Flax seed nutrition information

Flax seed nutrition information asks if you've considered omega 3 before Ritalin in the treatment of behavioural problems in your children.

In addition, freshly ground flaxseed is as good or better than many standard blood pressure medications; at 4 TBSP per day; that's quite a lot.

This page was last updated by Dr Barrie Lewis on 25th March, 2022.

Researchers have found that the ratio of omega 6 to 3 oils in the diet is very important. Both are vital, healthy fatty acids, and there's big but; the ratio is just as important.

And in the Western diet, the ratio is way out of synchronization. We consume far too much omega 6 and not nearly enough of the 3 foods.

When we get that ratio wrong, it sets up inflammation in the body, arthritis in the joints, and bright red, angry blood vessels leading to atherosclerosis with all its attendant consequences.

Get the ratio right by raising the omega 3 and lowering 6 and it means less cardiovascular illness, stroke, autoimmune diseases like lupus, and cancer, and surprisingly less backache too.

Ring in flax seed, and fish oil, the two richest sources of omega 3. There are big differences though. 

The two richest sources of lignans proven to be as effective as statins for lowering cholesterol. Read more at ground flaxseed verses oil research.

• Atherosclerosis symptoms and low back pain ...
• Ground flaxseed vs oil
• Smart bran found in 100% wholewheat flour is another great source of lignans.
  

Flax seed nutrition information

Flax seed nutrition information and fatty fish are the two most important sources of omega 3 oils.

And the fields are white unto harvest. This village church in Kent, England is surrounded by fields of flax. They're often blue too. It all goes to animal feed, my cousin tells me. Big mistake, what's good for the cow and pig, is good for the human too.

Anti inflammatory omega 3

But the health benefits of flax seeds far exceed their omega-3 content. They are also rich in a particular fibre called a "lignan". Lignans have very powerful anti-inflammatory properties too. That means eating flax seed has proven cardiovascular benefits, lowers blood pressure, arthritis benefits too, over and above flaxseed oil. But how do you easily include flax seed in your diet?

More about sesame tahini.

Flax seed nutrition information should be part of the protocol for varicose veins and herbs; the anti inflammatory effect, lowering of BP and extra fibre can only help.

Flaxseed and menopause

Researchers at the Turkish medical Izmir Katip Celebi University, reporting in the journal Holist Nurs Pract, found that half a tablespoon of flaxseed daily was as effective as HRT in reducing the symptoms and frequency of hot flushes; more important, it completely outperformed hormone replacement therapy on the Quality of Life Scale.

On the QOLS, the flaxseed improved the two groups from 38 to an average of 46, whereas the HRT group's quality of life actually dropped by a small margin.

Overall, flax seed nutrition information has many other advantages mentioned on this page, whereas as you well know HRT is associated with a host of negative side effects from incontinence, increased risk of cardiovascular disease, and breast and uterine metastatic disease.

At WebMD you'll find other side effects such as vaginal bleeding, nausea, headache and intestinal irritation.

Making use of inexpensive flax seed nutrition information, remember to use only the freshly ground product using a coffee grinder, on a daily basis makes sense for all post menopausal women.

Whilst it's not sensible to take advice from anything you read on the internet, it does make sense to discuss these scientific research findings with your doctor.

Diabetes and Metabolic syndrome

Flax seed nutrition information

There's interesting new research coming out on the improvement of patients with diabetes, and Metabolic syndrome:

1. High blood pressure
   
2. abdominal obesity
   
3. high cholesterol
   
4. high blood sugar.

What comes as a bit of a surprise is that the health benefits of flax seeds does not include vitamin D. A deficiency of vitamin D is known to contribute greatly to both hip pain and Metabolic syndrome but there's none in flaxseed. Something else is at work. But what? The lignans in flax seed, perhaps; they lower cholesterol.

• Hip pain and diabetes and vitamin D ...
  

