Consuming flax seed, instead of flax seed oil

[rhad]

hello, I just recently bought a 25 pound bag of brown flax seeds. I have studied it alot. and I have decided to try to eat it everyday to see if it helps me with my MGD condition. I would encourage all of you to look it up, maybe the whole flax seed ground, is better than the oil? it says that flaxseed is supposed to help control the androgens in your body, and also it is supposed to regulate the hormons in your body, I would just like to know how many people are consuming real whole flaxseed, grinding it , and including it in their diet?

Is whole flaxseed, ground, better than flaxseed oil? what have you all heard?

[stella]

My husband takes flaxseeds every morning on cereal - It is good for constipation but seems to pass through his system mostly undigested -- so he tells me ! Maybe he does'nt chew them enough !

[Terri]

Dr. Weil recommends buying them whole, storing them in the refrigerator, and grinding them 1/2 cup at a time. He recommends sprinkling the ground flaxseed over cereals, salads, muffins, etc. I think he recommends trying to consume 2 tablespoons per day, and he prefers flaxseeds to flaxseed oil.

[NYer]

I have been doing exactly what Terri described, above, for the past year and a half. I take 2-1/2 tablespoons of freshly-ground flax seed every day (I usually mix it into oatmeal). Within the first three months, my cholesterol dropped about 90 points!!! And yes, if you have any "regularity" issues, those will be cured. However, it has had ABSOLUTELY NO IMPACT ON MY DRY EYES. (I have rosacea, bleph, mgd, and allergic conjunctivitis.)
So, although I highly recommend taking it for many aspects of your health, it hasn't helped my dry eyes at all (nor did I ever expect it to).
By the way, if you do use flax seed, there is a reason why you have to grind it...the human digestive system cannot digest whole flax seeds. You can eat them, but they come out whole. Grinding them releases the nutrients and other good stuff. But the nutrients are lost quickly to light and heat. That's why you're better off grinding them fresh and refrigerating them (in an opaque bag or jar) than buying the "milled" (pre-ground) seeds.
That said, there are some questions regarding flax OIL (not flax seed) for men and prostate issues. Various studies have come up with various answers. But for men, if you have any prostate issues, you're probably better off (for now - till they come up with a definitive answer) sticking with fresh ground flax seed and staying away from the oil. The issues regarding the oil have no bearing on the seeds. You can take the seeds with no problem.
Taking flax oil, however, is not a replacement for taking the seeds, nor vice versa. Each one has it's own benefits. I suspect that it's still possible that the oil may have some positive effect on dry eye. I just recently (within the past month) starting supplementing with the oil, too (Rebecca carries the Barleans, which is the best brand of flax oil and flax oil capsules, by the way). It's too soon to tell if it does anything for my eyes.

[Rebecca Petris]

You remember the old rule of thumb about veggies:

Fresh is better than frozen is better than canned... is better than none.

Seems like there is a similar rule of thumb about flax:

Ground seeds are better than oil is better than capsules is better than nothing.

At the end of the day it comes down to our tolerance level for inconvenience (or rather for adapting to a slightly new routine that might take a little more time).

By the way, as I've mentioned to a few privately, Barleans has a cinnamon flavored flax oil. When I first heard it I thought nothing of it. But they gave me a bottle of it when I was there last week (see blog). Just on a whim I mixed a spoonful of it into a bowl of yoghurt. Since that's not something I normally do it looked kind of repulsive until I stirred it all up well, but then, YUM. Never woulda guessed. It's now my breakfast or morning snack.

Incidentally I am planning to stock Barleans liquid flax oil (regular and high lignan) in the shop soon - just have to work out some technical matters. We won't be able to ship it for free (sorry - too heavy).

p.s. NYer, wow re cholesterol, I'm hoping it will do that for my husband

[NYer]

Yes, "Wow" is what I said! Doctors, of course, wanted me to go on an anti-cholesterol drug. I said "Let me see what I can do nutritionally instead". Indeed, I did improve my eating habits, but not such a substantial change that would have warranted THAT big of a drop. The only major change was adding the flax seed (which tastes good anyway). THAT made the major difference and fairly quickly (three months). I've stuck to it ever since.
By the way, ground flax seed is nice in yogurt, too.
And a bit of advice if you add it to oatmeal or other hot foods:
Add the flax AFTER you cook it. Flax seed has really high fiber - both soluble and insoluble. The the soluble absorbs water. So if you cook the oatmeal with the flax already in it, the flax sucks up the water and the result is a texture that is...(sorry, I can't make a better analogy)...like mucous. It's gross. But if you add it AFTER cooking the oatmeal, it's great.

