Flax seed? any info you can share?

So i recently remembered a mother of a student telling me about her 'flax-seed diet' years ago. 

I am not looking for a miracle but wondered about adding flax seed to my diet once  a day.  Does anyone know any true, nutritional information about flax seed's weight loss potential and how they eat it?  Thanks !

I don't know their exact benifits, but I have about six tablespoons daily here and there. I like them cooked into oatmeal or pancakes, and I have a TON of them on top of my yogurt too.

I do know that you should always buy them ground though, since your body can't digest their nutrients when they are left whole and intact.

I don't know anything about it having amazing weight loss abilities, but I do eat 1T daily on my cereal cause I know it's good for you.

I don't believe in "miracle foods", just that some foods are better than others.  A balanced approach is always better for your body, no matter what any book or sound bite tells you.   If you do a bit of research on the net, you'll find there are many benefits to including flax seed in your diet and it's always good to include some in your diet, along with other seeds and nuts.  Most seeds cannot be digested unless either chewed thoroughly like pumpkin seeds for example, or ground before consumption like flax seeds.  I add them into different breads I make, into the odd protein shake and will add them to anything I think they will work in, like chili for example, stews, etc.

Best way is to grind them yourself in small batches because they can tend to go rancid in a few weeks once ground, but will keep a long time in their natural state.  If you have to, buy them ground but only enough you can consume in a few weeks and store them in a dark container in the fridge to preserve their freshness.

I like adding to my oatmeal, and to muffins if I make them.  I DO buy them whole, but use the coffee grinder to process them. 

Yes, they are very healthy and high in omega-3s (so are walnuts, fatty ocean fish like salmon or tuna, and most beans, too).  True, your body can't use the flax seeds whole, so grind them or buy ground...OR take flax seed oil, sold in dark-colored bottles in the small refrigerator section in the vitamin area of health-food stores. I found this was best for me because I could just take it in the morning and forget about it.

They will help you lose weight only in that they promote overall health and healthy "elimination" because they are high in fiber.

ALSO...try Chia seed, another extremely healthy seed (moreso than flax, it appears) that can be eaten whole for good benefits.  I found mine in bulk with the tea and spices at Whole Foods, but you can order it online (or eat the seeds from your Chia pet....ITS THE SAME THING!!!!)

Thanks for all the insight.  It seems you confirmed what i thoguth - basically a good thign overall, i will try to incoroprate some and see how it helps my overall nutrition.  THANKS!!

Well... I use Flax seed in a lot of spells... I'm pagan... but all I really know is that it helps flavor absinthe and that it lowers cholesterol.

I dunno.

Keep in mind that the Omega-3s get destroyed by heat, so flaxseeds in muffins, pancakes, etc. are mostly for flavor and texture.  I like to put flax in a pepper grinder and put some on my salad or oatmeal.  You could also add some flaxseed oil to salad dressing.

And samismilexx, as far as I know, absinthe doesn't have any flaxseed in it--you're probably thinking of aniseseed.  Flax has a very mild flavor, and absinthe has a VERY strong anise/"licorice" flavor.

I've always been skeptical of vague health claims for expensive dietary supplements. Since no one here seems to be able to enunciate any clear benefits or doses for flaxseed, I googled "flaxseed" and "hype".  After clearing out tons of promotional articles, I found one critical article, in bellaonline (http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art30385. asp), which I quote regarding the Omega-3's:

"So, to get the EPA and DHA that's naturally found in a regular 3 to 4 oz. serving of omega 3 rich fish (salmon is the richest source), a person would have to drink gallons of flax seed oil. And that would be a very bad idea, since two of the side effects are flatulence and loose stools." 

In other words, the Omega-3 oils that have health benefits are not abundant in flaxseed. Flaxseed does contain a lot of Omega-3 oil, but it's the wrong one for health.  It's more suitable for making linoleum (for which it was used industrially) than it is as a food.  

Concerning flaxseed's other benefit - regularity - there are lots of lower cost ways to get more fiber into your diet.  For instance when you're baking try substituting 1/3 of the flour in the recipe with wheat bran.  You might have to add some flour back to get the texture of the batter right, but by adding the bran you've increased the fiber content tremendously - and also reduced the calorie content of what you're baking.

From the Harvard University School for Public Health:

6. Can omega-3 fatty acids be destroyed by high-heat cooking?

Not if the oil is fresh. In fact, even in frying oil that is used for days, you still can find ALA in it.

I didn't know that high heat destroyed Omega 3's.  I found a few websites selling stuff warning against heat destroying Omega 3's as a way of getting you to buy their particular brand of oil or supplement.  I assume Harvard isn't selling anything...who do you believe??

johnnypenso, I think you're right.  I ran a quick search through my university library's main scientific databases, and I couldn't find a study specifically on the effects of heat on omega-3 fatty acids.  In addition, a number of the studies use heat in their procedures to fix or cure the materials (either flax or fish), so presumably there are omega-3s left after processing.

