Flax Oil is Really Amazing Stuff -Roger Mason

This column has covered flax oil before, and all my books recommend flax oil supplements. Flax  is the best source of omega-3 fatty acids. We are deficient in these, while we eat too many omega-6 fatty acids. Very few foods have much omega-3 content, and grass fed red meat is full of saturated fat and cholesterol. Flax oil is a much better choice than fish oil for a lot of reasons. Any studies on fish oil equally apply to flax oil since the active ingredient is, in fact, omega-3 fatty acids. Definitely you want to take 1 to 2 grams of flax oil a day. This is a supplement for people of all ages including child-ren. This is especially food for heart and artery health. You cannot do this by eating a lot of fatty fish like salmon and tuna. Grinding up flax seeds is another impractical way to get your omega-3 fatty acids every day. To learn more about the benefits of flax oil go to www.barleans.com. This is the best source of information on the internet. They are a fine company, and their flax oil is sold refrigerated but pricey. Please keep this refrigerated as it will spoil. You cannot cook with flax oil or it will break down. The taste is too strong to use it on such things as salads. 
 
There are so many studies in international clinics published in major medical journals on the proven benefits of flax (and fish) oil in humans that it is rather overwhelming. These studies can really be impressive. In Progress in Neuro-Psychopharmacology & Biological Psychiatry (how's that for a title?) v. 26, 2002, a fascinating study on hyperactive children was done. Hyperactive children with ADD (attention deficit disorder) were given the  individual omega-3 fatty acids found in flax oil. They should have simply been given the flax oil itself to make the study more practical and economical. Children 8 to 12 years old were given these omega-3 supplements with no other treatment, and improved signifi-cantly in just two weeks. Imagine if they were given whole, healthy food as well? Isn't this an infinitely better choice than doping them up with amphetamines? That's right; children  (mostly boys) with ADD are routinely doped up with amphetamines by the doctors, teachers, parents and social workers. Ironically enough, these powerful stimulants depress activity in children who have not reached puberty. If you or I went to a school yard and gave children amphetamines, we would probably be jailed for the rest of our lives. This doping of children is prevalent all over the United States, but seems unknown in Europe and other countries.  
 
While looking thru the very good journal Nutrition and Cancer (v. 39, 2001) a study at Oxford University in England found that flax will actually lower dangerous estrogen levels in women. This would also apply to men. This is just amazing. The only other supplements that are known to lower estrogen levels are DIM (di-indolyl methane) and 13C (indole-3-carbinol) from cabbage and other such vegetables (DIM is twice as strong and, thus, half the price). Postmenopausal women were given flaxseed (flax oil would have been much more convenient and easier to take) and their levels of toxic estrone and estradiol fell significantly, but not their levels of good estriol. Contrary to the conventional wisdom, American women are generally up to their ears in estrogen. This largely explains the epidemic rates of estrogen caused cancers such as breast, uterine, ovarian, and cervical. The other hormones were not affected. There is no reason to think the same mechanism does not operate in men as well.

 While researching diabetes there were many references to using flax oil. At the Center for Diabetes in Begamo Italy (Clin. Ter. v. 144, 1994) the clinicians said, "Omega-3 administration would appear advisable in insulin dependent diabetics with increased cardiovascular risk factors." Flax is recommended in my book, The Natural Diabetes Cure. There were many other such references.

 There are many proven values to taking flax oil including diabetes, women's health in general, coronary heart health, cholesterol, diabetes, and even various cancers such as breast and prostate. A low fat diet is vital, but taking a mere gram or two of flax oil daily will do wonders for your health in many ways. You must buy this from a company that keeps it refrigerated and store it in your refrigerator. Oxidized flax (or fish) oil is full of dangerous free radicals. We keep ours in a special cold room with the acidophilus and NAC. Make flax oil a part of your supplement program.