(1) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: heading “Flax seed”.
Flax seed owes its nutritional benefits to lignans and omega-3 essential fatty acids. Omega-3s, often in short supply in populations with low-fish diets, promote heart health by reducing cholesterol, blood pressure and plaque formation in arteries. In addition, flaxseed oil is often recommended as a galactagogue. Lignans benefit the heart and possess anti-cancer properties: A series of research studies by Lilian U. Thompson and her colleagues at the Department of Nutritional Science of the University of Toronto have reported that flaxseed can have a beneficial effect in reducing tumour growth in mice, particularly the kind of tumour found in human post-menopausal breast cancer. The effects are thought to be due to the lignans in flaxseed, and are additive with those of tamoxifen, the currently standard drug treatment for these cancers. Initial studies suggest that flaxseed taken in the diet have similar beneficial effects in human cancer patients.Reports that flaxseed is beneficial in other cancers, e.g. prostate cancer, are less numerous but promising

(2) Flaxseed and its components reduce metastasis after surgical excision of solid human breast tumor in nude mice. Cancer Letters, Volume 234, Issue 2, Pages 168-175 J. Chen, L. Wang, L. Thompson

(3) Dietary Flaxseed Alters Tumor Biological Markers in Postmenopausal Breast Cancer
Lilian U. Thompson1, Jian Min Chen1, Tong Li2, Kathrin Strasser-Weippl2 and Paul E. Goss3
Authors' Affiliations: 1 Department of Nutritional Sciences, 2 Princess Margaret Hospital, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and 3 Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts
Requests for reprints: Paul E. Goss, Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center, Cancer Center Administration, 55 Fruit Street, Cox Building, Room 640, Boston, MA 02114. Phone: 617-724-3118; Fax: 617-724-3166; E-mail: pgoss@partners.org.
Abstract: Purpose: Flaxseed, the richest source of mammalian lignan precursors, has previously been shown to reduce the growth of tumors in rats. This study examined, in a randomized double-blind placebo-controlled clinical trial, the effects of dietary flaxseed on tumor biological markers and urinary lignan excretion in postmenopausal patients with newly diagnosed breast cancer.
Experimental Design: Patients were randomized to daily intake of either a 25 g flaxseed-containing muffin (n = 19) or a control (placebo) muffin (n = 13). At the time of diagnosis and again at definitive surgery, tumor tissue was analyzed for the rate of tumor cell proliferation (Ki-67 labeling index, primary end point), apoptosis, c-erbB2 expression, and estrogen and progesterone receptor levels. Twenty-four–hour urine samples were analyzed for lignans, and 3-day diet records were evaluated for macronutrient and caloric intake. Mean treatment times were 39 and 32 days in the placebo and flaxseed groups, respectively.
Results: Reductions in Ki-67 labeling index (34.2%; P = 0.001) and in c-erbB2 expression (71.0%; P = 0.003) and an increase in apoptosis (30.7%; P = 0.007) were observed in the flaxseed, but not in the placebo group. No significant differences in caloric and macronutrient intake were seen between groups and between pre- and posttreatment periods. A significant increase in mean urinary lignan excretion was observed in the flaxseed group (1,300%; P < 0.01) compared with placebo controls. The total intake of flaxseed was correlated with changes in c-erbB2 score (r = –0.373; P = 0.036) and apoptotic index (r = 0.495; P < 0.004).
Conclusion: Dietary flaxseed has the potential to reduce tumor growth in patients with breast cancer.
Key Words: flaxseed • lignans • tumor cell proliferation • apoptosis • c-erbB2

(4)Exp Biol Med (Maywood). 2005 Mar;230(3):217-23: Anticancer effects of a plant lignan 7-hydroxymatairesinol on a prostate cancer model in vivo, by Bylund A, Saarinen N, Zhang JX, Bergh A, Widmark A, Johansson A, Lundin E, Adlercreutz H, Hallmans G, Stattin P, Makela S. University of Turku, Functional Foods Forum, FI-20014 Turku, Finland.
Abstarct (emphasis added):Clinical intervention studies and experimental studies with lignan-rich diets suggest that lignans may have inhibitory effects on prostate cancer, but no clinical or experimental studies with purified lignans have been published. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of a plant lignan 7-hydroxymatairesinol (HMR) on LNCaP human prostate cancer xenografts in athymic mice. Athymic nude male mice were injected subcutaneously with LNCaP cells. Starting 3 days after tumor cell injections, a control diet or a control diet supplemented with 0.15% or 0.30% of HMR was administered to mice and the tumor take rate and growth was observed for 9 weeks. HMR diet inhibited the growth of LNCaP tumors. Mice treated with HMR had smaller tumor volume, lower tumor take rate, increased proportion of nongrowing tumors, and higher tumor cell apoptotic index compared with controls. Furthermore, the cell proliferation index was reduced in mice receiving the 0.30% HMR diet compared with mice receiving the control diet. Our results suggest that dietary HMR started at the early phase of the tumor development inhibits the growth of the LNCaP human prostate cancer xenografts in athymic male mice.

