I was told that flax seed oil will help

[blessed]

A friend of mine just told me that taking 2 tbls. of flax seed oil helped her to lose weight.
I will be taking it starting tomorrow, has anyone else had the experiece of weight lost from taking it?

Ann

[juliebove]

Didn't help me lose weight. I've never heard that it would cause weight loss.

[rawpriestess]

I've also never heard this, I do know that on a high protein, low carb diet, that poly unsaturated fat will help you lose weight. is this what you are thinking?

[blessed]

It stimulates the brown fat cells and helps to increas the metabolism making it easier to burn fat.
It's very difficult to affect the fat cells in the body and when i read this i was encouraged to try flax seed oil. I will start taking 2-3 tbls. tomorrow mixed with orange juice.
Ann

[Conscious Midwife]

On a deliberately low fat, plus NO animal fat diet, flax seed is beneficial in decreasing the hunger some experience when consuming lots of carbohydrates. It's also great for circulation which therby improves blood cell oxygenation thus benefitting and improving metabolism.

[Arky]

What follows is not aimed at anyone who has contributed to this thread above, but I am rather concerned by the premise of the thread and I feel it is important to put it into a broader context:

Personally, despite any claims that it stimulates certain cells (I have heard this of coconut fat), I would NEVER consume large quantities of oil on a regular basis, no matter how healthy that oil is claimed to be. Olive, Coconut, flax, hemp...ANY oil, no matter HOW healthy it is puported to be, and how beneficial certain aspects of the plant source may be, is, by virtue of being an extracted oil, a REFINED substance. Without even getting into all the dubious tactics and misrepresentation often employed by certain elements of the packaged oil industry (e.g. bleaching, use of solvents, 'cold-pressed' meaning anything but 'cold-pressed' etc etc), the fact remains that by consuming only the oil of a food one is inevitably removing other elements from something nature has painstakingly evolved into a viable source of nourishment to the human body, and which the human body has itself evolved to derive nourishment from.

Oils are empty calories - the absolute antithesis of what one should be consuming if one wishes to live a long and healthy life. If you don't believe me, just read the research of Dr Roy Walford and while you're at it, I would recommend reading Dr Joel Fuhrman's 'Eat To Live'. Good nutrition (irrespective of whether your goal is weight loss or otherwise) is about maximising the beneficial nutrients-per-calorie, not maximising the number of calories-per-nutrient. Oil fits inexorably into the latter category.

Essential Fatty Acids (EFAs) are eseential for healthy cell functioning and can, under certain circumstances, encourage weight loss by influencing metabolism. However, I firmly believe that such EFAs should be consumed, wherever possible, as part of wholefoods, not as refined oils. This includes home-extracted oils. Udo Erasmus, for whom I have a great deal of respect, does sell an oil blend but I feel this is aimed at a broader spectrum of the general public who want to 'eat a bit more healthily', but who are not prepared to alter their diets profoundly enough to properly consume only wholefoods.

Wherever a food substance is concerned, consider the source. Nature knows best - man does not. Even if you are vegan, you would be doing yourself a huge favour to take the time to sit down and read the works of the venerable Dr. Weston Price (specifically his classic book 'Nutrition & Physical Degeneration'). There you will see the truly-shocking results of man's interference with the natural food supply through processes of refining etc.

By choosing oil instead of the wholefood source of that oil, you are doing yourself a potential disservice on at least two fundamental levels:

1) you are consuming empty calories which, far from healthily benefiting weight loss, may actually serve, in the fullness of time, to undermine your goals to a terrible degree (again, please read the aforementioned sources of information if you need clarification on the reasons why).

2) you are missing out on important co-factors that are present in the wholefood but which may be available in negligible/inadequate quantities in the refined oil, or may be absent almost entirely. That's not only an opportunity missed but may also have more worrying effects - many foods, when refined, have the resultant effect that the body, in order to interpret the refined food in a manner that cellular mechanisms understand, attempts to draw upon bodily reserves (if available) of elements which should be present in the consumed refined food but which have been removed as part of the refining process. In this manner, the body's continual attempts to draw upon bodily reserves (if available) of the necessary cofactors may actually lead to deficiencies in body concentrations of those elements. Consequently, even though you may be consuming an otherwise healthy and even well-balanced diet, the consumption of certain refined foods may yet lead to the paradoxical situation of deficiency of certain elements (incidentally, this is a classic example of why one should avoid synthetic supplements at ALL costs).

If you need a further reason to consume whole, ground flaxseed, rather than flax oil, then consider the fact that flaxseed is mucilaginous - providing you consume enough water with it, it will invariably serve to improve digestive transit significantly. Improving digestive transit will assist your body in detoxifying - something which is obviously beneficial on a great many levels, not least of which, from the perspective of weightloss, being that the body stores toxic elements in fat cells at various extremeties of the body. Reducing toxic load will thus serve to reduce the likelihood of this happening, and increase the likelihood that the body will be able to break down old toxic deposits, supporting the breaking down of the fat reserves these toxins have been stored in. Furthermore, flaxseed is sulphur-rich and will thus support healthy hair, skin and nail growth. Google for flax lignins if you want to read even further into flaxseed.

Blessed, if your friend experienced weightloss after consuming flax oil, this suggests that she had an EFA deficiency to begin with. I would not be in the least bit surprised, if your friend continues to consume refined flax oil at that rate, if she begins to put weight back on again. If you wish to consume flax, then consume (soaked if you like) freshly-ground flax seed, ground just before you consume it to avoid rancidity of the fragile oils. By the way, Udo Erasmus tells of how he suffered from the overconsumption of flax oil (apparently-paradoxically, until one understands the underlying physiological mechanisms), with scaly skin.

