Flaxseed oil

[Abe]

My local health food shop do not refrigerate their flax seed oil.

Is it likely to be an oxidized and therefore compromised product?

Thanks

[NHE]

Yes, I would try to find a new retailer. From what I've read, both flaxseed oil and ground flaxseed need to be kept refrigerated (I actually keep my extra ground flaxseed in the freezer when I buy in quantity when it goes on sale). However, whole flaxseed can be kept at room temperature though I like to buy it where it's kept refrigerated as I've gotten some that had a bit of a fishy odor.

NHE

[Abe]

How anoying!

I'm currently taking about 15 fish oil caps a day and I would like to replace 10 of them with a couple of spoonfulls of flaxseed. However this is the only shop in my city which stocks Flax.

I wonder what do other people in the UK do to get this product?

[havingms]

Dear Abe
You can not get the equivelent of 10 fish oil caps in 2 spoonfulls of flaxseed even if you could extract the total amount of oil it still wouldn't be equal, which you can't do in the first place by chewing and digestion...
Just a thought.

[NHE]

You can not get the equivalent of 10 fish oil caps in 2 spoonfulls of flaxseed even if you could extract the total amount of oil it still wouldn't be equal

For further info, flaxseed oil contains the omega-3 fatty acid alpha linoleic acid (ALA). This fatty acid is converted to two other types of fatty acids by the enzyme delta-6-desaturase. This conversion produces eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA). However, there are a couple of problems with this system. The first is that not all of the ALA gets converted to DHA and EPA which is the stuff we really want. I've read varying reports that the conversion is rather low around 10-20% if I remember correctly. The other problem is that our body's levels of the delta-6-desaturase enzyme typically declines with age. Thus, we convert less and less ALA to DHA and EPA. If you're doing ok with 15 fish oil capsules a day, then I would stick with them. For myself, I decided to take a TBSP of ground flax seed per day just to help round out my omega-3 intake. I chose the ground flax seed over the flax oil as there are nutrients and fiber which are not present in the oil. Please see this document for info on flax's nutrition content.

NHE

[pegs]

Hi I found this site and lists of foods to obtain the essential fatty acids we need the omega 3 and omega 6 plus a wealth of information regarding the eight essential sugars and eight essential protiens our body needs.
http://www.alkalizeforhealth.net/nutrit ... utrienTHIS IS NOT A SITE SELLING YOU A PRODUCT.....NO SNAKE OIL REMEDY....JUST OLD FASHION NUTRION WITH EDUCATION INCLUDED

hope you enjoy
pegs

[RedSonja]

I had no idea that flax seed is so healthy. I mean, I put it on my muesli every day to keep the old digestion in shape, but I didn't realise there is something good apart from the roughage.

[jimmylegs]

oh it's absolutely great for you. if you're concerned about ph, i hear that ground flaxseed is somehow better (i.e. less acid) than the oil. i had the oil for a while and used to put it in my morning fruit/lecithin mix. that was kind of gross thinking back. now ground flax seed is part of my morning hot cereal, mind you i don't eat it every day, but i do eat wraps all the time and they have whole wheat and whole flax seeds. yum! my mum grinds whole flax in the coffee grinder and sprinkles it on cold cereal every morning. she puts wheat germ on her cereal too, for the vit E.

[Hub]

The first is that not all of the ALA gets converted to DHA and EPA which is the stuff we really want. I've read varying reports that the conversion is rather low around 10-20% if I remember correctly.

IIRC, the conversion rate varies dramatically among people -- i.e., some people convert a high percentage of ALA to DHA/EPA, while most people convert almost nothing, and the average or mean is 10-20%. Also, while age might account for some of the variation in how well people convert, a lot of it appears to be genetic.

Someone told me (but I'm not sure if it's true) that there's a test that shows how well someone converts ALA to DHA/EPA.