| Our Daily Flax Incorporating flax into your diet. |
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| "Wherever flax seed becomes a regular food item among the people there will be better health." --Mahatma Gandhi |
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| Cooking with Flax: To make flaxmeal, grind flaxseed in a coffee grinder. Clean between each use. Never heat flax oil above around 100 degrees. Heat destroys the delicate omega-3 fatty acids, and causes harmful oxidation. On the other hand, baking muffins and breads with flaxmeal is perfectly safe. Studies have shown the same levels of beneficial ALA after baking, even at one hour at 400 degrees. Flax ideas: Adding flax oil to hot cooked dishes is one way increase your flax consumption. Again, the temperature of food after removal from a heat source is not high enough to harm the oils. Try adding flax oil to mashed potatoes, pasta, stir fries, soup, or stew. Substitute flax in your favorite salad dressing recipe. Experiment with combining flax oil and olive oil until you reach a tasty combination. Replace some of the oil called for in cold salad recipes with flax oil. Keep refrigerated. Add flax oil to pates, spreads, and dips, replacing some or all of the oil. Add ground flaxseeds to a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. A quick morning drink: Grind 1 tablespoon flaxseeds in a blender. Add 10 ounces orange juice, and blend. Enhanced nut butter: Replace the oil in natural peanut and other nut butters with flax oil. Pour off the oil that gathers at the top of the jar, add the nut butter and flax oil to a food processor, and process until well blended. Remember to refrigerate and never heat the enhanced nut butter. Egg replacer: Grind 1 tablespoon flaxseeds in a grinder. Mix with 1/4 cup water and let sit for 5 minutes. The effects of the flax mucilage will work as a binder. (Replaces one egg.) Baking Tips: Replace from 10 to 15 percent of the amount of flour in a recipe with flaxmeal. For each 1 cup of flour, replace as much as 2 tablespoons of the flour with flaxmeal. When adding flax to a recipe, you can reduce some of the other fat. Substitute three parts fllaxmeal for one part oil. Flaxmeal makes baked goods brown faster, so reduce the heat 25 degrees or cook for a shorter period of time. When adding flaxmeal to yeast bread, increase the amount of yeast by 25 percent and add slightly more water. Add gluten (wheat protein, available from most groceries or health food stores) to bread recipes when replacing the flour with flaxmeal: 1 tablespoon for each 1/2 cup flax. |
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| Buying flax products: Check out your local health food store. They should have both flax oil and flaxseeds. When buying flax oil, look for opaque dark brown or black bottles, always stored in a refrigerated case. The words "expeller pressed" should be on the bottle. Be sure to check the expiration date. If you can't use the amount before the date, freeze and thaw later. Flaxseeds may be stored at room temperature. For the best savings, buy them in bulk. Grind them as needed, or store them ground in the refrigerator. Reputable brands of flax oil: Barleans Spectrum There may be others, but these are two trusted and readily available brands. |
| It's easy to incorporate flax into your daily diet. Both flaxseeds and flax oil are available at most health food stores, or can be ordered online. For more flax recipes, see Flax, The Super Food by Barb Bloomfield, Judy Brown and Siegfried Gursche. |
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