I don't remember who told me heat destroys omega-3s, or why I believed them so readily.  I think it may have been because at the time, I worked at a bakery that sold these enormous flaxseed muffins.  All these blonde, botoxed, soccer-mom types would come in wearing their tennis gear and buy these 600-calorie (but oh-so-delicious) monstrosities thinking they were "healthy" because of the omega-3s.  This probably makes me a terrible person, but secretly laughing to myself got me through the day.

One more thing. By calling this stuff flaxseed oil, we are forgetting that it is linseed oil. For years it was used for making paint and linoleum, but when the industry switched to acrylics it went into decline.  "Dietary supplement" gave the Canadian farmers a new outlet, and they hype it for all it's worth.

What makes this stuff so good for paint is the alpha linolenic acid (the chemical name - ALA is the acronym), which is a drying oil. This means that it polymerizes easily when exposed to air. As a food this means it will go rancid very easily.  As paint it's what makes it smell (that's the rancidity), skin over, turn tacky and dry. You should eat your linseed oil as raw and fresh as you possibly can.  Any excess heating, or exposure to air, will initiate crosslinking.  Once it crosslinks it's no longer linolenic acid any more - it's a high molecular weight, indigestable plastic chemically similar to dried varnish.

Well fook me...lol.  Thanks a lot for the info thhq..I'll have to look into that.  Do you have a link I can look at?  Looks like I might be dropping something else from my diet...lol...

In relation to health, I posted the link to bellaonline, and it's not hard to find similar links to nutrition sites. [Also check out the wiki article on linseed oil, which covers both paint and health.]  But most of the links end up at self-serving sites selling dietary supplements - and not just for linseed (aka flaxseed) oil, but also for fish oils of every kind.  The best all-around comments I found were from Michael Pollan, in relation to the release of his book In Defense of Food, where he stresses the need to eat FOOD for nutrition, not modified substances.  Just one key line: "Eat food.  Not too much.  Mostly plants."  In human history linseed oil has not generally been used as a food, probably because it spoils so easily and because it makes good paint.

In relation to paint, I'm a chemist and woodworker, and what I posted was more in line with experiences over the years in both areas.  Most recently I've experimented with trying to get soy oil to crosslink, and found to my dismay that it takes forever to get it to dry.  But I noticed in doing this that after a few days it develops that pungent rancid smell characteristic of drying paint, too.   

I really don't understand why people who have not used a product for the question asked answer like they are experts after reading a few internet posted articles.

I personally am using flax as a diet tool.  I am down 26 pounds as of today.  Yes, due to the fiber in flax, your glucose levels stabilize after a meal and you do not have craving after craving, hunger becomes manageable.  The Omega 3's are negligible at that point - the question is, will it aid in weight loss?  The answer is yes.

My mother has lost 9 pounds from 154 to 145 in 6 weeks - the only difference to her routine is adding 2 Tablespoons of flax a day to her regular meals.  Her cholesterol has also dropped 19% confirmed by her physician.  Again, the ONLY change she has made is to add 2 Tablespoons of flax to her regular diet.

There have been clinical studies performed in Canada regarding breast tumor reduction and those studies confirmed that the ingestion of flaxseed produced the same reduction in tumors as tamoxifen.

Dr. Johanna Budwig has documented cases of a 90% cure rate of various cancers using a flax oil protocol.

There are many articles out there, I prefer to read the scientific ones.  Including the study by Duke University which also concluded that the regular consumption of flax seed proved to reduce certain cancerous tumors.

Clinical studies have also found that regular consumption of flax seed results in an 18 - 20% reduction of cholesterol.  I personally know this to be the truth based on my mother's own results.

Since my weight loss, several of my friends have asked me what I am doing to lose the weight.  I tell them, I add ground flax to muffins for breakfast, sprinkle it on any food that I want, and on occasion if I have not consumed the 2 Tablespoons recommended, I mix the oil with juice and drink it.  Other than that, I have changed pretty much nothing.  I have 6 very close friends who have added flax to their diets, all with the same results - reduced cravings and weight loss averaging 2-3 pounds a week.  A very safe and satisfactory weight loss.  No miracle huge drop.

Regarding your linseed comments - flax is used to produce linseed - when it goes rancid.  As with any food, I would not recommend you use it once it is rancid. 

So in response to the question that was posted, yes, I have used flax to lose weight, yes, my friends and family are using flax, and yes, each one of them have lost weight.  The doctor that attends my mother told her not to change a thing. 

Oh, and one other point - flax is not expensive, you can purchase milled flax at Wal-Mart for less than $2.00/12 ounces.  Personally, I purchase golden flax seed at the Healthy Life Market $2.89/pound and grind it with a $15.00 coffee grinder when I want to use it.

Flax oil is somewhat expensive because to be of use it must be cold pressed and bottled and sealed within 15 minutes in a dark colored container which will not allow light to permeate it.  It must also be used within 2 weeks after opening.  If you are using flax oil for the cancer protocol it is my understanding that Barleans will give bulk pricing for it.  (I do not personally know anyone using it for the protocol, but have spoken online to an individual who is, and has responded very well up to this point)