100% Customer Satisfaction Guarantee
America's #1 Rated Catalog/Internet Brand
Based on Customer Satisfaction†
Lee Swanson Research Update
Flax May Fill You Up for Longer and Aid Weight Management
February 2012
University of Copenhagen researchers report that flax fiber consumed in a tablet or as a beverage had similar hunger-suppressing effects, but the greater convenience of the tablets may make them an attractive alternative to beverages.
Fiber from flax may suppress appetite and help support weight loss, according to a new study from Denmark that also compared the efficacy of flax fiber from a tablet or a beverage.
"As obesity is closely connected with appetite, regular ingestion of flaxseed fiber in a low-energy beverage prior to each meal may help to maintain or lose weight as suppression of hunger between meals may aid adherence to a calorie-restricted diet," the researchers wrote in the journal Appetite.
"The advantage of flaxseed fibers over other dietary fibers is that already a dose of 2.5 g is sufficient to impact appetite. This is a considerably smaller amount than in most other studies, which administered dietary fiber doses ranging from 5 g to 12 g."
This is not the first time that the hunger-busting activity of flax has been reported: The same researchers reported last year in Nutrition, Metabolism and Cardiovascular Diseases that addition of 2.4 g of flaxseed fiber to a meal increased both ratings of satiety and fullness, compared with a control meal.
The new study adds to the previous findings and also showed that the potential appetite-suppressing activity of flax did not differ when flax fiber was delivered as a tablet or a drink.
The Copenhagen-based researchers conducted two single-blinded randomized crossover studies with 24 and 20 people, respectively.
The first study compared the efficacy of a flax drink containing 2.5 g of soluble fibers versus a control beverage on appetite and subsequent food intake, while the second study compared the flax drink with flax tablets containing the same doses of fiber.
Results showed that the measures of satiety and fullness were about 30% larger for flax beverage than for the control beverage, with prospective food intake about eight percent less.
Comparison of the flax beverage and the flax tablets indicated that appetite ratings were similar and differed by no more than one to four percent.
"The texture of viscous beverages is often perceived as unpalatable, which makes them rather unsuitable for commercial use," wrote the researchers. "In the present study this becomes apparent in the higher palatability ratings of the control drink compared to the flaxseed drink.
"Flaxseed fiber tablets may be an attractive alternative, as they appear to be as effective as a viscous beverage, but more convenient. Tablets are easily dosed and do not require preparations, which stands in contrast to the usage of a powder."
Appetite 58(2):490-495, 2012