Flax seed oil

Flax seed nutrition information

What may concern you, and it shouldn't, is that flax seed is 70% fat. Firstly, it's the healthy fat, with zero cholesterol, and your brain is 60% fat. Without these "essential fatty acids" your brain and nerves, all coated with a fatty myelin sheath, would die.

And secondly, research shows that people who include flax seed oil in their diet actually lose weight, and especially abdominal fat.

A concern is that most seed oils are extracted at very high temperatures and using a toxic solvents like toluene or xylene. Traces remain in the oil.

I can't vouch for your flax seed, but always choose "cold-pressed" oils and, because the fatty acids are very readily oxidised, better still grind your own and put a tablespoon or two of freshly ground flax seed directly into your bread and cookie recipes, into your hummus and even onto your oats in the morning.

Grinding flax seeds

Grinding flax seeds is really easy; whizz them up for ten seconds in the blender. The oil is such a strong antioxidant that it is itself quickly oxidised. Freshly ground is the key; any excess should go into an airtight container in the fridge, and not kept for more than a few days.

• Grinding flax seeds ...

Health benefits of flax seeds

Health benefits of flax seeds abound as an anti inflammatory for aching joints and muscles and for help with psychological and behavioural problems in children.

Freshly ground flax seeds... I'm using an Andrew James grinder, but it's not available in the USA. It works great (10-15 seconds), but America's favourite coffee and spince blender by Krups looks just as good, or better.

Personally I don't mix them. This one is just for spices and seeds, and my coffee grinder is strictly for coffee beans.

It's the soluble fibre sealed inside the tough outer coating that helps lower cholesterol, and perhaps the ALA omega-3 fatty acids dissolved in the flax seed oil. Grinding the seeds is important to have this benefit.

That outer coating is the insoluble fibre that helps give the bowel bulk, and acts as a pre-biotic for the healthy bacteria and yeasts in the colon that make up the microbiome. Do you want quick constipation relief? In part think freshly ground flax seed.

I used to blend our flax seeds with a hand blender in olive oil but it takes a good deal longer than Andrew James and Krups. Not as fine, either, and you cannot add to your rolled Quaker oats in the morning; avoid the quick, refined grain.

Do not do it that way.

Flax seed nutrition information

Grinding flax seed is really not difficult, but the seeds are a little tougher than sesame seeds for example. But both sesame seeds and flax seeds must be ground, otherwise they pass straight through your gut with zero benefits of flax seed oil or sesame seeds either; and may get caught in diverticuli.

If you know how to make tahini then you will know about the lignans in sesame seeds too.

So, I used to use the stick blender, but no longer for grinding flax and sesame seeds.

... having blended your sesame seeds and grinding flax seed, you can now go on and make your hummus or whatever... add a few tablespoons of olive oil to your sesame seed omega if you want to make tahini.

Then add the ground flax seed to your bread, your cookies, your oats, to your hummus, add it to stews and whatever else takes your fancy. Just keep eating flax seed! Less inflammation of arthritis, less cardiovascular disease,  lower BP, improvement in your diabetes and even less back pain. Less cancer too. Health benefits of flax seed abound ... I'm looking at making flax seed bread too.

• How to make tahini ...
  
• Authentic hummus recipe ...

flaxseeds -vs- flaxseed oil

1. Flaxseed oil goes rancid (oxidises) quite rapidly, developing an unpleasant odour and perfectly horrid taste! Believe me, I once forced old flaxseed oil down, not knowing what damage I was doing to myself. The taste was ghastly.  Once the bottle has been opened, even refrigerated, it should not be kept more than a few weeks. In fact, it oxidises so quickly and potently that a large amount of heat is generated and it can and does ignite spontaneously if the oil (flax seed oil = linseed oil) is left lying about on old rags.
2. Freshly ground flax seed has virtually no taste at all.
   
