World Journal of
Pharmaceutical and Life Sciences

A REVIEW OVER THE BENEFITS OF FLAX SEEDS - A MAGICAL MEDICINE

Dr. Monika Gupta and Dr. Sharuti Sarin*

ABSTRACT

Ayurveda being one of the most ancient and yet alive tradition practiced widely in India and other countries that have a sound philosophical and experimental basis. Ayurvedic literature describes various herbs, minerals and fats which are essential for a healthy life and to cure various life threatening disorders. Flax seed is one of the medicinal foods that are described in Ayurvedic texts. Flax seeds also known as “linseeds” or “Alsi” are a rich source of micronutrients, dietary fiber, manganese, vitamin B, and the essential fatty acids alphalinolenic acid also known as ALA or omega-3. The seeds come from flax, one of the oldest fiber crops in the world, known to have been cultivated in ancient Egypt and china. In Ayurveda, flax is used internally in habitual constipation, functional disorders of the colon resulting from the misuse of laxatives and irritable colon, as a demulcent preparation in gastritis and enteritis. Its oil is purgative, flowers are cardiotonic, externally the powdered seeds or the press cakes are used to assimilate inflammation, as an emollient in poultices for boils, carbuncles and other skin infections. The external application of its oil i.e Abhyanga is Vatanashaka. A mixture of lime water and oil of flax is very useful in burns.

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