Life Extension is a global authority on health, wellness and nutrition

Lignans are phytonutrients, a class of plant compounds beneficial to human health but not classified as vitamins. Lignans are a normal part of a healthy diet and widely distributed in foods and plants in small amounts. Lignans are found in unrefined grain products, fruits and vegetables and seeds, such as flax and sesame. HMRlignan™ is a lignan sourced from the Norway spruce (Picea abies).

The friendly bacteria in our intestines convert plant lignans into the “human” lignans, primarily enterolactone, that have a weak estrogen-like activity. Estrogens are small molecules responsible for the controlling of many reactions in the body. Lignans may help support normal estrogen levels.  Lignans may also help to maintain a healthy prostate, breast, colon and cardiovascular system.

In addition to its phytoestrogen-like activity, HMRlignan™ is a powerful antioxidant and free radical scavenger.90 In vitro tests show HMRlignan™ to be a strong antioxidant more or equipotent than the standard reference compound, Trolox. HMRlignan™ has also been shown to incorporate into isolated LDL fractions, and to protect from copper-induced LDL oxidation in vitro. An exceptional feature of HMRlignan™ is the capability of the molecule to scavenge up to four peroxyl radicals, one of the most common cellular damaging agents, per one molecule of HMRlignan™.90 Proprietary research has discovered that enterolactone, and also to some extent HMRlignan™ inhibits the oxidative burst from activated lymphocytes suggesting that they may also promote healthy fluid balance. Concentrations less than one µM of enterolactone appear to be effective in this test.

Since HMRlignan™ is not bound in a food matrix it has a superior bioavailability. Other lignans, such as from flax, are glycosides — bound to sugar molecules — that must first be cleaved in the body before they can be metabolized into the target molecule enterolactone. HMRlignan™ is a pure lignan that is not bound to sugars, thus upon arrival in a healthy intestinal tract, it is more efficiently transformed into enterolactone.

HMRlignan™ trademark is used under license from Linnea SA™.