Anti-Aging Research: Flaxseed Shows Potential to Reduce Hot Flashes

Data from a new Mayo Clinic study suggest that dietary therapy using flaxseed can decrease hot flashes in postmenopausal women who do not take estrogen.

“Hot flashes are a bothersome issue for women experiencing menopause,” says Sandhya Pruthi, M.D., Mayo Clinic breast health specialist and the study’s primary investigator. “We hope to find more effective nonhormonal options to assist women, and flaxseed looks promising.”

Participants were asked questions that the researchers translated into a hot flash score -- a combined measure of frequency and severity. The frequency of hot flashes decreased 50 percent over six weeks, and the overall hot flash score decreased an average 57 percent for the women who completed the trial.

Read details of this flaxseed hot flashes study.