3. Also of course flaxseed oil has none of those lignans that also  give flaxseed its anti-arthritis, anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer properties. Remember flax seed omega 3 fatty acids is only the beginning of flaxseed's virtues.
   
4. What's more, flaxseeds are cheap (I pay $2 per kilogramme), but flaxseed oil is very expensive. Grinding flax seeds in your own kitchen makes a lot more sense. Then you can enjoy it freshly ground. 
5. Research shows that freshly ground flaxseed lowers the total cholesterol by 17%, whereas flaxseed oil actually raises the cholesterol by 4%, yet still is beneficial.
   

Flax seed nutrition information

We won't focus here on minerals at flax seed nutrition information but let it be said that health benefits of flax seed includes large amounts of calcium, magnesium, phosphorus and potassium, all good stuff. Calcium for bones, magnesium for many benefits, not least less arthritis. Spinach of course the best source of magnesium, Pop Eye got it right.

• Fresh Spinach salad recipes ...
  

On the vitamin side, flax seeds are particularly rich in the muscle weakness vitamin B1 (Thiamine), the irritability, poor concentration, anxiety, fatigue, restlessness, apathy, and depression vitamin B3 (Niacin), and vitamin K, the easy-bruising vitamin.

A deficiency of Thiamine causes a fatal neurological disease called beri-beri. It comes from eating white rice: generalised muscle weakness ...

What are omega 3 fatty acids?

We'll ignore the fairly complex organic chemistry at flax seed nutrition information but, in short, omega 3 oils are essential fatty acids, meaning we have to consume them; we are unable to synthesize them in the body. However, there is a limited ability to convert ALA to the others.

There are three, and all three are PUFAs; polyunsaturated fatty acids. They are considered heat labile, but it's interesting that research shows that cooking flaxseed in bread, say, does not diminish the omega 3 content.

Adding several tablespoons of ground flax seed to your bread recipe is great to increase then natural anti inflammatory omega 3 content.

But research on the lignans suggests they may be heat labile. Cooked ground flaxseed, as in bread, doesn't seem to lower cholesterol like the raw, freshly ground flaxseed.

They are: (forget their biochemistry names).

• ALA (18 carbon chain); the omega 3 oil found in flaxseed
  
• EPA (20 carbon chain)
  
• DHA (22 carbon chain)

EPA and DHA are found mainly in fish oil ...

Pilchard fish cakes make an interesting easy to prepare meal, rich in omega-3.

Fatty acids in flax seeds

So, you notice that flaxseed oil is over 50% omega-3 oil - the simplest 18 carbon ALA (Alpha Linolenic Acid) of the three omega-3's. 

Confusion: novices in biochem often confuse linoleic (an omega-6) and linolenic (an omega-3). The old name for flax seed oil is linseed oil. It's a derivative of the greatest component: alpha Linolenic acid.

Linoleic acid, too, (like ALA) is an essential fatty acid. Without them you're dead! Despite a small amount of saturated fatty acids, the overall effect of flaxseed oil consumption is normalisation of blood cholesterol.

Flaxseed and blood pressure

In the FlaxPAD trial, double blinded, patients were followed for one year of taking freshly ground flaxseed daily; researchers reported that generated a powerful reduction in both systolic and diastolic blood pressure within 6 months; by 15 and 7 mmHg.

The omega-3 fatty acid ALA was identified as the chief component responsible by reducing a vasoconstrictive and proinflammatory oxylipin in the blood plasma.

Nearly a half of all subjects could control their blood pressure with flaxseed consumption alone; around 3 - 4 TBSP per day is recommended, over all three meals.

Gut permeability

Researchers have found that flaxseed reduces intestinal permeability and the lipid profile in overweight women^[1]. This has huge implications for those suffering from allergies from various foods such as gluten intolerance. 

The research was done using a large amount of flaxseed; 40 grams or about four tablespoons. These findings were discovered after three months. Our recommendation is about 2 tsp every single day.

What is oleic acid?

