I keep hearing a lot about flaxseed and its wonders, so I thought I would investigate further. I keep hearing that it is a good source of Omega 3 Fatty Acid, but I had some questions about this, since it isn’t a meat source, and often when we think dietary chemicals are ‘close enough to be the same as’ they turn out to be rather importantly different. Consequently I was quite interested to read, on this page that “…the omega-3 fatty acids in flaxseed oil aren’t identical to what you get from fish oil. Flaxseed oil contains alpha-linolenic acid (ALA), while fish oil contains eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA). The effects and potential benefits may not be the same.”
I’ve also been wondering why it says everywhere not to cook with flaxseed
oil. This
page explains that it’s because the oil easily goes rancid, especially
when exposed to heat, light and air. So frying is out. However, the same
site does say that ground flax seed makes and excellent egg substitute in
baked goods. That’s something I’d like to try out. For some reason, people
generally aren’t worried about bad things happening to the flaxseed while
baking. The no doubt slightly less than impartial
ameriflax
website says “Baking with flaxseed does not reduce the quality or
availability of the nutritional components of flaxseed according to
published research3.” with the reference “Cunnane, S.C., et. al. American
Journal of Clinical Nutrition. 1995; 61:62-68”. They also entertainingly
say “Flaxseed can be added to baked products as a whole seed, imparting a
healthy appearance and increased texture quality.” Yay for healthy
appearances.
posted at 11:23 on Mon, 16 Oct, 2006 |
path: /living
All material copyrighted by Jen Schellinck. All rights reserved.