The topic of the dangers of refinement of various foods can be expanded in a great many directions depending on the nature of the food being refined (e.g. juicing fruits, and thus removing the fibre from them, can dangerously speed the release of fructose into the bloodstream, resulting in a potential 'assault' on the pancreas), but the fundamental point remains - as a general rule, consume foods in their whole, unrefined state, wherever and whenever possible. The consumption of juiced vegetables is a somewhat-unique issue - one might justifably argue that vegetables contain few risks when juiced, and that consumption of vegetable juice allows one to consume more mineral content than would otherwise be possible to chew through, in wholefood, fibrous form. I would concede that this is a reasonable argument, but only on the condition that vegetable juices be used as an adjunct to the consumption of whole vegetables and not instead of. If one's body is not suffering a deficiency of minerals, then the merits of vegetable juicing pale somewhat and eating whole vegetables without supplementary vegetable juices should be more than adequate (providing the vegetables are organically grown from mineral-rich soils). Most people are mineral-deficient and this is where the potential merits of vegetable juices are most relevant, IMHO. Dr. Norman Walker took good care of his mineral reserves and lived a long time, which is doubtless no coincidence. However, he ate an otherwise wholefood diet, without refined substances.

Sorry if the above sounded overly serious but I am always concerned when I see or hear people discussing refined foods as a healthy means of addressing health issues.


J.

[jaurequi]

I agree with Arky. Oil is not healthy at all. Whole-food sources of fat have the protective qualities to ensure the oil in it is beneficial.
Flax oil is not best for anyone; the flax seeds are, and even then, only a small amount is necessary (and recommended) for its purposes. And there is concern flax oil may be particularly toxic for males. Bottom line: whole fat is always optimal.

As far as weightloss, the person consuming fat is more "full"; thereby, consuming fewer calories. That's it. You can healthfully achieve this same thing by eating more vegetables, which contain all the wonderful nutrients that oil lacks, with some whole-food fat. Eating more fresh, raw vegetables is the best way to lose weight.

Best,

[JMD]

I have had GREAT success using EFA's namely Barlean's flax oil. It has helped my constipation , dry skin, and most of all arthritic joints. I do NOT take huge amounts and i have around 2 tbsp a day. It did NOT make me gain any weight and I did lose some fat. To be fair, that was the ONLY fat source i used besides maybe 10 soaked almonds a day.

I say EVERY body is different. I f you do not like the oil try flax meal or crackers ??

Good luck and TRUST your inner guide.
JMD

[blessed]

:) Thanks for the encouragement, i started on the flax oil today. I'm looking forward to seeing an emprovement in my bm's.
My problems with constipation may be on it's way out.
I've heard in the past that if you are toxic then that will hinder your weight loss.
Thanks again, will keep you updated.

Ann :)

[JMD]

Keep us posted Blessed....:) Hope it all goes smoothly :p

[blessed]

This morning i had a nice surprise when i went to the bathroom, it's like old times. I didn't have to strain, it came natually and i feel so good.
Flaxseed oil will continue to be on my shelf in my fridge. I'm taking 2 tbls. in the morning before i eat anything and then i'm exercising.
I'm ready to face a new day.
Thanks for the encouragement.

Ann :D

[runrunrunner]

i've been wanting to add flaxseed oil into my life for a longtime. i always hear great things about it.

[meinleben]

i have gotten the most benefits all around from Udo's Choice Oil...

i grind flax seeds and put that in smoothies which i like and get flax intake that way...

[JMD]

Blessed !!

Yeah for you!! I am glad you are enjoying success today:)

JMD

[Joyful Mary]

Arky, I appreciate your sharing your research findings here. I, too, believe that foods should be consumed whole. Besides, I wouldn't exchange an avocado for any oil, ever!

[Sharon in Colorado]

Many years ago I went to a lecture to see Dr. Graham speak. Many people know him as the 80-10-10 guy. At the time I was using all kinds of supps in my smoothies such as flax seeds and oils, wheat germ, oat bran, nutritional yeast, green powder, vit C crystals and many other supplements I thought I should be ingesting.

I told him I was using the flax products and he explained that flax must be kept chilled to keep it from going rancid. He said it goes rancid around 100 degrees. Well, our bodies are nearly 100 degrees. So in essense it is turning rancid in our bodies. It should have been obvious to me - I always see flax oil being sold in the fridge and have always kept mine in the fridge, but never even thought twice about putting it in my body.

I stopped using the flax seeds and oils in my smoothies. Actually I stopped using everything except orange juice, fruit and greens in my smoothies. They taste so much better now.

Now, with the exception of an occasional recipe or salad dressing, I don't use any type of oil as a daily supplement, because as Arky indicated I also see it as an empty fat. And I do believe we are getting our essential nutrients through fresh plant foods. And aside from the occassional flax cracker (which actually has heated ground flax which could be rancid?), I don't use flax oil.

[Joyful Mary]

Interesting info, Sharon. Thanks!

[rawfigure]

I will be interested to see how you come along. I do know everybody is different, different experiences for everyone. But I agree with Arky and Sharon.

Oil is not a living food so I severly limit it in my diet. I get as much of my EFA's in the most natural state. You can get the same BM from the ground flax and if you are healthy state, raw unsoaked nuts (there are two enzymes in raw nuts that do this) will provide good cleansing too.

I do not see how 2-3 tbls of Fat can cause weight loss. When going on a diet to lose the first think we cut is Overt Fat. I don't think adding Flax Oil to the diet as a weight loss aid is that simple of a solution !! If it were Americans would be running to the store for Flax Oil ! ..and there would be an infomercial too lol.. :p

Now if you fasted on OJ & flax you would lose weight but then would it be the flax or the restricted cals ?

SO yes keep us posted.