A study of the benefits of a Manitoba company’s flax-enriched nutrition bar stands to redefine the term “flaxen-haired.”

According to the Flax Council of Canada, which backed the study through its FC2015 Inc. subsidiary, a nutrition bar not yet on the market “will increase the lustre, shine and overall condition” of women’s hair.

The snack food is made by Glanbi a Nutritionals, which operates a flax-processing plant at Angusville, Man. The flax operation, formerly known as Pizzey’s Milling, was bought by Irish dairy and nutritional ingredients company Glanbia in 2007.

In the study, nutrition bars containing enriched flax were consumed by 33 women aged 45-55 over four weeks, during which professional research cosmologists measured various attributes of the women’s hair.

“They found that softness, smooth feel, lustre, shine, dryness, oiliness, as well as ease of combing and brushing, all improved significantly,” the council said in a release.

Glanbia aims to commercialize the nutrition bar as well as the enriched flax ingredient, the council said. The company has also made it known among other firms developing flax-enriched hair products that this “clinical research has been done” on the nutrition bar product.

Flax has long been thought to contribute positively toward hair quality, the council said, noting farmers in Europe and the U. K. include flax in show cattle’s rations to add shine to the animals’ coats.