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| Forums: January 2010 Kickstart Forum Archive: nuts and bolts of flaxseed for omega 3 | |||
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cch22
 Location: New York State Posts: 1001 |
nuts and bolts of flaxseed for omega 3 Posted Tuesday, October 5, 2010 at 7:28 AM HI All, BUT .. if i wanted to use faxseed as well or in additon to.. what would i need to know.? there appears to be ground flaxseed & whole.. which one do you use for what? do you buy it ground or do it yourself? i know about not heating it.. most importantly.. how much does a person need? 1 tsp a day? a tablespoon? a half cup??? i am still on the strict vegan diet and feeling great |
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Wild4Stars
 Location: Florida Posts: 832 |
RE: nuts and bolts of flaxseed for omega 3 Posted Tuesday, October 5, 2010 at 7:41 AM I don't know the "right" answer to your questions. I'll tell you what I do. I buy organic ground flax seed and I keep it in the freezer. I sprinkle a TB on my salads, or put it in my smoothies. I try to eat a TB or 2 a day, some days I don't get any, some days I get more. I've been told that whole flax seeds are fine for fiber, but they don't digest in a way that gives you the advantage of the omega 3's. I don't know if that's true, but it makes sense, feels right to me. I'll be interested to see other responses. Thanks for posting the question. Vikki ~ Wild4Stars@gmail.com |
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| Susan Levin
Joined: 12/26/09 Posts: 1212 |
RE: nuts and bolts of flaxseed for omega 3 Posted Tuesday, October 5, 2010 at 7:42 AM Is there a reason you feel you should supplement with omega-3? If so... As for flax, you can buy the whole seed and grind it yourself or buy the pre-ground version. You definitely want to consume a ground version in order to get to the nutrients. The benefit to buying the whole seed is that it is more resistant to going rancid than the pre-ground version; the oil is most at risk for rancidity. Whatever you choose, keep it in the refrigerator. Susan Levin, MS, RD |
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| cch22
Location: New York State Posts: 1001 |
RE: nuts and bolts of flaxseed for omega 3 Posted Tuesday, October 5, 2010 at 11:00 AM Hi Susan & Vikki, I take a multi, bcomplex, cal/mag and fish oil everyday.. Those are just to "make sure" ... The fish oil pill has geletin.. thought I would explore my options on other ways. One would be a vegan pill.. but flaxseed does it too.. I guess I could put it in my oatmeal when i have it and take a pill when i don't eat oatmeal. The one reason i never went vegetarian or vegan is I did not feel i knew enough about it to get the proper nutrition. Now that i do a fairly strict (i eat geletin in pills) vegan it is time to revisit and make sure i get what i need. I don't want to get 3 months down the road and find i didn't do something necessary, that would have been a simple change. So, is my thought process going the right way? Do i need a supplement? Flaxseed? and how much? |
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| Wild4Stars
Location: Florida Posts: 832 |
RE: nuts and bolts of flaxseed for omega 3 Posted Tuesday, October 5, 2010 at 11:20 AM I'll sure have to defer to Susan on that one. I'll be interested to see what she says. Vikki ~ Wild4Stars@gmail.com |
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mollyhorn
 Location: Fort Worth, TX Posts: 582 |
RE: nuts and bolts of flaxseed for omega 3 Posted Tuesday, October 5, 2010 at 12:45 PM I eat flaxseed every day, for the omega-3s. I find that I also enjoy the nutty flavor. I use the ground flaxseed, though I recently read (in Brendan Brazier's Thrive that the pre-ground is inferior to grinding it yourself, due to loss of omega-3 oil in the grinding process), and mix it in my oat/wheat bran cereal, which I eat every day. I use about 1.5 teaspoons, which I add after the cereal has cooled a bit. More and more research is showing the vital importance of omega-3s, so I would suggest eating flaxseed as a good source. As with anything, the whole food is preferable over the supplement, or the oil, so you're making a good choice by getting the seed and grinding it. Molly Horn |
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| Susan Levin
Joined: 12/26/09 Posts: 1212 |
RE: nuts and bolts of flaxseed for omega 3 Posted Tuesday, October 5, 2010 at 3:37 PM The DRI (the government set standard) for ALA omega-3 is 1.1 grams per day for adult women. As stated in the DRI publication regarding essential fatty acids, this number is based on "the highest median intake of ALA by adults in the US where a deficiency is basically non-existent." What does that mean? It means that this particular nutrient, like a lot of nutrients, don't really manifest as problems due to lack of intake, so no one really knows what the minimum amount should be. They navigate around this by just recommending a high average of what people consume anyway. To put that 1.1 gram recommendation into perspective, one tablespoon of flaxseed oil has 7 grams of ALA, one tablespoon ground flaxseed has 1.6 grams ALA, 7 walnuts have 2.6 grams ALA. So it doesn't take much. And of course ALA is found in "everyday" plant foods as well. But I can't emphasize enough the importance of the ratio of omega-3 to omega-6. Research keeps showing over and over that this is far more relevant in terms of reaping the benefits of omega-3s. I’m not opposed to supplements. But the first step is lowering total fats, thereby allowing the omega-3s to work their magic. Susan Levin, MS, RD |
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| Lauren1213
Joined: 09/06/10 Location: Florida Posts: 57 |
RE: nuts and bolts of flaxseed for omega 3 Posted Wednesday, October 6, 2010 at 10:02 PM Okay, showing my ignorance here...where do we get the Omega 6's that need to be complimented by the 3's from? |
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| cch22
Location: New York State Posts: 1001 |
RE: nuts and bolts of flaxseed for omega 3 Posted Wednesday, October 6, 2010 at 11:25 PM From wikopedia.. Again.. not much of what i eat unless the soymilk i have in the morning has it in it. I looked around on the net at both omega 3 and omeaga 6 (n-3 & n6) just got more confused. Doesn't look like i get much of either.. I decided to add a few walnuts to my daily intake.. maybe 10... or a vegan fish oil pill.. still have to research brands for contamination, bio-availability, and effectiveness.. i don't want to throw money down the drain. I used to buy shaklee... LOVE LOVE LOVE them.. and trust their effectiveness.. BUT they have gelatin. |
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| mollyhorn
Location: Fort Worth, TX Posts: 582 |
RE: nuts and bolts of flaxseed for omega 3 Posted Thursday, October 7, 2010 at 12:06 AM Hey all, http://www.veganhealth.org/articles/omega3 The problem in the modern American diet (SAD) is an excess of Omega-6 due to over-consumption of fried, fatty foods. I take the Deva Omega-3 supplement, made from algae, and am happy with it. No reason to think it's NOT working! Here's another link from the Vegetarian Resource Group. Look for "Omega-3 Fatty Acids for Vegans" Molly Horn |
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That is hard to take for people with college educations and higher than average IQ's. 
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