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Grinding your own whole flax seeds with a grain mill, spice grinder or even a coffee grinder once a week will give you the freshest and most nutrient packed health benefits.
Ground flax seed and flax seed oil will go rancid quicker than whole flax seeds. Whole flax seed will stay fresh and retain their nutritional value for 4 month at room temperature. Once you grind or mill whole flax seeds the time clock speeds up rapidly. At room temperature, milled flax seeds will go rancid in one week. Refrigerating the milled flax seed will increase its shelf life, but it is best to grind your own once a week to insure freshness and to retain the slight nutty flavor.
Purchase no more than 4 months worth of whole seeds. Once the manufacturers package seal has been broken, store the unused seeds in a jar with a tight fitting lid or vacuum seal the seeds with a vacuum bag sealer and preferably store the seed in the refrigerator.
An easy way to consume ground flax seed each day is to sprinkle it on any breakfast cereal, mix it in yogurt, even soy yogurt or just stir the ground flax seeds in water or juice and drink it like Metamucil. You can also sprout flax seeds.
Ground flax seed can be used as an egg substitute in baking. Add one tablespoon of ground flax seeds to three tablespoons of water, whisk vigorously together with a
hand held stick blender or whisk. You can even place the ground flax seeds and water in a liquid safe grinder such as the
It is recommended you consume 1 to 4 tablespoons of loose flax flour a day. If you pack the flax flour into a measuring spoon, use less then you would if it is measured loosely in the spoon. Consuming too much flax will have a laxative effect because it is very high in fiber. But beware, Flax is also high if fat. If you desire a low fat diet you may wish to consume 1 tablespoon of flax a day or reduce your fat consumption in other foods.
Flax seed are known to contain high levels of lignans and Omega-3 fatty acids. Lignans are beneficial to the heart. They also possess anti-cancer properties. Studies have given evidence to the reduction in the growth of specific types of tumors, especially in individuals with certain types of breast and prostate cancers. Flax may also lessen the severity of diabetes by stabilizing blood-sugar levels. Consuming large amounts of flax seed can hinder the effectiveness of certain medications, due to its fiber content. Consuming 50g (1 2/3 ounces) of raw, ground flax seeds has been shown to increase the amount of w-3 EFA in the blood and tissues and is known to lower the cholesterol by 9% and LDL "bad" cholesterol by 18 percent.
Although flax seeds themselves contain lignans, which is a class of phytoestrogens considered to have antioxidant and cancer preventing properties, the linseed oil extracted from the seeds does not contain the lignans found in flax seed, and therefore does not have the same antioxidant properties as the whole or ground flax seeds. Flax seed oil is easily oxidized, and rapidly becomes rancid. You can tell when flax oil is rancid by its unpleasant smell. It is always best to refrigerate flax or Linseed oil. But even when it has been refrigerated, it has a shelf life of only a few weeks. Oil with an unpleasant or rancid odor should be thrown away. Rancid oils contribute to the formation of free radicals and may be carcinogenic.
REferences: Flax
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