Flax Seed May Offer Many Health Benefits

I read an article in a magazine that caused me to read more about the benefits of flax seed. The article mentioned several benefits such as lowered cholesterol and anti inflammatory responses to this seed. I did a little research and discovered that there may be quite a bit of truth to these claims.

I purchased a bag of flax seed at a bulk food shop. It was certainly not expensive. I read that the beneficial amount to add to your diet was one to two tablespoons of seed daily. That didn't sound like much but when I measured those tiny seeds it did seem like quite a bit. That made me become a bit concerned about the taste of the seeds and how they would affect the taste of the foods that I added them to.

Adding flax seed to your food:

My first trial was to sprinkle one tablespoon of seeds on my granola. It was fine. The seeds pretty much just disappeared into the granola and the taste was not affected much at all. My next trial was to add the seed to cream of rice. I added one tablespoon of seed to my cream of rice cereal and stirred it in. I like the taste of the seeds added to the cereal. It added a mild, sweet, nutty taste. I have not tried it yet but am sure this seed could be added to meat loaf, many cookie recipes, breads, muffins and so much more without even being detected. I do that with wheat germ.

Product availability:

When I did a bit of online research I discovered that, like anything else, there is a wide range of prices and quality available. I was fortunate to already shop at a bulk food shop where I know the quality is great and the prices are reasonable. However I noticed that many smaller amounts of flax seed may be purchased from health food stores and groceries for a much higher price.

Whole seed vs. ground seed and oil:

It seems like buying the seed whole and using it whole is best. You can grind the seed in an electric spice grinder. Some articles even mention that this ensures that the seed is digested more completely.

Flax seed oil is available also. From most of the research that I read the oil is not quite as effective as the seed. There is some debate about this fact.

My advice would be that if you are interested do some research on your own. If you want to try adding flax seed to your diet you can find many recipes and tips. I found it extremely easy to add to my diet with very little effort other than remembering to sprinkle it onto my cereal. How much easier can a nutritional supplement be?