Flax Seed offers a whole array of potential positive effects but it is worth remembering that our food, and in more concentrated forms our supplements are chemicals and have a biological effect on our bodies – this is what we want of course. But for a few these biological effects could be unwanted – you could be someone who gets flax seed side effects.

What we are after is a balanced diet, so eating twice as much as recommended isn’t likely to provide twice the benefit. It is also important not to panic and run away from flaxseed through paranoia as you could be missing out on the benefits. Some people simply shouldn’t consume flax seed but others simply just need to limit the amount eaten or just consume flax seed oil or just flaxseed meal (ground flaxseed).

I have trawled the internet and nutritional books and this is what I have found out so far about flax seed side effects. It is NOT likely exhaustive but it will give you a good  idea. I have broken it down into sections for ease, namely:

1. Absolute no no unless you have received medical advice, and
2. Use with caution and see your doctor if an effect is unpredicted.

So, let’s jump right in and discuss flax seed side effects.

1. Absolute no no – unless received medical advice.

Pregnant, looking to become pregnant or are breastfeeding:

It isn’t necessarily that you cannot eat flax seed in all its different forms it is just that one cannot do any research on whether or not any problems can arise in pregnant humans – simply ask your Doctor if it is OK and what amount/dose to have. You also need to be careful of phytoestrogen levels (see below)

Hormonal Effects:

Flaxseed (not most flax oil forms) contain flax Lignans which contain phytoestrogens. High doses could have an effect on our natural hormone levels. If you have a history of estrogen-sensitive cancer, such as breast cancer or uterine cancer, talk with your doctor before consuming large amounts of flax seeds. Flax seed (not most forms of flax oil) should also be cautiously used by women with hormone sensitive conditions such as endometriosis, uterine fibroids etc. Finally flaxseed may affect the functioning of hormone related drugs you could be taking via your doctor.

Constipation/bowel disease:

Flax (not the flax oil forms) have high levels of flax seed fibre which is good. However, if you have the tendency towards constipation, the general advice is to make sure you drink plenty of water as well or you could create a bowel blockage. For some too much flaxseed has a laxative effect and so could irritate some bowel conditions. Maybe if this is you, flaxseed oil could be a solution as it doesn’t contain fibre.

On medication/taking prescription drugs:

The fibre in flax seeds could reduce the absorption of some medications. Best to ask your Doctor for advice but it could just be you don’t eat flax seed around the time of taking your medication or use flax seed oil instead of ground flaxseed (as there is no fibre in the oil) so you can carry on obtaining all the healthy essential fatty acids. Some drugs however may simply just not work properly if consuming flax seed/flax seed oil.

Any heart or blood vessel disease or bleeding disorders:

Flax Seeds and Flax Seed Oil are high in the essential fatty acid alpha-linolenic acid. One of the effects of this EFA is to thin the blood. This is not a problem to healthy individuals (as long as they don’t over dose the oils etc) but some people who have heart/blood vessel problems have to take medication like warfarin and asprin. The latter drugs are used because they thin the blood. So you can see that supplementing your diet with too much with flax seed (oil especially) will compound the thinning blood effect of the medication. Your doctor needs to advise you on levels to eat and probably check your blood a little more frequently for a while.

2.   Flax seed side effects to be cautious of:

Diarrhea, excess gas, upset stomach can occur when using flax seed and flax seed oil. If this occurs it is most likely because someone is consuming too much and reducing the dose is sufficient to stop the symptoms. If this doesn’t help then you may have to stop taking it. Some people simply find taking oil in significant amounts causes digestive problems yet when they eat ground flax/flax seed meal, they are fine – it is possible that the slower release of the oils makes this form better tolerated.

Cyanide: There a few foods, flax seed being one of them, that contain cyanide compounds when raw. Our bodies can deal with some, it is possible heating can denature the compounds also. I haven’t managed to find any sources stating that people taking a normal reasonable amount of flaxseed in their diet have ever had any problems.

Conclusion:

Firstly don’t panic and as I said initially, don’t run away from flax because you are worried about flax seed side effects. We need to simply put all of this into perspective e.g. just because a runner who consumed too much water dies at the end of the race doesn’t mean drinking water is a great risk and therefore you should never drink water again!! – this would be crazy. Generally in my opinion, if we are sensible about amounts we consume and ask our doctor if we have any doubts, then the majority of us should comfortably and safely be able to integrate flax seed into our diet and be the healthier for it.

