Eating Healthier in Today's World

FLAX--THE MIRACLE SEED

Today, I’m going to give the low-down on flax seeds and its health benefits. Why do we need this oily looking seeds and why is it so good for us? 

You can buy flax as seeds (pictured left) or milled, (pictured right)  which is ground up seeds (pictured right). You get more benefit from the milled kind because it’s easier for your body to digest. The good stuff is inside the seeds, so it’s not absorbed as well when in seed form.

You can buy golden, dark brown, or red flax seeds – there’s a difference, but I don’t know what it is. I think they all generally have the same nutritional content.

I do know that every 2 Tablespoons of flax seed has 5 g unsaturated fat, 4 g fiber, 3 g protein, 4% Daily Value of Iron (this is a big one for kids because kid’s iron deficiencies can manifest themselves in strange ways), and omega-3 oils, which help reduce cancer, lower blood pressure and cholesterol, and help keep you “regular,” among other things.

These tiny golden seeds (or brown) do pack a lot of health benefits, much more than sesame seeds although they both look alike, in a way. Flax seeds are a bit bigger than sesame seeds and looks oilier. Well, no wonder, because flax seed is high fat. Before the alarm bells ring in your head due to the words ‘high fat’, let me explain further.

Flax seed is:

1. High in Omega-3 fatty acids – this means it is high in the good type of fatty acids that help to reduce heart disease, bad cholesterol and all that stuff. These are not exactly fattening fatty acids but good fatty acids your body need. Much like when you eat fish with high Omega-3 fatty acids, like cod fish.

2. High in lignans – this is another good thing that is good for the heart and also is an anti-cancer compound that have been known to help a bit when consumed by people with breast and prostrate cancers.

3. High in dietary fibre – It is a natural laxative but when it comes to flax seed, eating too much can be quite bad because it can cause diarrhea due to its high fibre content. But if you need a laxative, nothing is more natural than flax seed. However, consuming small amounts will not produce much effect except that you will find it easier to..err…flush out your system the next day. This means it is extremely great for those with constipation problem.

4. High in Magnesium

5. High in Phosphorus

6. High in Iron

7. High in Calcium

8. High in Vitamin B

Due to its high concentration of minerals, overall, flax seed is indeed a great addition to your diet for general health well-being. So, how do you eat it?

Never use the flax as a whole seed as it will go straight through you and you get no health benefits as all.  Always grind it up first just before you need to use it to get the most from it.  We use our Bosch Blenders or one of the mini processors on one of our stick blenders like the Bosch MIxxo.  It is possible to grind it up ahead of time but you will need to freeze the ground flax to keep the maximum amount of nutrition in it to use later.   Small coffee grinders and most of our hand mills will also grind small amounts of flax as well.  We do grind small amount of flax with our whole wheat flour in our electric Nutrimills to make our bread, but NEVER grind flax alone in a Nutrimill.

WAYS TO ADD RAW CRUSHED FLAX TO YOUR DIETS

• Sprinkle a few tablespoons on your hot or cold cereal
• Sprinkle a teaspoon or two on your plate of -cottage cheese or salad, hot soup or stew, spaghetti, macaroni, lasagna or quiche
• Add a teaspoon or two to shakes or yogurt
• Mix with juice and swallow it down
• Bake flax muffins with 2 Tbsp. of flax in each muffin.

TIPS FOR USING FLAX

• For the full benefit of flax, it must be crushed -- use a blender or a coffee mill.  Grain mills will clog up grinding flax so do not try to use this to grind flax by itself.
• Crushed Flax does not keep!  It oxidizes quickly, so crush it just before you use it, if you can.  If it must be crushed ahead of time, store it in a closed container in the freezer.
• Flax can replace cooking oil, margarine, lard or shortening in your recipes.  Add 3 times as much flax as the amount of fat you remove.  If you are experimenting with this practice, you won't know how much flax a recipe can handle.  Start by exchanging smaller amounts of flax and increase it the next time, if you wish.  Too much flax in a recipe can make it heavy. 
• Raw crushed flax has more nutritional value than after it is cooked or baked. 
• Flax seed products brown more quickly when baking, so watch them and adjust the temperature or baking time. 
• If a recipe calls for "Flax Crushed" be sure to measure the flax seeds before crushing.  If it calls for "Crushed Flax" measure it after it is crushed.  1 1/2 cups of flax seed yields 2 cups of crushed flax.
• There is more than one kind of flax seed:  Golden Flax and regular Brown Flax. They are both as nutritious.  We use the brown flax because it is more available.

Next time you make bread, throw in some crushed flax seed and see how you like it.  Your body will thank you later when you are living longer, healthier.