Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of Flaxseed.

This letter to the editor identifies problems with the review by Kaleshi et al., 2015 that reported minor hypotensive effects of flaxseed (see: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26525908).   These included the lack of an identification of the majority of the subjects as  normotensive or prehypertensive and thus their conclusions of a “slight” reduction in BP does not do justice to the significant BP lowering effects in hypertensive subjects. The authors did not identify differences in the use of whole flaxseed and ground flaxseed in the studies reviewed. Ground forms of flax and more bioavailable than whole seed. Additionally a number of others errors were found throughout the paper.