Total Health Breakthroughs: Free Natural Health Newsletter and Alternative Health Articles

In This Issue:

Flaxseeds: A Food for Life

By Jonny Bowden, PhD, CNS

The Original Healing Food

“Wherever flaxseed becomes a regular food item among the people, there will be better health”, said Mahatma Gandhi. He was right. The true nature of flax as a health food has been known for centuries. In the 8th Century, Charlemagne considered flax so essential for health that he actually passed laws requiring its use. Flax was one of the original medicines, used by Hippocrates himself.

Flaxseeds and flaxseed oil are one of the best sources on the planet for the important omega-3 fatty acid called alpha-linolenic acid. Alpha-linolenic acid (ALA) is considered an essential fatty acid because the body can’t make it — it has to be obtained from the diet. Flaxseed oil can help protect against cardiovascular disease, cancer, arthritis, and many other degenerative diseases. And though it’s primarily a source of omega-3, the oil has the virtue of containing some other fatty acids as well, notably some omega-6’s and some heart healthy omega-9’s, providing a nice fatty acid balance.

There is a caveat on this, however. The ALA found in flax and flax oil is only one of three omega-3 fats, the other two being the long-chain fatty acids known as DHA (docosahexaenoic acid) and EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid). The latter two are only found for the most part in animal foods particularly cold water fish like salmon.

Truth be told, they’re the superstars of the omega-3 family, though the ALA in flax has plenty of health benefits as well (such as being anti-inflammatory). The good news is that the body can make DHA and EPA from the ALA in flax; the bad news is that it does a really bad job of it, converting only about 5-10% of the ALA to those longer chain omegas that are found naturally in fish and fish oil.

What to do, what to do? Flaxseed and flaxseed oil are the go-to source for omega-3’s if you’re a vegetarian. And if you want to get the special benefits of EPA and DHA without taking fish oil (or eating fish), just make sure to take at least a tablespoon a day of flaxseed oil. That way, even at the low “conversion” rate you’ll still be getting about a gram or so of the “fish oil” omegas.

More than Just Omega-3’s

The benefits of flax are not limited to the omega-3 content — not by a long shot. The oil, and especially the seeds, is a great source of something called lignans which have a whole host of health benefits of their own. Lignans have a protective effect against cancer — especially those that are hormone-sensitive like breast, uterine, and prostate cancer.

The effect of flaxseed lignans on breast cancer cells has been the subject of a fair amount of positive research. In one study,¹ flaxseed was shown to have the potential to reduce tumor growth in patients with breast cancer.

In this study, patients consumed a muffin with 25 grams of flaxseed (or a “placebo” muffin of the same size without the added flaxseed). The researchers noted that daily intake of 25 g flaxseed (about 3-4 tablespoons) can significantly reduce cell proliferation and increase apoptosis (cell death of cancer cells). The flaxseed also reduced HER2, a protein that increases the aggressiveness of breast cancer.

Researchers have also found that lignans inhibited the growth of human prostate cancer cells in a test tube. Research at Duke University² showed that men with prostate cancer who were given 3 tablespoons of flaxseed per day and a low fat diet had decreased cancer cell growth. And lignans intefere with the production of a nasty testosterone metabolite (DHT, dihydrotestosterone) which is partly responsible for hair loss and benign prostate hyperplasia (the condition that makes men over 40 have to go to the bathroom a lot at night).

Flax promotes cardiovascular and colon health, can boost immunity, nourishes your skin, and helps stabilize blood sugar. Because the lignans in flax are actually phytoestrogens (weak estrogenic compounds from plants), they may help relieve menopausal symptoms. In fact, in one study, flaxseed was as effective as hormone replacement therapy in reducing mild menopausal symptoms in menopausal women.³

The flaxseeds, but obviously not the oil, also contain another huge benefit: soluble fiber. You get all the goodies of the oil plus the fiber, when you eat the seeds. They’re ideal for baking, for sprinkling on salads, and for adding to cereals and smoothies — but you need to break the hard outer coating, because the whole seeds can’t be digested.

What to Look For

Barlean’s Organic Oils –the nation’s top producer of high quality flaxseed products — makes a terrific product called Forti-Flax, which you can use right out of the jar without having to do any grinding. Four tablespoons of Forti-Flax will give you 6 grams of fiber, 3 grams of omega-3’s, and a host of lignans and other beneficial phytochemicals — as well as provide the same amount of flaxseed used in the above-mentioned breast cancer study. And in addition to all the other good stuff, flaxseeds are also anti-inflammatory and have antioxidant properties as well.

