Power Food: Flaxseed

You hear me preach about how inportant healthy fats are in your diet, this is one of my favorite fats.  I take 2 tbsp. daily.  I add it to my oatmeal in the morning and to my protein shakes.  Here is some info on flaxseed and tips on how to use it.


What is Flaxseed?
Flaxseed is a rich source of essential fatty acids:alpha-linoleic acid, omega 3,6 and 9, plus soluble and insoluble fiber. 1 – 2 tablespoons taken daily is recommended to achieve health benefits.  Flaxseed is gluten free, soy free and nut free.  After opening, flaxseed should be stored in the refrigerator or freezer to preserve its freshness.

How do I use it?
The most important thing about using flaxseed is making sureyou either buy it in ground form (sometimes sold as flax meal) or you can grind the seeds in a coffee grinder.  If the seeds are not ground the body can not break them down and therefore the nutrients will not be absorbed.

Bake with it.
Replace 1/4c to 1/2c of flour called for in a recipe.  You may need to add additional tablespoon of water to keep batter moist.

Replace fat with it.
Flax meal can be used to replace some of the fat in arecipe. For each tbsp. of butter or oil use 3 tbsp. of flax meal.  Experiment with how much fat you can replace in any recipe, start out by replacing half and gradually increase.  Remember to grease the pans you will be baking in, low fat items tend to stick.

Replace eggs with it.
Vegan? Then replace the eggs in a recipe with flax meal and water.  Here’s how to do it: for every egg called for in a recipe, mix 1 tbsp of flax meal with 3 tbsp of water and let sit for 10 minutes.  The mixture will become gel-like.  Add to a recipe just as you would add you egg.

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