Sesame Seeds

Research shows that sesame ingestion has been able to improve blood lipids in humans and the antioxidative ability in animals. Sesame seeds are believed to be one of the first plants to be used for edible oil. Sesame seeds contain lignans, which in turn contains sesamin, a compound with estrogenic type effects that can be to very beneficial for postmenopausal women.Twenty-six healthy subjects attended this study in which half of them consumed 50g of sesame seed powder per day for 5 weeks. After these 5 weeks followed a 3 week washout period and then 50g of rice powder per day for 5 weeks. The other half received the same 2 supplements in reverse order.The researchers discovered, after the sesame treatment, that there was a significant decrease in cholesterol. Total choleserol had decreased by 5%, LDL cholersterol by 10%, the LDL to HDL cholersterol's ratio by 6%, oxidized LDL cholersterol by 23%, and and serum dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate by 18%. They also noted a significant increase in the ratio of alpha-tocopherol and gamma-tocopherol to total cholesterol by 17% and 73%.These results suggest that sesame ingestion benefits postmenopausal women by improving blood lipids, antioxidant status, and possibly sex hormone status. These results were published in the May 2006 issue of The Journal of Nutrition.

To Your Health!

John Hall NSCA-CPT