Some high quality flaxseed oils like Barlean’s Lignan Flax Oil have been cold-processed to retain an especially high lignan content. They can be found in the refrigerated section of your health food store. And remember to never cook with the oil — cooking damages the delicate omega-3 fats which don’t stand up to heat at all. Just keep your flax oil in the fridge and take it as a supplement or use it on salads or already cooked vegetables.

References

1. http://clincancerres.aacrjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/11/10/3828.
2. http://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0090429503013578.
3. www.mayoclinic.org/news2007-rst/4208.html.

[Ed. note: Dr. Bowden is a nationally known expert on weight loss, nutrition and health. He's a board certified nutrition specialist with a Master's degree in psychology and the author of five books including The 150 Healthiest Foods on Earth. His latest book is The Most Effective Cures on Earth. For more information, click here.]

Positive Thinking:

Inspiration: The Power that Drives Your Creativity

By Matthew Anderson, D.Min.

When was the last time you felt truly inspired?
Can you remember the physical sensations that went with it?
How about the intense emotions that accompanied it?
Did your mind join in with ideas, plans and
possibilities for creative action?
Did this experience lead to something amazing
and wonderful in your life?
Is it something you would like to experience more often?

To be inspired implies an infusion of spirit — to be filled with a spirit of energy that can often feel powerful, exciting, stimulating, creative and even divine. Inspiration has been at the core of almost every great accomplishment known to human beings. But, for most people it seems to come and go at will, essentially uncontrollable. What if that was not the case? What if you could increase the frequency and intensity of inspiration with the proper use of certain techniques? Would you want to know more?

The experience of inspiration can become a regular part of your life if you are willing to follow the guidelines I have outlined below. They work for me and they will work for you.

Guidelines for Inviting Inspiration

Since we cannot control inspiration (trying to control it usually kills it), we need to learn how to invite it into our inner being. It is something that comes to us (or wells up within us) when we have created a receptive container. Here is how to do that.

1. Be willing to honor inspiration when it arrives. Be respectful.
2. Value imagination. Staying in your head (being rational and pragmatic) is the antithesis of creativity. Imagination is central and essential to the development of your inspiration.
3. Allow positive emotions to be part of the process. Feelings like wonder, excitement, joy, and enthusiasm nurture and encourage inspiration.
4. Practice stillness. Inspiration most often appears during times of quiet reflection. Excessive busyness will completely block the flow.
5. Pray for it. I often pray this simple prayer: “God open my heart and mind to receive your creativity and inspiration.”
6. Act on it. Action indicates that you are a trustworthy recipient of the gift. Once you have passed this “test” you will experience an increased flow of inspiration.

Let Providence Work It’s Magic

Finally, remember and trust in the following statement made by the great poet and philosopher, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832). I have posted it on the wall in my office. You might do the same.

“Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation) there is one elementary truth, the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one commits oneself, then Providence moves too…

Whatever you can do,
Or dream you can, begin it,
Boldness has genius,
Power and magic in it.”

[Ed. note: Dr. Matthew Anderson is an author (The Prayer Diet), counselor and national columnist/expert on weight loss, motivation, self-management and relationships. To find tough-minded, outside-the-box guidance for taking charge of your life and/or your weight including Eating to Kill, click here.]

Healthy Recipes:

Mustard Maple Dressing

By Laura LaValle, RD, LD

Over the next couple of weeks I’d like to give you a few simple salad dressing and sauce recipes. When you eat a diet centered around salads, vegetables, meats you can add variety to your menu by eating different types of salads and salad dressings. The dressing below is slightly sweet and goes well with salads that you top with a little dried fruit — like a chicken on greens salad with pecans and dried cranberries.

Serves: 9

Time to Table: 3 minutes

Healing Nutrient Spotlight

Grapeseed oil is a good source of vitamin E and contains traces of beneficial proanthocyanadins.
Mustard contains curcumin from turmeric, which is known to have anti-inflammatory properties.

Ingredients*

1/4 c. smooth spicy mustard
3 T. grapeseed oil
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1 T. pure maple syrup

*Select organic ingredients for optimum nutrition.

Preparation

Whisk all ingredients together in a glass bowl, or shake together in a glass jar. Serve over your favorite greens. Refrigerate leftover portion.

Nutrition

50 calories, 5 g total fat, 1 g monounsaturated fat, 3 g polyunsaturated fat,

3 g carbohydrate, 2 g sugar, 90 mg sodium

[Ed. Note: Laura B. LaValle, RD, LD is presently the director of dietetics nutrition at LaValle Metabolic Institute (formerly part of Living Longer Institute). She offers personal nutritional counseling at LMI for clients who need help with their diet in relation to illness or disease. Laura also provides educational services in the areas of health promotion, wellness, and disease prevention. To learn more, click here.]