Expert tips for adding flaxseed to your diet

Don't eat enough fish? Load up on flaxseed. It's rich in alpha linolenic acid (ALA), which the body uses to make the same type of omega-3 fatty acids you get from fish. Read on to learn some of the health benefits associated with flaxseed and some simple ways to add it to your diet.

• Like fish, flaxseed keeps your heart healthy by lowering cholesterol, keeping your heart pumping normally, and preventing dangerous blood clots from forming.
• Also like fish, it guards against inflammation in the body, which is linked to many age-related disorders, including insulin resistance and diabetes.
• Because flaxseed protects against inflammation, it also helps guard against inflammatory conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis, asthma, Crohn's disease, eczema and psoriasis.
• Constipated? Flaxseed should do the trick. (Eat too much, and you'll quickly discover the laxative effects.)
• Like fish, flaxseed may also offer protection from Alzheimer's and depression.
• The omega-3 fats in flaxseed help prevent and even help treat breast cancer, thanks to hormone-like plant compounds called lignans. In the body, these convert to compounds that are similar to the body's own estrogen but have much weaker activity.
• By occupying estrogen receptors on cells, they block the effects of natural estrogen and thus may provide protection against hormone-fuelled cancers such as breast cancer.
• Flaxseed has several hundred times more lignans than any other plant food.

You can easily make ground flaxseed part of almost any meal.

• Sprinkle on hot or cold cereal.
• Add to meat loaf, meatballs, burgers and casseroles.
• Stir into yogurt or add to granola or trail mix.
• Add 15 to 30 millilitres (a tablespoon or two) to doughs and batters for pancakes, waffles, muffins and breads. Just keep an eye on baked goods in the oven; the flaxseed could make them brown quicker than usual.
• Use as a topping for ice cream or frozen yogurt.
• Add to smoothies.
• Use to replace 1/4 of the flour in muffin or pancake batter.
• Add to cooked fruit desserts like baked apples or blueberry compote.
• Sprinkle in your favourite sandwich filling, such as tuna or chicken salad.
• Add to cream cheese or sprinkle on a soft cheese and enjoy with some whole grain crackers for a blood sugar–friendly snack.

Especially if you don't eat fish, make a point to add heart-smart, cancer-fighting flaxseed to your diet.