Your whole food, plant-based life.

Flax

I often get comments from people who don’t want to make a certain raw food recipe because it has flax in it. If you are allergic, that is completely understandable. But for many, it is a taste that they object to. I am here to say that there is a way around that. But you need to be very specific with the flax you pick, how you store, prepare it and use it.

Flax is a great source of nutrients. Loaded with omega 3’s, lignans, alpha linolenic acid and fiber, flax is beneficial in fighting cancer, diabetes, and inflammation. Flax helps lower cholesterol and considering it is the highest plant source of ALA’s (alpha-linolenic acid, the plant form of omega 3) it even helps fight depression!

There are a few things that you need to be aware of when you use flax. First of all, it is unstable. You want to buy the freshest flax possible, keep it refrigerated and only grind it right before using. While whole flax can give a great texture, you get the biggest benefit from ground flax as it makes all the nutrients available.

Questioning the taste of flax? I hear it all the time, “Is there something I can use instead of flax? I don’t like the taste.” Well, here is my suggestion. Try fresh, just ground golden flax. It hardly has any taste at all, especially when you combine it with other ingredients. I think most people have trouble with the taste of flax when they are using brown flax (stronger) or flax that has gone rancid.

Flax is great in flat breads, and other recipes where ingredients need to have a “binder” to keep them together. A great egg substitute, you can use one tablespoon of ground flax combined with 3 tablespoons of water to replace one egg. This works in normal recipes as well as raw food recipes.

 

 

 

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15 Comments

  1. angelbelli wrote on March 12, 2012

    Thank you for posting this… i find it quite interesting as i’m new to raw.
    i finally got a dehydrator and lately i’ve noticed that i’m using more flax seeds as i find them in a lot of the recipes. i understand the nutritional benefits of the little seeds, and i like their flavor… what i don’t enjoy is the gooey consistency. As i’m chewing the flax cracker or banana flax pancake, its just to slimy for taste.
    i dont’ think there’s anyway to get around that as its the character of the little seed to bind things together.
    i think i will try chia seeds as someone suggested – but if anyone has any other recommendations please let me know.

    Reply
  2. Laura wrote on July 30, 2011

    Of course if you happen to have more info on this (not very popular) subject please let me know, as flax would be a very versatile in the kitchen. Thanks anyway!

    Reply
  3. Laura wrote on July 30, 2011

    the reason why I don’t eat flax is ignans. Lignans are a controversial subject because can interfere with the absorption of estrogen. They can be good or bad. Since they lower the estrogen in your body: if you have too much estrogen in your body, then they are beneficial but if you don’t have enough, they become counterproductive. So I consider flax be “good for some” but not for everyone.

    Reply
  4. Kristen wrote on May 24, 2011

    If you don’t like flax try chia seeds, they are just as nutritious and have a very mild to no flavor, and wow do they have super geling capacity!

    Reply
  5. Suboxone Doctors wrote on May 15, 2011

    I used to mix flaxseeds with my protein shake because they have a lot of health benefits

    Reply

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