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Because of its link to good health, flaxseed is fast becoming a new food in many diets. Bakers and commercial food companies use flaxseed as a unique ingredient in everything from yeast breads, to bagels and cookie mixes. Not only do muffins and breads baked with flax taste great, but studies also find that these foods provide health benefits. Flaxseed adds a pleasant flavor to many basic foods, but its unique blend of goodness also packs a strong nutritious punch.

Flaxseed is rich in dietary fiber and alpha-linolenic acid, an essential omega-3 fat which may protect against heart disease and cancer. Flaxseed also provides a plentiful supply of lignans - cancer blocking components, which animal studies show reduce the formation of tumors. Recent scientific reports point out that flaxseed can have a positive influence on everything from blood cholesterol levels to laxation, from cancer to diseases of the heart, and immune systems such as arthritis and lupus.

Part of the reason fats and oils have earned such a bad reputation in recent years is because people eat too much fat, particularly too much saturated fat. Saturated fats raise blood cholesterol levels and increase the risk for heart disease.

Although about 42% of flaxseed is oil, very little of that fat is saturated. More than 70% of the fat in flaxseed is of the healthy polyunsaturated type. In fact, a unique feature of the polyunsaturated fats in flaxseed is the high ratio of alpha-linolenic acid (an omega-3 fat) to linoleic (an omega-6 fat). Nutritionists consider alpha-linolenic and linoleic fatty acids as essential because the body cannot manufacture them from any other substance. That means you must eat them as part of your diet.

Another positive aspect of flaxseed is that it contains both soluble and insoluble dietary fiber rather than large amounts of one type of fiber. Studies show that the soluble fiber in flaxseed can lower your blood cholesterol levels while the insoluble fiber, like that in wheat bran, is helpful for regulating bowel movements and preventing constipation.

Flaxseed is also one of the richest sources of lignans in the plant kingdom, providing up to 800 times more plant lignans than most other food found in vegetarian diets. Lignans are phytoestrogens - compounds which have been shown in laboratory animals to help protect against certain kinds of cancers, particularly cancers of the breast and colon. Research with animals suggests flaxseed, with its high lignan content, may be capable of blocking the action of certain substances that can contribute to the formation of tumors. Long-term studies of the effects of flaxseed in women with breast cancer are now underway.

Lignans and alpha-linolenic acid found in flaxseed help regulate the immune system. Because these components help prevent the formation of compounds that cause inflammation, flaxseed may be useful in the nutritional management of autoimmune disorders such as rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis, and lupus in which the immune system becomes overstimulated.

You can buy whole flax seed and packaged ground flax seed at many bulk food and health food stores. Many grocery stores are now carrying flaxseed because of the continued interest among consumers. The ground flaxseed provides more nutritional benefits than does whole seed. Grinding flaxseeds breaks them up making them easier to digest when eaten. If whole flaxseeds remain unbroken, they may pass undigested through the body, reducing the nutritional advantage of eating flaxseed in the first place. Whole flaxseeds can be easily ground by using a coffee bean grinder, food processor or blender.

Add flaxseed to your baked goods for a pleasant nutty taste. Flaxseed not only adds flavor, but also extra texture and good nutrition to your breads and other home-baked goodies. You can also use flaxseed as a substitute for some or all of the oil or shortening called for in a recipe. Cooks recommend a 3 to 1 substitution ratio. For example, 3 tablespoons of ground flaxseed added to a recipe can replace 1 tablespoon of the butter, margarine or cooking oil. When flaxseed is used instead of oil, baked goods tend to brown more rapidly. Flaxseed mixed with water can also replace an egg in selected recipes like pancakes, muffins and cookies. Each egg in the recipe would be equivalent to 1 tablespoons of ground flaxseed mixed with 3 tablespoons of water. Test a recipe first to determine if it meets your expectations.

 
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