What is oleic acid is an important question; it's the fatty acid used in the fatty myelin sheath that surrounds nerves. Without that sheath, nerves can't conduct. You've heard of MS - it attacks that oleic acid sheath. Flax seed nutrition information is particularly rich in this vital component of nerve health.

Grasping this flax seed nutrition information is important if you want to avoid these nasty diseases; just the lignans that prevent large bowel and breast cancer are reason enough. Add to that the oleic acid and omega-3 and you have a winner.

How much omega-3 in flaxseeds, flaxseed oil and salmon oil?

One tablespoon of flaxseeds (10 g), 1 tbsp of flaxseed oil and 1000 mg fish oil capsule contain:

So, flax seed omega 3 includes a large amount of ALA, the omega-3 fatty acid that can be converted in the body to EPA and DHA.

How much do we need?

For those who are happy to eat fish, or take fish oil capsules, the recommended daily allowance is both flaxseeds and fatty fish:

• ALA from flaxseed, for example 0.5 g ALA (1 tsp ground flaxseeds would do)
  

PLUS:

• Two four ounce servings of cold water fish per week contains 2 x 1.5 g of omega-3 (total 3 g)
  
• OR, One soft gel 1000 mg fish oil which contains 300 mg of EPA and DHA daily. (7 x 300 mg = 2.1g omega-3 per week)
  

Flax seed nutrition information for vegetarians is that the  body is able to convert ALA to EPA and DHA, but less efficiently. One to three tbsp of ground flaxseeds daily would probably be adequate.

Issues

There are many controversial issues surrounding the omega-3 oils, but do not let that put you off their benefits. Do not forget the fish oil health benefits too, if you are not a vegetarian.

• Flax seed is rich in phytates that bind minerals in the intestine. Are phytates bad?
  
• Unprocessed fish oil contains mercury contaminants.
• Processed fish oil removes the mercury by high heat and solvent extraction, but the temperature destroys some of the omega 3 and produces some toxic byproducts.
  
• Eating fish because of food synergy is better than taking capsules, but fresh cold water salmon, for example, is not universally available.
  
• Flaxseed oil is very heat labile, and readily oxidised producing toxic free radicals within a few hours of being exposed to air. 
• The lignans in whole, freshly ground flax seed are a vital part of   its health benefits.
  
• Overdosing on fish oil capsules can have dangerous bleeding side effects.
  

In conclusion, to sum up the flax seed nutrition information,

• Eat fresh fatty fish such as salmon if it is available.
• Alternatively, tinned fatty fish that has not had the oil removed. We enjoy canned South African pilchard fish cakes. 
• Grind or blend one tablespoon of flaxseed daily and add it to your cereals or other foods; it's inexpensive and almost tasteless.
  
• Don't rely on fish oil soft gels, but they too are okay.
  

Warning about flax seed nutrition information

Some folk become totally neurotic about their food, worrying about all these little issues. Others just couldn't be bothered at all about healthy eating. There's a healthy place to discover midway... not always easy to find. But try to grasp the big picture, not the nitty-gritty tiny details as to whether you should be having x mg of this or y mg of that.

Just enjoy the healthy benefits of flax seed and certainly make a place for fatty fish; unless you are vegetarian, in which case just increase the amount; freshly ground by you is the only way.

Pecans nutrition

Pecans are another rich source of omega-3 alpha linolenic acid, but like flax seed omega the fat goes rancid very quickly. Cracking pecans is considered a fag, but really, you can very easily crack three pecans every morning in less than one minute.

They taste far better, are better, and you will not lose the ALA and risk being poisoned by the toxic breakdown products of fat oxidation.

Learn the knack.

Butter is back

Butter is back and one of the reasons is that like flax seed nutrition information, it has some omega-3 in it. It's also a good source of the fat soluble vitamins, and particularly the anti prostate mineral selenium; need more nutrition information? Go to our butter is back page.

Having some understanding of flax seed nutrition information is vital.

