Protect yourself from radiation with flaxseeds

Japan.    How do you protect yourself from radiation?  Eat your flaxseeds.   A study from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania found that flaxseed may help protect lungs against the damage caused by radiation exposure. The researchers believe that flaxseed might also have a role in protecting other healthy tissues and organs before exposure to radiation and significantly reduces damage even after exposure. According to principal investigator Melpo Christofidou-Solomidou, Ph.D., research associate professor of Medicine, Pulmonary, Allergy and Critical Care Division, the study demonstrates that dietary flaxseed, already known for its strong antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, works as both a mitigator and protector against radiation damage. In several separate experiments, the researchers fed one group of mice a diet supplemented with 10 percent flaxseed, either three weeks before a dose of X-ray radiation to the thorax or two, four, or six weeks after radiation exposure. A control group subjected to the same radiation dose was given the same diet but without the flaxseed supplement. After four months, only 40 percent of the irradiated control group survived compared to 70 to 88 percent of the irradiated flaxseed-fed animals.* The researchers point out that flaxseed boasts many other qualities that make it particularly attractive as a protection against radiation damage and a mitigator of exposure. "Flaxseed is safe, it's very cheap, it's readily available, there's nothing you have to synthesize," Dr. Christofidou-Solomidou noted. "It can be given orally so it has a very convenient administration route. It can be packaged and manufactured in large quantities. Best of all, you can store it for very long periods of time," making it especially interesting to government officials looking to stockpile radioprotective substances in case of accidental or terrorist-caused radiological disasters. Read more: http://www.greenmedinfo.com/blog/protect-yourself-radiation-flaxseeds