(9) Diabetes. 1976 Sep;25(9):741-7: Plasma glucose and insulin responses to orally administered simple and complex carbohydrates, by Crapo PA, Reaven G, Olefsky J. Abstract (emphasis added): We have studied the effects of glucose, sucrose, and various starches on postprandial plasma glucose and insulin responses in 19 subjects. All carbohydrate loads were calculated to contain 50 gm. of glucose, and the response to each carbohydrate was tested twice: when given alone in a drink or when given in combination with other nutrients as a meal. The data demonstrate:
Glucose and sucrose elicited similar plasma glucose response curves, but sucrose elicited a somewhat greater (20 per cent) plasma insulin response. (2) Raw starch ingestion resulted in a 44 per cent lower glucose response and a 35-65 per cent lower insulin response than did either glucose or sucrose ingestion. (3) When carbohydrate was given as a meal the plasma glucose responses were 40-60 per cent lower than when the same carbohydrate was given as a drink, while the insulin responses were generally similar, and (4) when different cooked starches were compared, the plasma glucose and insulin responses to rice were significantly lower (50 per cent) than to potato. In conclusion, the size of the carbohydrate molecule appears to influence the postprandial glucose and insulin responses such that more complex carbohydrates (starches) elicit lower responses. This effect may be related to differences in digestion rather than to differences in absorption.

(10) Nutr Rev. 1999 Sep;57(9 Pt 1):273-6. Comment in: Nutr Rev. 1999 Sep;57(9 Pt 1):297.
Glycemic index, cardiovascular disease, and obesity by Morris KL, Zemel MB,
Department of Nutrition, University of Tennessee, Knoxville 37996, USA.
Abstract (emphasis added): Although Americans have decreased the percent of energy they consume from fat, obesity and obesity-related comorbidities have progressively increased. Less attention has been paid to the role of carbohydrates, especially carbohydrate source, in these metabolic diseases. However, recent epidemiologic studies demonstrate consistently higher rates of cardiovascular disease and type II diabetes in individuals deriving a greater percentage of energy from refined grains and simple carbohydrates than from whole grains. Differences in the metabolic response to carbohydrates can be classified by glycemic index (GI), the blood glucose response to a given food compared with a standard (typically white bread or glucose). Classification of carbohydrates as "simple" or "complex" is of little use in predicting GI, because GI is influenced by starch structure (amylose versus amylopectin), fiber content, food processing, physical structure of the food, and other macronutrients in the meal. Low-GI diets have been reported to lower postprandial glucose and insulin responses, improve lipid profiles, and increase insulin sensitivity. Moreover, high-GI diets stimulate de novo lipogenesis and result in increased adipocyte size, whereas low-GI diets have been reported to inhibit these responses. Thus, the GI of dietary carbohydrates appears to play an important role in the metabolic fate of carbohydrates and, consequently, may significantly affect the risk of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and obesity.

(11) J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2003 Mar;88(3):1133-41: Modulation of hunger by plasma glucose and metformin, by Schultes B, Oltmanns KM, Kern W, Fehm HL, Born J, Peters A, Department of Internal Medicine I, University of Luebeck, D-23538 Luebeck, Germany. schultes@kfg.mu-luebeck.de.
Abstract (emphasis added): The plasma glucose concentration is a major short-term regulator of hunger and food intake. In patients with diabetes, therapies lowering plasma glucose are frequently associated with body weight gain, suggesting that lowered plasma glucose leads to increased feelings of hunger and food intake. However, as many physiological and symptomatic responses to low plasma glucose are attenuated after repeated episodes of hypoglycemia, this may also pertain to feelings of hunger. Here we tested whether the stimulatory effect of low plasma glucose on feelings of hunger is likewise reduced by repeated episodes of hypoglycemia. As metformin has been shown to reduce plasma glucose levels without increasing body weight and also to decrease food intake, we tested for possible interacting effects of this substance with hypoglycemia-induced hunger. Feelings of hunger were assessed by rating scales during 3 consecutive hypoglycemic clamps performed on 2 consecutive d in 15 normal weight men. Subjects were tested once while being treated with 850 mg metformin twice daily and once while receiving placebo. Treatment was started 14 d before the clamp experiments and was performed in a random order and double-blind fashion. Hypoglycemia markedly enhanced feelings of hunger (P < 0.001). However, rated feelings of hunger on the first and last hypoglycemic clamps were comparable (P = 0.304). Compared with placebo, metformin decreased feelings of hunger during hypoglycemia (P = 0.015). This reduction was not associated with a decrease in posthypoglycemic food intake as measured by the number of cookies consumed after the last clamp (P = 0.676). Data indicate that the stimulatory effect of low plasma glucose on hunger is not attenuated after repeated episodes of hypoglycemia, which implies that, in contrast to other symptoms, hunger is not subject to adaptive attenuation upon repeated hypoglycemia. Metformin attenuates hypoglycemia-induced hunger, but does not appear to influence posthypoglycemic food intake.

All Dolce Baked Goods are high in complex carbohydrates, protein, fiber, omega 3, anti-oxidant protection and low in sugar. We never use butter, dairy, soy or trans fat and many of our products are wheat/gluten free.