Technorati Tags: Flax Seed Side Effects

When you buy organic flax seed oil have you ever asked yourself if the extra expense is worth it? Is organic better for you? Is organic flax oil better than conventional flax seed oil? Now they are big questions! They are not without controversy. The principle arguments as far as I can see them is twofold:

1) Organic food (like organic flax seed oil) is produced without the use of pesticides, herbicides and fungicides. In the UK the food standards authority (FSA) say organic food is not safer or posses more nutrients than conventionally produced produce. Are they right? or are they, as some blog posts say, just puppets for large corporate gains.

The view of the FSA is not the view of “The Organic Centre” in the USA. The centre is an organisation looking to “generate credible peer reviewed scientific information and communicate the verifiable benefits of organic farming and products to society”. They have released a report only as far as back as Feb 09 after their scientists found six positive conclusions regarding organic farming and on soil quality and the nutritional content of food compared to conventional farming methods.

Authorities say they put in place large safety margins when they determine safe limits of residual pesticides but isn’t any amount an unneeded/unnecessary extra workload on your body and your liver especially? My opinion is that authorities can come up with levels of chemicals that won’t produce significant obvious health problems but why settle for anything less than optimal functioning in your body and small levels are likely to have some negative effect even if it’s just the using up of a few extra minerals and vitamins to process and eliminate these foreign chemicals.

2) The process of organic food production is more driven by the welfare of the livestock and protection of the soil health and therefore has a more environmental component. Organic farming encourages soil fertility, biological diversity and helps to decrease soil erosion.

So overall, everyone has their own agendas and bias, so who do you believe? Well in part it is down to what sits right with your belief systems. For me if I can afford it, I will buy organic flax seed oil because I ask myself; why give your body any more stress than it already gets through living in the western world by taking in even the smallest amount of industrial chemicals. I also like the fact organic farming methods are also more pro-environment regarding both the animals and soil.

One final thought, organic flax seed oil aside, food produced organically is reputed to taste better!
   

Technorati Tags: Organic Flax, Organic Flax Oil, Organic Flax Seed Oil

The Essential Fatty Acid (EFA) that we in the western world are most likely deficient in, if our diets aren’t ideally balanced, is omega 3 oil (aka alpha-linolenic acid). This one nutrient is probably the principle reason people eat organic flax seed (aka linseed) or fish, but you may be surprised to know which the best source is.

To help answer this question though, we need to quickly cover some basic biochemistry (don’t panic!). As you can see from figure 1, the ‘grandmother’ of omega 3 EFA is alpha-linolenic acid. To get to its most biologically active form, for our bodies to use and most benefit from, it must be converted. Firstly EPA (Eicosapentaenoic Acid) and DHA (Docosahexaenoic Acid) are made and then further converted into a series 3 Prostaglandin (a very active hormone like substance). This prostaglandin helps to decrease the stickiness of our blood, helps to lower cholesterol, decrease inflammation, helps our skin, helps us grow, helps us to produce energy, helps brain functioning, increase our immune system functioning etc etc etc. Simply, the more converted the chemical becomes, the more biologically active it becomes.

We now head into the ocean! (stay with me – all will become clear) Plankton for example contains a lot of alpha-linolenic acid. Small fish eat the plankton and start converting the alpha-linolenic acid into EPA and DHA. Big fish then come along and eat the small fish hence taking their EPA and DHA and produce more EPA and DHA themselves and so on all the way up through the food chain to seals (and I suppose Eskimos!). So when we eat fish we get alpha-linolenic acid and some already converted EPA and DHA. When we eat organic flax seed we get probably the best non animal source of alpha-linolenic acid but no EPA or DHA. So what does this all mean?

Well, simply put, when we eat organic flax seed our bodies have to convert the alpha-linolenic acid through all its conversion steps to finally get our needed prostaglandin. When we eat fish oils, we only have to convert the last bit as we are getting the intermediary chemicals EPA and DHA already formed. Therefore, we have to consume more organic flaxseed than oily fish in order to get the same levels of our needed prostaglandin. There is no difference in the quality of end product however, so like I have previously mentioned in my blog, the benefit of eating the organic flax seed is that you get the extra minerals it contains, you get the flax seed fibre and you don’t have the taste of fish. So call me biased, but organic flax seed edges fish oils out in my opinion due to the extra benefits.

Technorati Tags: Organic Flax Seed, Organic Flaxseed

Buying flax seed meal (aka ground flaxseed) gives you convenience. To get the full benefit of a whole flax seed, you have to grind them down or they will pass through you essentially unchanged and you will have just wasted your money. Buying flax meal takes away all this hassle – you just open up a bag or your jar, and sprinkle on your cereal, yogurt etc. But, there is something you should be aware of, there are draw backs to this convenience and that is a process called oxidation.

