Flaxseed? Huh?

October 26, 2006 10:56 AM

How do you consume flaxseed oil?

I've been reading all sorts of stuff about how flaxseed oil is good for you, so I went out and bought a bottle. It has been sitting in my refrigerator for two weeks now because I realized that I have no idea what to do with it (and the idea of downing a spoonful of oil every day kind of repulses me). So...how do you drink or eat your flaxseed oil?

posted by echo0720 to Food & Drink (35 answers total)

In the form of crushed flax seeds, mixed into or sprinkled onto whatever sounds good at the time.
posted by padraigin at 10:57 AM on October 26, 2006

Best answer: Two most common ways for me:
On my salad mixed with my salad dressing
Blended into a smoothie
posted by chrisroberts at 11:01 AM on October 26, 2006

MUFFINS!
posted by dead_ at 11:07 AM on October 26, 2006

The first few times you have a spoonful of oil, it's gross. After that, it stops being gross and starts to seem like cough syrup or something. I hold my breath while doing it, which seems to help.
posted by occhiblu at 11:08 AM on October 26, 2006 [1 favorite]

You add it to things. Usually for a bottle of flaxseed oil, those things are "smoothies", so you may have bought the wrong thing for you. Adding flaxseed oil to drinks that are more liquid than a smoothie doesn't work very well.

If you want to supplement your diet with flaxseed by adding it to food, get the crushed seeds. If you don't like the idea of adding flaxseed to food, then get oil in gelcaps so you can take them like pills.
posted by mendel at 11:09 AM on October 26, 2006

You can put flax meal (ground flax seeds) on top of your cereal, and I hear it's better if you grind as you go. I read that eating things with whole seeds doesn't work nutritionally since the omega-3's don't get digested properly when they remain whole. I've also read that heat destroys the effectiveness of the omega-3's.

You can also get them in capsules at any drugstore.
posted by abbyladybug at 11:12 AM on October 26, 2006

I have Flaxseed Oil and it comes in robitussin-pill like form. You swallow the gelcap and you don't ever really have to taste it!
posted by PetiePal at 11:23 AM on October 26, 2006

Best answer: Put it in protein shakes.

Seriously, though. Flaxseed oil is a source of Essential Fatty Acids which are required in your diet. Getting enough of these can reduce your body's response to inflammatory stimuli thereby improving your allergies. They're also necessary for lactation and for proper neural development in children.
posted by Mr. Gunn at 11:41 AM on October 26, 2006

It actually has a nutty flavor which I kind of like. I'll either have a spoonful plain or on top of some ryvita. It might be good on whole-grain bread as well.
posted by needs more cowbell at 11:45 AM on October 26, 2006

Dump the oil and get some whole seeds. Put them in a pepper mill and grind them onto cerals, salads, or anything else you eat.
posted by rocket88 at 11:47 AM on October 26, 2006

In gelcaps from the health food store.
posted by essexjan at 11:48 AM on October 26, 2006

Best answer: I used to put it on toast, rice--basically anything that I formerly put butter on. Mmmmm, butter.
posted by strangeleftydoublethink at 11:51 AM on October 26, 2006

I just bought a bottle myself and today I mixed it in with some non-fat ricotta cheese, Splenda & vanilla. Not bad!
posted by witchstone at 11:58 AM on October 26, 2006

Response by poster: And thank you to everyone else (I didn't realize that you could get the oil in gelcap form - too bad!). Feel free to post any other suggestions you may have on how to use my bottle of flaxseed oil!
posted by echo0720 at 12:01 PM on October 26, 2006

anyone know if using it in cooking reduces its effectiveness? in other words must it be consumed raw?
posted by joeblough at 12:01 PM on October 26, 2006

Best answer: I've never tasted flaxsed oil, but it seems like whatever you do with raw extra-virgin olive oil would be a great cantidate for this, as mentioned above, salad dressing is a good one.

