They’re golden, tiny, tasty and perhaps one of the most wholesome seeds to sprout from the earth, and no matter what form you eat them in, the nutritional benefits are plentiful.
The use of flax dates as far back as Ancient Egyptian times, where flax fibers were used to produce linen. Over time the crop became one of the most important ones throughout Europe and North America until cotton became cheaper and easier to obtain. Even now, hundreds of years later, we still use the plant’s fibers for linen, but we also make use of this incredible superfood by taking advantage of its healthful nutrients as well.
Flaxseed can be purchased and consumed two ways: whole or milled. While whole flaxseeds add crunch and texture to recipes, they unfortunately pass right through the digestive system because they’re so small, so your body won’t have a chance to absorb their nutrients. Milled, or ground, flaxseed on the other hand will not pass through your digestive system, and your body can enjoy all of the healthful benefits.
This seed also makes an excellent cracker. Sprouted flaxseeds are often combined with other seeds and powders to make a light, crunchy, nutritious treat that is a much better alternative to conventional crackers (and much tastier, in our opinion!).
But if seeds aren’t your thing, you can still enjoy the benefits of flax in different forms–as an oil and as milk. Talk about a superfood!
- Finding creative ways to add flaxseeds to your meals can be a challenge. One popular technique is to incorporate ground flaxseeds into your muffin, cookie, or bread recipes. But what about the impact of oven temperatures on omega-3 fatty acids in the flax? According to several recent studies, the answer to this question is—”No problem!” We’ve seen two recent studies in which flaxseeds were ground and added to baked goods, using oven temperatures of at least 300F (150C). The shortest baking time was 15 minutes and the longest was 3 hours. In all cases, the omega-3 content of the flaxseed (primarily alpha-linolenic acid, or ALA) remained stable and intact. That’s great news for anyone wanting to include flaxseed not only to muffins and cookies or breads, but also to other oven-baked items like pizza crusts, dinner rolls, or casseroles.
- Most plant foods contain at least small amounts of phytonutrients called lignans. Lignans are unique fiber-related polyphenols that provide us with antioxidant benefits, fiber-like benefits, and also act as phytoestrogens. Among all commonly eaten foods, researchers now rank flaxseeds as the #1 source of lignans in human diets. Flaxseeds contain about 7 times as many lignans as the closest runner-up food (sesame seeds). They contain about 338 times as many lignans as sunflower seeds, 475 times as many as cashew nuts, and 3,200 times as many lignans as peanuts.
- When we think about antioxidant-rich foods, the first foods that come to mind are typically vegetables and fruits. Of course, foods in both of these food groups can be outstanding sources of antioxidants! Yet according to recent research, flaxseeds also belong high up on our list of antioxidant-rich foods. When flaxseeds are compared with other commonly eaten foods in terms of their total polyphenol content (polyphenols are one very important group of antioxidants), flaxseeds rank 9th among 100 commonly eaten foods. Flaxseeds turn out to be significantly higher in polyphenol antioxidants than fruits like blueberries or vegetables like olives. The antioxidant benefits of flaxseeds have long been associated with prevention of cardiovascular diseases and have recently also been tied to decreased insulin resistance.
- Given the strong track record of flaxseeds as foods providing cardiovascular benefits, it’s not surprising to see recent research studies showing benefits of flaxseeds for improvement of metabolic syndrome (MetS). One recent study showed a 20% decrease in the prevalence of MetS after 12 weeks on a diet plan that included 30 grams (1 ounce) of ground flaxseed per day in the form of flaxseed-enriched baked bread. Interestingly, in addition to improving blood pressure and lowering fasting glucose level, flaxseed intake also helped decrease central obesity (as measured by waist circumference). The addition of flaxseed provided all of these health benefits without causing weight gain. That’s quite an accomplishment for a food that is over 70% fat in terms of total calories and contains about 10 times as many calories per cup as a fruit like blueberries.
Sources:
Flaxseeds – The World’s Healthiest Foods: http://whfoods.org/
Foods You Should Be Eating to Boost Your Brain and Body – One Green Planet: http://news.google.com
Other Resources:
Flaxseed in Human Nutrition, Second Edition
Since 1995, when the first edition of Flaxseed in Human Nutrition was published, the consumer and food industry interest in flaxseed as a beneficial component in the human diet has continued to grow as the scientific literature on this subject has expanded over the past decade. This second edition of Flaxseed in Human Nutrition provides the current status of the knowledge about the analysis and composition of flaxseed, the metabolism and bioavailability of its major components, the effect of flaxseed on development and disease, processing of flaxseed, and availability of flaxseed products. Some of the research in these areas was just emerging in the early to mid-1990’s and was incomplete or not described when the first edition was published.
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