Healthy Habits: Learn to Love Flaxseed

This week’s Healthy Habit impacts my own daily living. I suffer from joint pain on a regular basis and have noticed a significant change in both the frequency and the intensity of the pain once I started incorporating flax seed into my diet. Because of this, I have been interested in learning more about the benefits of flax and the different ways in which it helps our bodies. It is such a simple step that can be taken to increase our overall health. Here are some of the things that I have learned. (I will try not to get too technical!)

Here are just a few of the ways flax seed (especially ground) can benefit your body:

Improve digestive health – high in fiber, omega-3’s, and omega-6’s
Helps reduce total blood cholesterol – omega-3’s and omega-6’s
Promotes weight loss and cardiovascular health – fiber makes you feel full, the flax emulsifies fats before the body absorbs them
Boost immune system and relieve inflammation (pain in joints) – because it strengthens the immune system, it seems to suppress auto immune diseases
Contains lignans, which are thought to have antioxidant properties that may reduce the activity of cell-damaging free radicals, thus having anti-cancer properties
For a longer, more technical list, please visit this page.

Whole Seed or Ground?

– Though both types offer benefits to your body, your body digests the ground seeds easier. This ensures that your body is able to reap every benefit of the seed instead of ridding itself of the seed before taking in all of the nutritional value.

How much should you have a day?

– Though the serving size varies depending on the source of information, most doctors agree that you should try to get 2-3 tablespoons into your diet on a daily basis.

Simple ways to incorporate it into your daily diet:

Mix a tablespoon of it into your oatmeal or other hot cereal
Mix a tablespoon of it into your yogurt
Sprinkle on salads and soups
Add a tablespoon to your smoothie
Try mixing in a teaspoon to sauces

I hope you have found this brief overview to be helpful. If you have any questions or would like to be pointed in the direction of more articles, please e-mail me! I would be glad to give you more information regarding the flaxseed.

All information for this post was compiled from the following:
Livestrong – The Benefits of Flaxseed
Mayo Clinic – Ground Flaxseed: Better than Whole?
UC Berkeley Wellness Guide – Flaxseed and Flaxseed Oil
Webmd – The Benefits of Flaxseed

Do you have any experience with using flaxseed in your diet? What have you discovered?