Flaxseed eaten with a regular diet for 4 weeks, lowered the LDL cholesterol rate of healthy females by 18%...

Hypertension is high blood pressure. High blood pressure is a condition that greatly increases the tendency toward heart attacks, stroke and kidney failure.

When you have your blood pressure taken during a visit to the doctor’s office they provide you with two numbers. The first or top number of a blood pressure reading is the systolic measurement. This measures the pressure created when the heart pumps blood into the arteries. As the blood presses against the walls of the arteries, the pressure is the highest when the heart has just finished pumping or contracting.

Then the heart relaxes and starts to fill with blood. This pressure is the lower or bottom number of the blood pressure reading and is know as the diastolic measurement. The diastolic measure is the pressure of blood against the artery walls between heartbeats – when the heart is resting. Consistent measurement of blood pressure levels at or above the levels of 140 systolic and 90 diastolic are considered high blood pressure, or hypertension. As blood pressure increases, the risk of it damaging other organs also increases.

Hypertension can be caused by hereditary factors, lifestyle choices and other compromising health problems. Diets with high fiber content and artery-cleaning attributes found in omega-3 fatty acids are helpful in keeping arteries flexible, thereby helping to maintain a smooth thoroughfare for the blood to pass through. The same attributes in flax seed that assist in prevention of heart disease also are prominent in their preventative natures with hypertension.

Flaxseed researcher, Stephen Cunnane, PhD of the University of Toronto, found that 50 grams (.28 cup of whole = 50 grams,1/4 cup of whole seed = 45 grams) (measured before grinding) of ground flax seed eaten with a regular diet for 4 weeks, lowered the LDL cholesterol rate of healthy females by 18%. Prevention of heart disease and hypertension are mutually dependent on maintaining healthy, flexible blood vessels. The omega-3 fatty acids found in flax seed rise far and above other foods for their concentration of these “vessel cleaning” work horses. See the link Omega-3 Fatty Acids in this website for further information.