Abstract
BACKGROUND: Although flaxseed oil shows potential health benefits, there is a significant gap between preclinical studies (animal/in vitro) and actual effects in humans. The health benefits of flaxseed oil for humans remain unclear. OBJECTIVE: This article seeks to precisely identify the health benefits of flaxseed oil by evaluating the scientific evidence from human trials on flaxseed oil. METHODS: According to the gradation method of a human-centric evidence body, 13 articles were ultimately selected as evaluation evidence after applying inclusion/exclusion criteria to the 2148 papers retrieved from scholarly databases. RESULTS: The evaluation results of the evidence body on inflammatory cytokines, blood pressure, insulin sensitivity, and blood lipid are all B. Additionally, the influences of flaxseed oil consumption on waist circumstance, mood, and cognition are still unclear. CONCLUSIONS: The results reveal that flaxseed oil intervention significantly decreases inflammatory cytokines, blood pressure, and insulin sensitivity, but does not affect blood lipid improvement. Meanwhile, the effect of flaxseed oil intervention on waist circumstance, mood, and cognition need more human trials to determine.