There is a lot of debate about the shelf life of flax seed meal. Light and heat soon starts the process of oxidation which turns the good healthy oils into rancid oils which essentially no longer serve any useful purpose in your body. Trans-fats are created which put more strain on your body particularly your liver – but it’s not all bad. There is no reason why you can’t enjoy the convenience of flax seed meal; you just have to keep in mind two things. Firstly, use your opened packet reasonably quickly and secondly, always store your flax meal in a cold dark place – your fridge is one good place.

To Heat or not to heat? That is the question with heat being one of the main causes of oxidation. Some authors believe you should not heat flax seed at all because one of the main benefits you get from their consumption, your omega 3 oils, are easily damaged in cooking and food processing. On the other hand there are those who state that flax meal is pretty stable and can tolerate temperatures necessary to make bread and muffins. I cannot at this time seem to find one argument any better backed up than the other so personally I lean on the side of caution and as often as I can, I avoid heating my flax seed meal and just sprinkle directly on my food.

Technorati Tags: flax meal, Flax Seed Meal

The easiest source to obtain your essential fatty acids (EFA’s) from is oily fish or supplementing fish oils. It is a general consensus that to obtain the ideal amounts of your EFA’s you need to consume less amounts of fish/fish oil than flaxseed! – so why bother going to the trouble to buy flax seed?

There are some very good reasons:

• Obviously if you are a vegetarian or vegan – or don’t like the smell or taste of fish!
• If you do not want to eat fish, Flax Seeds are out of all seeds, the provider of the highest amounts of omega 3 (alpha-Linolenic acid) so more “bang for your buck”
• Flax seed fibre: Flaxseeds benefit you also by providing you with dietary fibre – soluble fibre which helps decrease cholesterol and insoluble fibre which helps move contents through your bowel.
• When you consume Flax seed you are also obtaining other essential nutrients in your diet, namely Calcium, Magnesium, Zinc etc – you don’t obtain the same amounts when you consume fish oil capsules.
• Another benefit when you buy flax seed is that flax seed provides flax lignans (although some manufacturers add these to their fish oil supplements) – they are a chemical compound (a major class of phytonutrients) that are estrogen like chemicals and also acts as an antioxidant.
• When consuming fish oils you have the added hassle of ensuring they are PCB free (Polycholinated Biphenyls), an industrial chemical that pollutes our oceans – obviously not a great addition to your body – you don’t have to think about this when you buy flax seed.

Technorati Tags: Buy Flax Seed, flaxseed, linolenic acid

If you are reading this, looking to buy flax seed (aka Linseed), you are obviously someone who cares about what you eat and invest in your health and the health of your loved ones around you. But, it’s hard to eat healthily all the time isn’t it!!, so many nutrients to get every day from your food – enough amino acids (protein), carbohydrates (complex sugars), vitamins, minerals, trace elements, enough water etc etc. There is however one more group of nutrients that is essential for you health and that is good fats – your omega 3 (alpha-linolenic acid) and omega 6 (linoleic acid) and Flax Seeds are probably the best non-animal source of these oils!

Are you reluctant to buy flax seed because you are worried about the amount of fat in your diet? If you strive for an extremely low fat diet, it could be damaging to your health – not all fats are bad. omega 3 & omega 6 oils are called essential fatty acids (EFA’s) because your body cannot make them itself. They are needed for the proper functioning of everything from building your cells, proper nerve functioning, hormone balances, production of your natural anti-inflammatory agent etc etc. When you eat EFA’s, the systems of your body take what they need for optimum functioning first and only then if there is surplus, do you store the excess in your body’s fat stores. Eating saturated fats e.g. from meat, if you don’t need to use them to produce energy then the only thing your body can do is store them as fat!

Do you really need to buy flax seed? If you search the web or nutrition books, you will have concluded there is a lot of argument over just what the health benefits of flax seed and/or flax seed oil are and it is confusing when you try and decide who to believe. I think the best way to think about this is that if your body cannot make these essential fatty acids (ETA’s) then in some way your health has to suffer if you don’t get enough! and as I have already said, flaxseeds/flaxseed oil are a great way of getting these oils!

Final thought for now, when you buy flax seed, you don’t just eat them as they come. They are small, hard and you can’t get to their goodness inside – they will simply pass through you essentially unchanged. It is best to grind them in say a coffee grinder and then sprinkle your ground flaxseed on salads, cereals, yogurts etc. If all you are after is the EFA’s and are not too bothered about the other benefits of flax seed (because your diet is strong already in those areas), then for only a lttle more cost you will get more convenience buy buying flax seed oil capsules.

Technorati Tags: Buy Flax Seed, Flax Seed Oil Capules, Ground Flaxseed