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.
