substitute for flax seeds

[Calleen]

I am still fairly new to raw foods and have an allergy to not only flax, but honey and carob. I know I can substitute raw agave for honey and perhaps dates for carob....but with all the bread, and alot of other receipes, flax are a necessary thread to hold them together...I have the a few recipes without flax, but is there anything else I can substitute into say the cinnamon role recipe, or onion bread recipe that will take the place of flax? Any help would be greatly appreciated.....

[sport]

You should double check that you are alergic because the benifits of flax are many and it is a pity that you are going to be deprived of them. I think that they are terific and I derived great benifit from them even before I went raw. I know that this is not the answer you were looking for.

[darkwindhorse]

I have the same problem with flax... not actually an allergy, but I just can't STAND the stuff. Every time I put something with flax in it, in my dehydrator, it stinks up my whole house, and it makes me literally gag. I can't handle it at all! I HATE flax!!!

I called the Living Light Institute (Raw Culinary School) and they said I could use Chia seeds instead. They specifically recommended Mila. It's kind of expensive, but I remember that Chia seeds tend to gelatinize kind of like flax does (which acts as a binder) so I figured I'd just try some white (Salvia) Chia seeds from the health food store and see if they work the same as the Mila kind. If so, I'm SAVED from flax! Yay!!

I also hate dates (they make me gag, too) so someone recommended I use fig paste instead of date paste. If you can get fresh figs, just take the stems off, dice, and puree in the food processor, then pour into ice-cube trays and freeze equal amounts. Pull out however many "cubes" you need for a recipe. That's if your recipe requires the density of dates to make things bulky or stick together. Otherwise, I like the dark amber agave or honey to sweeten things up.

[zinny]

Thanks for the fig paste suggestion! I am ok with dates but currently have more fresh figs than I know what to do with, and hadn't thought of using them this way.

[ArcturusXIV]

Chia seeds!

[Raw,Raw,RawGal]

Depends what your using flax for.. for breads you can use other seeds and ingredients like Pine nuts that hold together well when blended.

[Gwynnie]

I have problems with flax as well.
I have been testing binders for crackers and bread and found that Psyllium is working well. The taste is ok.