Just wondering if you chicks can help me out with a flax seed question: Here goes, I have been trying to up my fiber intake and have been eating about 3-4 tbs of flaxseed a day. Whole flax seed. Is this helping me out at all? I have been trying to find out how much fiber is in the seeds and if eating them whole is doing any good? So my fine feathered chicks got any good advice?

LC, I know that milled flax seed is much better for you than whole flax seed. When you eat them whole, they don't break down so you can absorb the fiber and nutrients from it.

I was reading about flax seeds yesterday @ the gym and they said that it is better if you use the powder or grounded kind, just because it is easier for your system to absorb the nutrients. They say that if you choose to eat it whole make sure you do it very slowly and chew it well, otherwise, your system might not be able to absorb it.

You can grind your own in a coffee grinder (cleaned up of course ). The whole seeds pretty much pass through your system. If you buy the already ground you need to store it in the fridge or freezer. It is good for both fiber and to add omega-3's to your diet.

where can you get it and what does it look like?

I grind my flaxseed in a coffee grinder that I got cheap at Wal-mart. I was reading in the eat-clean diet book to buy the flaxseed whole and grind them yourself so that you get all of the nutrients instead of some that you get in crushed flaxseed. Something about crushed flaxseed loses their potentcy after a certain amount of days.

I remembered it actually being high in fiber, but also in fat...

http://www.nutrientfacts.com/searchf...form=Flax+Seed

3-4 T daily would be 15-20 grams of fat daily....which is okay, if you're not eating mayo, nuts, etc. in any high volume.

I'm not an expert in this...so second opinions are welcome!

Thanks Chicks. I guess I am going to have to go buy a coffee grinder.

I buy it in my local grocery store, in the refrigerated area of the "natural foods" section. This is the brand I get. The stuff it self looks like what it is - ground up brown seeds.

grounds flaxseed

It is high in fat, but it's a good fat, with omega-3's. Still, it does have calories, and you'll want to account for them.

I have ground flax every day in addition to an omega 3 supplement. I get mine at the grocery store in the cereal Aisle