Flaxseed May Relieve Hot Flashes

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Until those results are in, Utian is not convinced the flaxseed is a proven treatment for hot flashes.

"This reduction [in the pilot study] could fall into the placebo effect," he said.

The study was also relatively brief, he added. And many women experiencing menopause suffer many more hot flashes than 14 a week. (Fifteen of the Mayo study women reported 10 or more a week, but 13 reported 2 to 9 a week.)

Utian added, however, that he was not aware of any harm in eating flaxseed.

And Pruthi said that because the fiber content gave some women in the study abdominal discomfort, those that find it hard on the stomach should consider starting at a lower dose and working up.

Her research was just published in the summer 2007 issue of the Journal of the Society for Integrative Oncology.

More information

To learn more about hot flashes, visit Breast cancer.org.