flax seeds

[asecin]

anyone getting their omega 3 from ground flax seeds or flax seed oil ?

many reports stating flax is good for you but i found several negative things about it, like prostate cancer:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11065004

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15051847

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10750674

another really worrisome news is this i found on a site but no medical link to:
if sourced from large amounts of flax seed, residues may have adverse effect due to its content of neurotoxic cyanogen glycosides and immunosuppressive cyclic nonapeptides


8)


1) does that also mean fish oil might encourage prostate cancer same as flax seeds based on omega 3s it contains ? or maybe its only specifically related to ALA and it is not as present in fish oil ?

2) anyone actually have more solid information on this relation and anyone personally have been taking flax for an extended period of time and actually has personal account for any side or positive effects ?

 

[MynameisnotDeja]

I am a mostly raw foodist and flax is a huge staple in my diet. It does amazing things for the skin, hair, nails, pain control in the body.

I broke my skull when I was 10 and have a bad case of TMJ which can be sometimes quite painful. Every once in awhile, when I get a lot of inflammation from stress, clenching my teeth at night, or an autoimmune disease flare, it can be extremely painful. I've noticed that since eating a lot of flax the pain and inflammation in my jaw has gone down considerably, to where most days it is non existent. This is huge for me as the constant pain and cracking and throbbing in my jaw has been pretty much been the norm since all this started a few years after my accident. To be fair, I think it's a lot of good things I'm eating on my raw diet and not JUST the flax, but I did start the flax later on after the other parts of my diet and I noticed the biggest change then.

It also makes my nails and hair grow twice as fast, and my skin glow beautifully. I have the skin of a little kid again, it's freakishly soft. Awesome.

I don't know the details about the toxins flax might contain and don't have time to read those studies right now but I will say this... most nuts and seeds and a lot of plants do have pros and cons to them. That's why we have to eat a varied diet and keep everything in balance with other things. Also, I soak and sprout all of my nuts and seeds. I'd never just eat flaxseeds completely raw and hard... no way. Soaking and sprouting usually removes most of the bad stuff. I know that's true for other things such as almonds, legumes, etc.

But I don't know the specifics about flax. Do you know if the stuff you've read about the toxins was studied with sprouted flax, or regular? There is a huge difference.

 

[Lady Codone]

Flax seeds contain flax oil and have the added benefit of high fiber content. So I vote Healthy

 

[delta_9]

I've read similar things about ALA, and seeing as how quickly ALA is capable of oxidizing, it can probably contribute to cancer easily.
This is why I avoid flax meal or flax oil, but I do use the whole seeds on occasion. There's absolutely nothing wrong with using the whole seeds in moderate amounts. They taste quite good I think
The bulk of my omega 3s come from 2g molecularly distilled high EPA/DHA fish oil daily.

1)

From what I've read, DHA can cause problems of it's own but only when in pretty large amounts. (edit - See below)

2)

I'll dig something up for you in a bit.

Edit -

A few abstracts related to some of the potential negative effects from too much PUFA(Polyunsaturated fatty acids) in the diet.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/...,11432462,11976221,17702671?dopt=AbstractPlus

A few more (Not 100% what you're asking, but worth a read anyway and related to omega 3s as a whole and the above ^^)
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9887028
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20336283
http://www.nutritionandmetabolism.com/content/6/1/14

 

[asecin]

delta9 i went through those, didnt go into details but they didnt seem to explain much for me.

this is what im curious of;

1) is there solid based studies done to prove that the ALA in flax seed is causing prostate cancer ?

2) anyone ever felt side effects from flax seeds ? besides the mostly positive ones you people seem to already tell me.

it seems of what i gathered it mainly affects men that is why i find it annoying when women reply here saying "its healthy".
personally, i felt really weird when i was eating ground flax seed. had experienced strange altered states and changes of perception.
perhaps tnx to this "residues may have adverse effect due to its content of neurotoxic cyanogen glycosides and immunosuppressive cyclic nonapeptides"

 

[delta_9]

delta9 i went through those, didnt go into details but they didnt seem to explain much for me.

Well they weren't really related to ALA and cancer. Mainly PUFAs and omega 3s as a whole, and the potential problems they can cause if used in excess, which is something else I'm interested in and have been keeping my eye on.
I realize you're question was rather specific so I'm sorry if there was nothing there for you.

1) is there solid based studies done to prove that the ALA in flax seed is causing prostate cancer ?

I'm not sure to be honest. I haven't seen anything 100% definitive which is why I'm playing it safe until I do.
What intrigues me though is that ALA is an essential oil.

2) anyone ever felt side effects from flax seeds ?

No but I've never used flax in excess to begin with. I do know of people who have experienced ill effects from high doses of fish oils though(in the 40g+ per day range), but there isn't much ALA in fish oil so...

 

[asecin]

delta9 more info on what people have experienced with high doses of fish oil plz

also how much ALA in fish oil compared to flax oil ?

 

[delta_9]

delta9 more info on what people have experienced with high doses of fish oil plz

Significantly increased lipid peroxidation, antagonized iron metabolism, thinning of the blood, lowered blood pressure, possible negative impact on immune function, possible increase in LDLs, and of course with those high doses not a small amount of nausea

also how much ALA in fish oil compared to flax oil ?

Almost none.
The omega 3 in flax is almost entirely ALA and the omega 3 in fish and their oils is almost entirely EPA and DHA.
Of course the body converts ALA into EPA and then to DHA, however the exact % converted varies heavily from person to person and gender.
Women tend to have a generally higher conversion efficiency than men.

A friend of mine likes to mix his omega 3 sources by using a combination of flax seed, fish oil, and krill oil.
I don't have the funds for this but I find it interesting and I don't think it's an entirely unreasonable approach.

