The effect of a split portion of flaxseed on 24-h blood glucose response

Abstract

Purpose Flaxseed can be effective at lowering and stabilising blood glucose responses. The aim of this study was to determine whether flaxseed could lower blood glucose response more effectively when consumed as a single portion of 30 g, or a split portion consumed three times per day (10 g flaxseed per portion). Methods The study was a randomised, repeated measures, cross-over design. Fifteen healthy participants consumed either (1) three flaxseed muffins containing a total of 30 g of flaxseed once in the morning, (2) three flaxseed muffins consumed at three different timepoints across the day (10 g flaxseed per muffin) or (3) three control muffins consumed at three different timepoints across the day (0 g flaxseed). The 24-h blood glucose response was measured using a continuous glucose monitor. Results The results of this study demonstrated that flaxseed muffins given three times a day were effective at lowering and maintaining blood glucose levels over 24 h, compared to the control muffins and that both flaxseed treatments resulting in a lower blood glucose iAUC during the night. Conclusion The results of this study indicated that adding flaxseed to a daily diet produced a lower glucose profile over 24 h in a free-living context compared to the control muffins. Keywords Flaxseed • Linseed • Blood glucose • Continuous glucose monitor • Blood glucose incremental area under the curve (iAUC) • 24 blood glucose profile

Composition, processing, and quality control of whole flaxseed products used to fortify foods

“…Diets containing relatively high levels of plant‐derived foods that providing essential protein, lipids, carbohydrates, vitamins and minerals, as well as fibers and other phytonutrients, have been linked to lower risks of various chronic diseases (Carraro et al., 2012; Edel et al., 2015). Indeed, studies suggest that flaxseed consumption can lower the risk of cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, cancer, inflammation, kidney diseases, gastrointestinal disorders, and maintain brain health (Almehmadi et al., 2021; Karantonis et al., 2022; Parikh et al., 2018, 2019; Seedy et al., 2021; Thumann et al., 2019). These health benefits have partly been attributed to the fact that flaxseed is a good source of essential omega‐3 fatty acid, but also high quality of protein, soluble dietary fibers, lignans and multiple phytochemicals, which could exert anti‐inflammatory, antioxidant, antihypertensive, glucose absorption control, immune suppression/enhancement, and so forth (Kaneda et al., 2016; Marambe et al., 2008; Mosavat et al., 2018; Rabetafika et al., 2011; Rodriguez et al., 2013; Silva & Alcorn, 2019; Tang et al., 2021).…”

How Can Flaxseed be Utilized as Functional Food

“…The findings showed that flaxseed muffins given thrice a day were more effective than control muffins at reducing and sustaining blood glucose levels over 24 hours. It was observed that Flaxseeds should be consumed in small amounts throughout the day, not all at once [32].…”

Defining a Continuous Glucose Baseline to assess the impact of nutritional interventions

“…Even with CGM, the basal glucose levels were generally estimated from few, closely spaced glucose readings gathered under controlled conditions, after an overnight fast; the considered data was for example reduced to one glucose reading ( 13 ), or to the average value estimated from all readings over 30 min ( 14 ), or over 60 min prior to nutritional interventions ( 10 ). In another study where no overnight fast was required ( 15 ), the single glucose reading gathered at 6 am was considered as estimate for basal glucose. In most of these studies ( 10 , 13 , 15 ), basal glucose was estimated for each test day, while in one of these studies ( 14 ), the estimate from the first day was considered for the analysis of all following days.…”

“…In another study where no overnight fast was required ( 15 ), the single glucose reading gathered at 6 am was considered as estimate for basal glucose. In most of these studies ( 10 , 13 , 15 ), basal glucose was estimated for each test day, while in one of these studies ( 14 ), the estimate from the first day was considered for the analysis of all following days. These methods, besides being very diverse, all present similar limitations to the standard methods, while not taking profit of the richness of the whole CGM data.…”