Poliquin on Flax Oil

MikeMartial

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Q&A from this month's installment of Questions of Strength at T-nation. Always interesting to hear his thoughts on nutrition.

Q: With supplements like Flameout and your own EPA/DHA blends, is there any reason to keep using flax seed oil?


A: No, not flax seed oil. But flax seed hulls are good for detoxification of xenoestrogens.

I've never been a fan of flax seed oil because if you're obese anyway, you don't have the enzymes to elongate the molecule to turn it into the omega-3s. So what's the point of using it?

Another problem is that flax seed oil is usually rancid in most stores, with 40 out of 42 store-bought brands shown to be rancid in one study. And even if you can get it fresh, it goes bad very rapidly once you open it, sometimes in less than two weeks. Plus, I just found that flax oil never really worked.

But flax seeds can be used for the anti-estrogen effects and for adding fiber to your diet. You can buy them whole or pre-milled, but I'd rather grind them myself.
 
That's pretty much my take, too. There's not a whole lot the ALA in flax seed is good for compared to DHA/EPA.

Like Poliquin, however, I still used milled flax seeds all the time. They're good for fiber, general fat content, and, like he said, the anti-estrogen effects.
 
Thanks for the post Mike. I recently bought some organic flax seeds which are cold pressed. They are like paper thin flakes. Would you guys consider this too much processing or is cold pressed fine?
 
How much flaxseed does Poliquin recommend? 50 lbs. per day?
 
Thanks for the post Mike. I recently bought some organic flax seeds which are cold pressed. They are like paper thin flakes. Would you guys consider this too much processing or is cold pressed fine?

Cold pressed/milled is optimal; if they aren't milled, and you eat them, you'll just shit them out. The hulls are indigestible.

Sonny said:
How much flaxseed does Poliquin recommend? 50 lbs. per day?

Well YEAH, all his athletes eat at least 50lbs DURING training. They just mix it in their water bottles.
 
Thanks for the info Mike. I was under the impression that flax seed was just another snake oil. Must have been thinking of flax seed and flax seed oil as the same thing.
 
Cold pressed/milled is optimal; if they aren't milled, and you eat them, you'll just shit them out. The hulls are indigestible.

Great thanks again. I'm pretty sure these are milled, they are easy to chew etc. I remember you posting something about more being better concerning flax. I try to get around 2 tablespoons daily, does that sound about right?
 
thanks for saving my cash from a pointless purchase.
 
A teaspoon or two of ground flaxseeds in a chocolate muscle milk shake is a pretty hearty breakfast drink.
 
I used to take Flax Oil, but quickly switched to Udo's 3-6-9 blend. It's much better than straight Flax Oil. I always put at least a TBSP of ground flax seed in my oatmeal.
 
So.... why exactly should you not take flax again??

And he's trying to say ALA is useless?
 
So.... why exactly should you not take flax again??

And he's trying to say ALA is useless?

I don't think he's talking about ALA itself but ALA in flaxseed oil. Seems there may be issues with rancidity and conversion of it's ALA to DHA/EPA in people who are obese.
 
His reasons for not using flax seems pretty silly. ALA is still beneficial for other reasons. And what does he mean he found flax oil never worked? And I've never gotten a bottle of rancid flax oil.
 
His reasons for not using flax seems pretty silly. ALA is still beneficial for other reasons. And what does he mean he found flax oil never worked? And I've never gotten a bottle of rancid flax oil.

Poliquin can be out there sometimes. This is just a brief monthly Q&A so I don't think he went into any more details about his own use of flax oil. I'm interested to see it myself though considering he's recommended UDO's oil for years and that's an entirely plant based EFA product.
 
^That's a good thing. In this case, they inhibit natural estrogen production.
 
His reasons for not using flax seems pretty silly. ALA is still beneficial for other reasons. And what does he mean he found flax oil never worked? And I've never gotten a bottle of rancid flax oil.

What do you have for ALA? I did a pretty massive search last week and didn't turn up a whole lot. Most of the benefits I've seen tied to flax seeds can be directly connected to the fiber content or the phytoestrogens. That, and the fact that ALA is still a "healthy fat," brining us closer to the balanced variety of fats that we need in our diet. Which is why I still eat lots of milled seeds...

But, as far as ALA, I haven't seen much.
 
if i throw whole flax seeds in my blender, is that ok? milled flax is pretty expensive, so i always just went for the 1.99/ lb whole seeds, figured less processing = better anyways. didnt know i couldnt digest whole flax seeds.
 
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