The Pros and Cons of Flax Seed Meal and the role of oxidation:

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. Transfats 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 :)