And I would not say that seeds are better than oil which is better than nothing...
Seeds are excellent for lots of stuff ...different stuff than the oil. One does not really replace the other. It's true that the seeds, obviously, have a good fat content. But the oil is, well, oil...so it serves other purposes. There is a lot to be said for doing both.

Oh...one more thing...When you start your husband up on the ground flax for his cholesterol, don't start immediately by doing two tablespoons. Start with two teaspoons and gradually increase it. Otherwise, shall we say, you'd better make sure the bathroom door is open within seconds after he finishes eating it! ................sorry for that image, LOL......my point is that your system has to get used to all that fiber.

[Rebecca Petris]

Y
Seeds are excellent for lots of stuff ...different stuff than the oil. One does not really replace the other.

Fair enough. I was oversimplifying for people like me who have habitually just taken capsules and might not consider the other forms.

How about "Seeds and/or liquid are better than capsules are better than nothing"?

[NYer]

Oh, by the way, for men who are concerned about taking flax OIL (due to possible prostate issues), use fish oil instead. And Barlean's also makes a high quality fish oil (so do other company's, too) (I don't work for Barlean's, LOL, I just like their stuff).

[rhad]

For those of you who would like to use real flax seed. I just use a coffee grinder, it grinds it fast and very good. yesterday we made flax seed muffins..they are actually really good, and have a lot of flaxseed in them. just found a recipe on the internet.

[lilahp]

krill oil alternative

For some reason, I cannot tolerate fish oil in any form or brand (have tried Barlean's and others, including pills). I've also taken flax oil seeds and haven't noticed an improvement. I cannot take flax oil liquid, either. Don't know why.

However, I do take krill oil now, which is similar to fish oil, according to some authorities. I think it may be helping a little bit. Haven't been taking it a long time just yet. It doesn't make me sick, thank goodness!

(Somewhere I read that fish oil Omega-3's are better-absorbed than flax Omega-3's. Sorry, I don't remember where, but it's something about the animal protein, I think.)

The krill oil could be an alternative, for those like me who have trouble with the others. I take doxy, too, but half-strength (sensitive tummy!).

[ipsissimus]

Fish oil gave me acid reflux something awful. But my eye doctor told me that flaxseed oil wasn't effective (why does every doctor have a different story on these things?), something about the body having an easier time breaking down animal protein than plant. He prescribed Lovaza - a pharmaceutical grade fish oil that's been more refined. That seems to work better for me - though I do have to be careful about when I take it or the reflux comes back! It's kinda expensive though and you can only get it by prescription which is a pain.

[NYer]

Yeah, my experience with fish oil is that it makes me burp...and it tastes like fish...all day long. I know some oils are better than others about that. I haven't tried the Barleans fish oil.

[Rebecca Petris]

Regarding fish vs. flax... I've heard this argued both ways and one day I'll start listening more carefully to try to understand the arguments. Barleans sell an awful lot of both but when I visited them their founder clearly leaned towards flax. I think that there is no one size fits all answer, for example, one recurring theme I'm hearing seems to be that older people or people with certain ailments may be able to process the fish oil better than the flax.

Regarding fishburps... ugh, all it takes is one day of that to put you off fish oil forever. When I was on Dry Vites I got it once or twice but usually not if I was careful about food & lots of water. I have never had the burps on Barleans fish oil but I sure wouldn't rule it out. I find I'm occasionally getting a slight cinnamon taste late in the morning on my current routine (for those who don't read my blog I am taking Barleans cinnamon flavored flax oil mixed into yoghurt every morning now). And let me tell you I'll take that over fishiness any day of the week.

Some people have just way too much gastrointestinal response to fish or flaxseed to tolerate either, unfortunately.

Very interesting about the krill oil, do keep us posted!

[GinaJ]

If you eat the flax seeds unground you only get the benefit of the fiber not the omega so you need to grind them. I buy bob bills at trader joes for pretty cheap ground and keep it in the fridge. As for the oil too I thik its better absorbed by the body if you toss the food in it rather then put it in a a pan. Lastly for no fish burbs put the fish supp in the freezer or the lemon coated ones help a lot.

[NYer]

Interesting idea about putting the supplements in the freezer. And, yes, you must grind the flax seeds to get the benefit. I grind them in my coffee grinder once a week and put them in a freezer-quality zip-lock bag and then in a dark container (to keep them out of the light) and into the freezer. The ground seeds don't actually freeze but the cold of the freezer keeps them fresher longer.
Your thought about using the oil with food is a good one. If your digestive system is already processing some fat and you add a fat-soluble supplement at that time, you absorb it better. Good points!