There is huge controversy over the place of saturated animal fats like butter in our diets. Experienced cardiovascular surgeons are question why, despite decades of emphasis on low cholesterol, low animal fat and high polyunsaturated that the inner lining of blood vessels are becoming yet more inflamed.

A recent meta analysis of nearly 80 different studies on the subject concludes that there is no clear evidence that there is any benefit in changing from animal fats to polyunsaturated fats. Is butter back? Yes, maybe. Butter is back. When enjoyed on 100% wholemeal bread which inhibits the absorption of cholesterol, it's no problem whatsoever.

Eggs and omega-3

Eggs have a substantial amount of omega-3, and real free range birds lay them with three times the amount; it comes from the greens they can eat which caged birds have no access to.

True free range eggs are virtually impossible to get unless you know someone, or keep them yourself.

Notice how this hen and her compatriots in crime have completely stripped these cauliflower plants of their leaves. We've had to split the garden in four so that we can get a share of the produce.

Is your child hyperactive, dilatory and disruptive? Seriously consider a chicken tractor design for a couple hens; all they need is one cage free egg a day. Anything but Ritalin.

Ritalin

To put any child onto any drug needs to be seriously considered first; and Ritalin is a particularly nasty medication. Have you exhausted all other possibilities? A diet rich in omega-3 has proved very successful in treating kids with attention deficit and hyperactivity.

Are you starting your child on a life long dependency on medication? Perish the thought. I would do home schooling rather than put my child on Ritalin. It's bad stuff, and it's so easy to incorporate a tablespoon of freshly ground flax seed in your child's diet every day; a free range egg from your own garden is more troublesome but a huge amount of fun for the kids.

The best research is on a combination of fish oil and evening primrose oil. Read more at a closer look at fish oil, ADHD and kids with learning difficulties.

Do you bake your own bread?

It's so easy to bake your own easy sourdough bread if you have a bread machine. Simply add a couple tablespoons of freshly ground flax seed nutrition information to the ingredients.

One advantage is that it tastes sooooo good that you'll find you have no need to smear it with jams and jellies, and nasty processed meat, but you might want a slice too many.

I spoil our family almost day, dinkum.

Healthy choice foods

Healthy choice foods like flax seed nutrition information and oleic acid rich butter, and your 8-10 coloured foods per day make so much more sense and are the way to get your weight right and get off much of the medication you are taking; and getting your kids behaviour right so they won't need nasty drugs like Ritalin.

Grasping flax seed nutrition information is part of that process.

Incidentally, free range chickens produce eggs with three times as much omega-3. Whilst flax seed nutrition information is a ready source, we try to add these healthy anti inflammatory fatty acids from as many sources as possible.

This chicken tractor design makes for a lot of fun, but at this stage all these eggs are going to our grandchildren. The hens roam the whole veggie garden for an hour and half each evening, and often more; this week we get more birds. True free range cage free eggs are not easy to come by.

Like chiropractic, it's about working with nature rather than against it; backyard permaculture. Instead of using toxic chemicals on your plants and in your body, rather eat more healthy choice foods, get more exercise and have chiropractic adjustments for your creaking joints.

USEFUL LINKS

• Fish oil home page ...
• Olive oil benefits
  
• Food and inflammation
• Flaxseed and hypertension (30g is 4 tablespoons)
  

Stones in my Clog

So you think that chiropractors just crack bones! Not so, we are committed to natural living and plenty of exercise, that's why I emphasise the need for flax seed nutrition information. We eat it every day; it's cheap and easy to grind.

If you really want to know what goes on in a chiropractor's office, you might like to try my latest book, Stones in my Clog. Type "Perhaps DD did it after all" into Site Search in the main menu above to enjoy this chapter.

Enjoy Stones in my Clog on your tablet or smartphone using the free Kindle app. It's a fraction of the price as an ebook. Only $2.99... you could be reading it in two minutes!