Flaxseed - a Health Bonus!

To Grind Or Not To Grind:

By grinding whole flaxseed into a course meal or fine powder, you will release the lignans and essential fatty acids, making them available to your body. Flaxseed should be ground in a clean coffee grinder and the ground product stored in an airtight container in your fridge. Grinding the seed with a mortar pestle also breaks down the tough outer coat. Soaking flaxseeds overnight starts the germination process, which activates enzymes that also make the seeds easier to digest. Another way to break the seed coat of flax seed is to soften a tablespoon of seed in your morning cup of herbal tea. By the time the tea has been drank, the seeds are soft enough to chew.

Storing Flaxseed:

Whole flaxseed comes with nature’s finest packaging – its natural hard hull - which keeps it fresh. Whole, dry flaxseed is stable for at least one year at room temperature. Once the seeds have been ground and stored in an air-tight container, studies have shown that it is stable for at least four months, if not longer. Fresh is best, so grind your flaxseed when you’ll use it. Otherwise, grind a week’s amount in advance and store in the fridge or freezer for convenience. No need to defrost the ground flax first, just eat straight from the freezer.

Flaxseed is also very stable when used in cooking and baking.Tests at the University of Toronto showed that there was almost no loss of omega-3 from flax seed under typical baking conditions. Although baking temperatures sound high, the heat is gentle because it is transferred indirectly through the hot air, rather than directly as in frying. The benefits of fibre are not affected by cooking either. The Flax Council of Canada says there are several studies that suggest there is no significant loss of lignans from baking. Boiled eggs from hens that are fed a high omega-3 diet or cooked fish also maintain their omega-3’s.

Using Flaxseed:

Add ground flaxseed to yogurt, cottage cheese or smoothies and all baking; breads, muffin or cookies. Sprinkle some into your morning cereal or over salads for a nutty taste. Mix into salad dressing or stir into thicker soups just before serving. You can add ground flaxseed to rice dishes, hummus or tabblouleh, but it is best to add just before serving.

Many cooks say they add up to 3 tablespoons of ground flaxseed to almost any recipe. Experienced cooks regularly add this much flaxseed to pasta sauces and casseroles, and say they see no difference in texture or taste.

Using Flaxseed As a Substitute For Flour, Oil or Eggs:

For most recipes for baked products, you can substitute 2 tablespoons of ground flaxseed for 2 tablespoons of the flour for each cup of flour in the recipe. If you don’t have a coffee mill to grind the flaxseed, soak the seeds in warm water for about 10 minutes before adding them to your baked products.

You can also substitue 3 parts ground flaxseed for one part oil in recipes as flaxseed contains healthy polyunsaturated fat. If you add 3 tablespoons ground flaxseed to a recipe, you can reduce the oil in the recipe by 1 tablespoon. Note that ground flaxseed makes baked products brown faster, so you may want to consider reducing the normal cooking time.

Finally, flaxseed that is ground can be substituted for eggs in many recipes because ground flax seeds have a natural gum that thickens batter in much the same way as eggs do. To replace 1 egg just mix together 1 tablespoon of ground flaxseed and 3 tablespoons warm water. Let sit a few minutes and use in your recipe. When wheat germ or bran is called for in a recipe, you can easily substitute ground flaxseed in the same amount.

How Much Flaxseed Do I Need?

The Institute of Medicine (IOM), a nonprofit organization that operates under the umbrella of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, published recommended intakes of essential fatty acids in 2002. This was the first time a North American agency had made a recommendation for this essential omega-3 fatty acid acknowledging the essential nature of ALA in the human diet and the contribution of all omega-3 fatty acids to human health. ALA is the only true "essential" omega-3 fatty acid in our diet. An essential nutrient (like ALA) is one that must be obtained from foods because our bodies cannot make it.

The IOM’s recommended intakes were developed in cooperation with Health Canada. Health Canada recommends a daily omega-3 fatty acid intake of at least 0.5 percent of total calories. For the average person this would be about 1 gram of omega-3 fatty acids per day. One tablespoon of ground flaxseed provides about 1.5 grams of omega-3 (alpha-linolenic acid or ALA).

Dr. Lilian Thompson of the University of Toronto, a pioneer in flaxseed research says one tablespoon of ground flaxseed per day may provide some health benefits and is most likely safe.

Stephen Cunnane, PH.D and colleagues at the University of Toronto tested the effects in 10 healthy young men and women of consuming 50 grams of flaxseed a day for four weeks. Benefits seen during the study were decreased total and LDL blood cholesterol by 6% and 9% respectively and an increase in bowel movements by 30%. The conclusion was that this amount of flaxseed per day is palatable, safe and may be nutritionally beneficial in humans.

Flaxseed and Women

Breast Cancer

Flaxseeds contain a natural compound called lignans (plant-derived antioxidants). When we eat flaxseed, bacteria in our gut convert these plant lignans to human lignans, which look very much like estrogen in the body. Once in the body, these compounds called phytoestrogens have a weak estrogen action and they are able to bind to estrogen receptors. In so doing, they appear to block the action of our body's own estrogen on breast cells.

Lilian Thompson, a professor in the Department of Nutritional Sciences at the University of Toronto, is a world-renowned researcher in the area of lignans. In one of her studies published in the journal Clinical Cancer Research, women with newly diagnosed breast cancer who consumed a daily muffin containing 25 grams - two tablespoons - of flaxseed had a significant reduction in tumour growth compared with those who ate muffins containing no seeds.

When the tumours were removed, the researchers found that the women who had received the flaxseed muffins had slower-growing tumours than the others. These exciting findings suggest that a daily intake of flaxseed might offer protection from breast cancer.

According to the researchers, the effect of the flax on the cancerous cells was comparable with that seen using chemotherapy - with no side effects. But more much research is needed before women go for flax before any traditional treatments.

Try the following muffin recipe with 25 g. of flaxseed each or add 2 heaping tablespoons (25 g.) of ground flaxseed mixed into your favourite yogurt.

The Prevention Test Kitchen staff created this recipe so that each muffin would contain 25 grams of flaxseed. Muffins can be frozen for use as needed. Be sure to allow for fat content in your daily fat budget. Per muffin: 246 calories, 13.7 g. fat, 105 mg. sodium, 6 g. fiber, 25 g. flaxseed.

1 1/4 cup Highwood Crossing flour
2 3/4 cup Highwood Crossing milled flaxseed (process 2 c. plus 1 tbsp. unmilled flaxseed till flaxseed resembles cornmeal)
1 tablespoon Baking powder
1/3 to 1/2 cup Light molasses
3/4 cup Skim milk
1/4 cup Light-flavored olive oil
1/2 cup Egg substitute

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.Whisk together flour, flaxseed and baking powder. Stir together molasses, milk, oil and egg substitute. Stir into dry ingredients just until moistened. Pour into 2 3/4-inch greased muffin pans. Bake about 18 minutes. Makes 12 muffins.

Estrogen

Preliminary research suggests that lignans may also help ease the symptoms of problems related to premenstrual stress and menopause by stabilizing fluctuating estrogen levels. When there is little estrogen in the body (menopause), lignans may act like weak estrogens. However, when natural estrogen is abundant in the body, lignans may instead reduce estrogen’s effects.