Fantabulous Flax

Fantabulous Flax

 I feel like dancing around, whistling a tune and singing Flax…flax…flax. Flax, this beautiful, versatile, nourishing and TEEENSSSY seed capable of wondrous creations, containing boundless nourishment. I’m here today to sing (or tell) you its tale.

Imagine with me: It’s mid-morning, the light is soft. You stand in a field of flax, admiring its delicate and small blue flowers tinkling in the slight warm wind, atop strong slender stems. The whole plant is dancing with delight. It is indeed a soothing sight for sore eyes.

Humans have cultivated many uses for this fantabulous plant. The fibrous stems are spun into silky, glorious linen (the name derived from flax’s other name: linseed). Flax can even be smashed into pulp to make paper.

If you notice how the flax plant grows and moves and realize how its stems become this flowing, graceful fabric that we can use to adorn our bodies, then you can easily stretch your imagination into the possibilities that on the inside of our bodies, flax energetically plumps up dried out tissues and gently stimulates movement in the digestive tract and system…among other things I will discuss later.

Rebecca Wood, author of The Whole Foods Encyclopedia has this to say about flax’s history in our human food chain:

“Flax was used by late Stone Age lake dwellers in what is now Switzerland and cultivated in Babylon around 5000 BC, making it one of humankind’s earliest food supplies. In the eighth century, Charlemagne considered flax so essential for health that he passed laws requiring its use.”

We don’t have to use laws, just common sense to realize that adding flax to our diets is both important and easy.

These tiny, shiny seeds pack one powerful nutritional punch.

Let’s take a closer look:

They have a sweet flavor, a neutral thermal nature (meaning they neither heat nor cool the body), and they tone the stomach and colon. They are 40% oil, mostly linoleic and alpha-linoleic acids, which have been shown to strengthen immunity in our cells, prevent cancer from forming, and clear the heart and arteries of fatty blockages.

The Omega-3 fatty acids, which are highly-concentrated within these flat, shiny brown seeds, are a key to reducing inflammation in the body. Inflammation plays a part in many chronic and acute illnesses, including: heart disease, arthritis, asthma, diabetes and even some cancers. Omega-3s are what we also find in cold-water fish like salmon, mackerel and swordfish. If it’s Omega-3s you’re after, make sure you buy the dark brown seeds, as the “golden flax” have far less.

Good for maintaining healthy, youthful skin and tissues (on the inside as well as the outside), flax seeds also contain lignans, which convert to an estrogenic compound that helps to regulate women’s menstrual cycles and hormones, and may help reduce peri-menopausal symptoms.

Its high fiber content also makes flax seed meal a perfect addition to top off soups, salads and cereals. I mix freshly ground flax meal into my hot cereal for breakfast. 2 rounded Tablespoons of freshly ground flax meal is the recommended daily dose, for greatest benefit. Remember more is not better.

Why flax meal and not flax oil? Well, the oils in flax are highly unsaturated, meaning that when exposed to even low levels of heat, they easily go rancid. To ensure that you’re not consuming rancid oils, store at room temperature (or in the freezer) for a few months and only grind seeds in a coffee grinder once a week. I grind enough seeds (about 1 ½ cups) at the beginning of the week and store the “meal” or powder in a sealed glass jar in the fridge.

If you do buy flax oil, make sure to use it within a few weeks after opening the bottle. And keep it refrigerated. The seeds are mysteriously stable enough to use whole in cooking. It is theorized that this incredible stability is due to the high levels of antioxidants in the seeds. What miraculous creations, huh?

I personally prefer the meal to the oil, because I love the taste and my body really loves the extra fiber, which helps stabilize blood sugar, giving me the stable energy to love life and function at my best.

So whether you choose to drizzle it on a salad or sprinkle it in a smoothie, add some flax into your daily fare today or tomorrow morning! Your body will surely thank you for the extra love!