteocalcin could be raised to normal levels by adding flaxseed oil to the diet.
They also found that the levels of deoxypyridinoline in the urine were raised in the diabetic group. Deoxypyridinoline is normally present in healthy bone and its presence in urine is a specific marker for bone resorption associated with osteoporosis. Levels of this marker compound fell when the rats were given flaxseed oil.
The researchers concluded that diabetes has a more pronounced effect on bone health than ovariectomy and so may suggest that diabetes in post-menopausal women may also be a greater risk factor for osteoporosis than the decline in sex hormones associated with menopause. However, their results suggest that flaxseed oil has a beneficial effect on bone mineral density and reduces markers associated with osteoporosis, suggesting that this dietary supplement could be beneficial to women with diabetes in reducing their risk of osteoporosis.
They explain that the presence of so-called “n-3 fatty acids” in flaxseed oil may play a role in protecting the processes of matrix formation and bone mineralization, which are apparently compromised by diabetes and menopause. “We recommend further investigations using animals and humans to confirm the effect of using dietary flaxseed oil to improve bone health and to prevent osteoporosis,” they conclude.
References:
1. Mer Harvi, et al. Impact of feeding flaxseed oil on delaying the development of osteoporosis in ovariectomized diabetic rats. Int. J. Food Safety, Nutrition and Public Health, 2009, 2, 189-201.