 

[TakeItAll]

I do know of people who have experienced ill effects from high doses of fish oils though(in the 40g+ per day range), but there isn't much ALA in fish oil so...

Wow! That's like sitting down to a small bowl of fish oil capsules every day. Or drinking a whole glass of the liquid stuff.

I don't claim to be any kind of expert but I thought most of the studies showing a benefit for heart disease which from my understanding is the benefit with the most evidence used around 2g per day.

 

[MynameisnotDeja]

ALA is capable of oxidizing, it can probably contribute to cancer easily.
This is why I avoid flax meal or flax oil, but I do use the whole seeds on occasion. There's absolutely nothing wrong with using the whole seeds in moderate amounts.

I grind mine myself and eat it in about a day. I think that's about as fresh as it can get. I also wouldn't buy the pre-ground kind. Or worse, those baked flax crackers and stuff like that. They advertise it as a healthy source of omega 3's and clearly have no idea you can't BAKE flax... totally destroys the good fats.

Be careful about eating the whole seeds... pointy little things, hard to chew up. You don't want those little guys getting lodged in your gut.

 

[SangerRainsford]

If you're scared of some itty bitty chance flax may be subtly more harmful than some other lipids of its kind, then just go get some epa/dha pills and presto, you're done!! Flax is a shit-source for omega3's anyways imo

 

[asecin]

lol im not scared of it. how am i scared ? im just trying to figure out an important health issue related to it is all. i guess people can just choose not to take it, but it pisses me off how popular it is and how much advertising gets and yet they never mention the toxic compounds in it and how bad ALA can be.
and here we have deja advertising it as this awesome plant for all kinds of conditions tricking gullible people into taking this shit and believing they will fix their problems. reason why i pick on her is her absolute ignorance of life. :/

 

[Regenesis2]

^Deja made many good points and its not fair to flame her like that just cause she doesn't have a prostate. From what I've read the risk doesn't seem that bad, and Deja (or notDeja I should say) makes a good point about oxidizing oil. All oxidized fat is bad and is full of free radicals they say. I do wonder why Flax seed isn't really a staple food in any traditional diet or so it seems. Omega 3's do help with chronic pain and I'm also an unfortunate sufferer of TMJ which is worse than it sounds to all you healthy dick suckin' jaw motherfuckers--just fuckin' with ya
You should definately get some in your diet at least through fish and walnuts but I don't know about going as extreme as some nutritionists recommend.

 

[fizzle]

well you are not a man so you dont seem to know wtf im talking about in this thread.

deja, stop replying and acting like a health expert. you are not ! you can barely understand chemistry and you were never capable of reading and comprehending science based texts. 8)

asecin, I realize people arent giving you the exact answers you are looking for, but none of us here are experts. People are holding a discussion. After all, thats what this place is here for, to discuss these things as a community. If you only want your specific answers and no discussion, you should call up a health expert with specific knowledge on this subject.

Stop attacking people, play nice. 8)

 

[SangerRainsford]

Aside from fizzle just laying it down nice and clearly, I'll elaborate a bit in case it didn't get through.

lol im not scared of it. how am i scared ?

Using the word "worrisome reports" implies fear to me. Maybe I'm crazy...

im just trying to figure out an important health issue related to it is all.

It's really not important, tbh. Sure, you may find some transient problems that make it less ideal. But an "important health issue"? LOL, srsly? I've sold every type of flax product you can name for the better part of a decade. Wanna know the results? Nothing bad. Occasionally some "okay" reports. Many "did jack shit" reports. But what do I know?....

i guess people can just choose not to take it,

which, imo, would be a wise choice. It offers no benefits that cannot be obtained safer, stronger, and in many cases, cheaper, when compared to other products. So, yeah, choosing not to take it really doesn't hurt anyone, honestly.

but it pisses me off how popular it is and how much advertising gets and yet they never mention the toxic compounds in it and how bad ALA can be.

Are you joking?? Is this a new phenom or something? I've never seen any significant advertising campaigns for flax (are you referring to a placard sign @gnc or something?). Also, flax is approved by the fda, so these "toxic compounds"** can't be that bad, and re "how bad ALA can be", well, you tell us. Don't give me some theory of yours, tell me how it can be so bad.
((**just because there's toxic compounds in a product DOES NOT mean the product isn't healthy. Toxic compounds need to be at a certain level to induce any sort of toxicity in humans. Hell, if misused, water is a toxic compound. (maybe "dangerous/lethal" is more accurate than toxic, but surely all will get what I mean.)

and here we have deja advertising it as this awesome plant for all kinds of conditions tricking gullible people into taking this shit and believing they will fix their problems.

Deja seemed, imo of course, to be referring to the benefits of omega3's in general, not necessarily from flax. Flax is actually a shit-source for O3's. And if gullible people think some pill/nutrient/etc is gonna "fix all their problems", well, they're in for a really worthwhile life-lesson

reason why i pick on her is her absolute ignorance of life. :/

The obvious hatred you have on her, coupled with her post count, coupled w/ the vitriol of this quoted post, made me look her up. Honestly dude, if you're gonna go onto the topic of ignorance, perhaps a mirror, and not (gina? lol sry newb here), is a good place to start. Let's be fair - ALL the info you wanted/needed could've been given to you by google. You just wanted to start a thread and have others do it for you, nothing more, nothing less.

You are lucky anyone responds to your threads at all with the way you treat people. You have no idea what I am capable of or what I read.

Your capabilities or reading preferences have *zero* to do w/ the fact that his accusations/libel against you are ill-founded. Don't feel a need to defend yourself, I looked at some of your older posts to get an idea and you're not ...whatever the hell he's been calling/implying...throughout the thread