Flaxseed

Flaxseed is an ancient food native to EUROASIA. The first recorded use comes from Babylon where it was cultivated as food by 5000 B.C.

“There is nobody who wont benefit from adding flaxseed to his or her diet” — Stephen Cunnane, PhD of the University of Toronto, a top flaxseed researcher

There is nobody who wont benefit from adding flaxseed to his or her diet. Stephen Cunnane, PhD of the University of Toronto, a top flaxseed researcher said

The father of modern medicine, Hippocrates, the Greek physician, by 650 B.C. wrote about the use of flax to relieve inflammation of mucous membrane and for the relief of abdominal pains and diarrhea. At about the same time Theophrastus was recommending the use of flax mucilage against cough and ancient Indian Scriptures were stating that in order to reach the highest state of contentment and joy, a yogi must eat flax daily. In the first Century A.D. Tacitus praised the virtues of flax.

By the 8th Century A.D. Charlemagne one the greatest medieval kings, considered flax so important that for the health of his subjects he passed laws and regulation requiring its consumption. In the 13th Century A.D. Hildegard Von Bigen used flax meal during the Middle Ages in hot compresses for the treatment of both external and internal ailments. Mahatma Ghandi said that when flaxseed was added to people's diet their health improved.

Despite being used as food for over 5000 years, flax has only in recent years received serious scientific study. Research has confirmed that flaxseed lowers blood cholesterol levels that are associated with heart attack and strokes, reduces the thickness of blood, lowers arterial blood pressure, prevents breast and colon cancers, improves moods, diminishes allergies, improves diabetes and produces healthier skin. 

In 1994, the food and drug administration (FDA) started a three year $2 million contract with the National Cancer Institute to study the effects of flaxseed on a number health concerns. This was part of the institute's on going program on a list of foods including tea, garlic etc currently being investigated and often referred to as "functional food", "designer foods" or even "nutraceuticals". The FDA is conducting these experiments to confirm flaxseed's role in fat and cholesterol metabolism, bone mineralization and in strengthening the immune system.

The cool long days at the Northern Edge of Canada's arable land (north of the 53rd parallel) increase the level of essential fatty acids and oils in flaxseed.

Whole milled flaxseed grown north of the 53rd parallel contains 38-44% oil and up to 60% of this oil is linolenic acid - the Omega-3 fatty acid.

MILLED FLAXSEED IS DIGESTIBLE, WHILE WHOLE UNMILLED FLAXSEED IS NOT. If you are purchasing and consuming the whole flaxseed, it's not being digested and is merely passing in and out through your G.I. tract indeed creating extra work for the sewage or sanitation department in your town.

Nutritional researchers unanimously agree that the health benefits of flaxseed are predominantly due to its rich content of lignans, fibre and essential fatty acids specifically the omega 3 fatty acids in addition to a full spectrum of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, etc.

LIGNANS: Reports published by Aldercreutz from Karolinske Institute in Sweden, show that flaxseed contains 800mg/kg lignans (a documented anti-cancer agent), a hundred times more than the best whole grains. The benefits of lignans in the prevention of the colon and mammary cancers are available to every one by simply adding milled flaxseed to one's diet. (Aldercreutz, H. Does Fibre-Rich Food containing Lignan Precursors Protect Against Both colon and Breast cancer? An extension of the Fibre Hypothesis, Gastroenterology 4 No. 86 (1984): 761-766).

FIBRE in flaxseed is famous for its effect in lowering cholesterol, probably because it prevents cholesterol and bile acids from being reabsorbed into the body. Instead, they attach to the fibre and are carried out of the body with the wastes. Finally, fiber is known for its ability to soften the stool, prevent constipation, and maintain regularity. (Eramus, U. Fats and Oils, Vancouver: Alive Books, 1986)

MUCILAGE (soluble fibre), a gum-like substance located below the seed's outer coat, has the ability to buffer excess acids, acts as a natural laxative to soothe and protect the sensitive intestinal lining and improve regularity without side effects. Flax mucilage prevents reabsorption of bile acids, reduces absorption of cholesterol from foods, and/or increases the amount of cholesterol excreted. Flax mucilage aids in the stabilization and modulation of blood glucose.

ESSENTIAL FATTY ACIDS: Donald O. Rudin, M.D., a medical researcher, contends that the level of linolenic acid in the American diet has been reduced by 80% in the past 100 years. (Rudin, D.O., and Felix, C., The Omega-3 Phenomenon, New York Rawson Associates, 1987.) Dr. Rudin found that Omega-3 fatty acids deficiency is the basic cause of major mental illness today. (Biological Psychiatry, Vol. 16 No. 9, 1981)

• form the membranes of every one of the billions of cells in our bodies

• control the way cholesterol works in our system

• are the only fats that become prostaglandins, which play key roles regulating the cardiovascular, immune, digestive and reproductive functions; inflammation and healing; functioning of the brain; and body heat and calorie burning (weight loss)

The body cannot manufacture the essential fatty acids, linoleic (omega 6) or linolenic (omega 3) from other elements. They must be supplied daily in the diet. In the typical North American diet we consume too much Omega 6 and not enough Omega 3 (you should reduce your total fat, but ensure adequate supplies of the essential Omega 3). The proportion of Omega-6 to Omega-3 in the diet is very crucial for optimum health. The ratio of Omega-6 to Omega-3 should never be greater than 4 to 1. Today a typical ratio in most people's diet in North America is in excess of 20 to 1 - a health disaster waiting to explode.

Equally important advice is for every one to avoid the use of all hydrogenated/partially hydrogenated oils including vegetable oil shortening and margarine as they are the source of the unhealthy Trans fatty acids. When nutritionally valuable oil is subjected to hydrogenation, the polysaturated essential fatty acids Omega 6 and Omega 3 are converted to saturated fat (which we are getting too much of), or even worse, they are transformed into Trans Fatty Acids.