Or, I love hummus, so I would use it instead of olive oil to put on top of the hummus with paprika - eat with pita, and a little salt yum!
posted by Monkey0nCrack at 12:01 PM on October 26, 2006

My wife and I both love IHOP's harvest grain 'n' nut pancakes, so she tried adding flax seed to her own knockoff recipe. It didn't turn out so well, but maybe you'd have better luck?
posted by kimota at 12:05 PM on October 26, 2006

(Sorry, that was ground seed, not the oil.)
posted by kimota at 12:06 PM on October 26, 2006

Never use flaxseed oil in cooking; add it to foods after they have been heated.
posted by chrisroberts at 12:11 PM on October 26, 2006

I mix it my morning oatmeal once in awhile....helps to mask the flavor if you're not used to it, although there will always be a few hints of it in the background.
posted by Asherah at 12:12 PM on October 26, 2006

From a hip flax?

In sweet salad dressings, usually.
posted by Rumple at 12:22 PM on October 26, 2006

It's actually quite delicious when used in things like dressings or raw vegetable soups. It has a kind of buttery flavor, very rich. I had no idea it was in pill form -- that strikes me as kind of odd, simply because I enjoy it so much in the raw food I prepare.
posted by treepour at 12:35 PM on October 26, 2006

Metafilter: consuming random substances because they "heard it was good for them".

I Nth the pill form. If nothing else, it is less messy.
posted by Sprout the Vulgarian at 12:38 PM on October 26, 2006

Soups.
Salads.
Smoothies.
posted by jkl345 at 12:56 PM on October 26, 2006

I use it in my salad dressing. Flaxseed oil, balsamic vinegar, garlic, and ginger.

I'm also pretty sure I used to use it on my popcorn, back in the days when I had a popcorn maker.
posted by sarahw at 1:00 PM on October 26, 2006

Best answer: i was putting 2 tbsp on my kashi cereal in the morning with soy milk, and it was really good...it made for a nice flavor...but then i was reading that the high fat content can interfere with medication absorption, and in my case my morning dose (ritalin) indeed seemed to last longer (up to 2 hours) when i shifted the oil to an evening protein shake...so if you're taking a medication, you might look it up to see if there can be some issue with that...
posted by troybob at 1:58 PM on October 26, 2006

Response by poster: Hey thanks troybob, that's actually a really big deal for me.
posted by echo0720 at 2:01 PM on October 26, 2006

You can use a cheap coffee grinder to grind up the seeds if you want it fresher and cheaper.
posted by craniac at 2:03 PM on October 26, 2006

yeah...i've been meaning to start getting the seeds and grinding them...you can find good deals online for bulk flaxseed (i've seen 50 and 100 lbs) that last a long time...and a coffee grinder is a must for that...

(and the medication thing is purely anecdotal on my part...for all i know, the improvement is all in my head!...but i'll take it, in any case)
posted by troybob at 2:16 PM on October 26, 2006

um, anecdotal except that you can google articles/studies about it...so not purely, i guess
posted by troybob at 2:17 PM on October 26, 2006

Medical info including a bit about drug interactions.

Also, google "flaxseed oil" and you will find a ton of info.
The oil goes bad faster than the seeds. Keep it in the fridge.

Ground seeds are nice on cereal.
posted by LobsterMitten at 3:15 PM on October 26, 2006

And more medical info
posted by LobsterMitten at 3:18 PM on October 26, 2006

Three times a day, my mother eats a small bowl of flax oil mixed with plain yogurt, shredded wheat cereal, raisins, and tabasco sauce.

It sounds horrifying, but it's surprisingly delicious!
posted by bubukaba at 3:50 PM on October 26, 2006

Lots of sites indicate that flax dramatically increases prostate cancer incidence. Do some googling and reading.
posted by NortonDC at 7:55 PM on October 26, 2006

chrisroberts - thanks.
posted by joeblough at 8:07 PM on October 26, 2006