When it comes to eating for optimum health, there’s one food that should definitely be on your shopping list. It’s accessible, inexpensive, and very good for you – and best of all, you don’t even have to cook it.
The food in question? Flaxseed, which, according to experts, is about as super as a “superfood” gets. “These tiny seeds are the unsung hero of the plant world,” explains nutritionist Jennifer Scheinman of Timeline Nutrition. “They’re a nutritional powerhouse.”
That may sound hyperbolic, but it’s the truth: multiple studies have found that eating flaxseeds has a number of benefits, among them improved digestion and improved heart health, as well as a lowered risk of certain cancers, obesity, and diabetes. Eating flaxseed might even ease menopausal symptoms (the menopause – among its many other nuisances – can often prompt GI issues).
The appeal doesn’t end in the kitchen: flaxseeds are so filled with nutrients that, recently, influencers have started using them in DIY beauty treatments for their skin and hair. “This is Botox that you make at home,” one viral TikTok proclaims. “And the best part is, it’s two ingredients: flaxseeds and water. It works as a natural shampoo as well.”
Comparing flaxseed to Botox might be a stretch, but there’s no doubt that these tiny seeds make for a positive addition to your diet. Vogue asked the experts to break down how to incorporate them, and how they specifically benefit health.
What are flaxseeds?
Flaxseed is exactly what it sounds like: the seed of a plant called flax. The seeds are very small – similar in size and shape to a sesame seed – and either golden or brown. Humans have been growing the flax plant for thousands of years for its seeds, oil and fibres – your favourite linen shirts are actually made from its fibrous stems.
What are the health benefits of eating flax?
Flaxseeds have a host of good-for-you compounds, among them fibre, lignans and antioxidants, as well as vitamins and minerals like thiamine and magnesium. They’re also one of the few plant sources of all-important omega-3 fatty acids – an essential nutrient also found in fish oil that has been proven to help lower cholesterol and lower the risk of heart disease.
Aside from the obvious fact that all of the nutrients in flaxseeds are essential for our general health, the compounds in flaxseeds perform several specific functions as well. “Many of its benefits are related to how these compounds act in the digestive tract and interact with the gut microbiome,” explains April Panitz, a nutritionist at Amenta Nutrition. “Due to their fibre content, flaxseeds can reduce cholesterol and triglyceride levels in the blood by decreasing lipid reabsorption and increasing fat excretion in stool when eaten regularly.”
Flaxseeds for digestion
Flaxseeds’ apparently magical ability to reduce cholesterol and “increase fat excretion” is thanks to a very specific kind of fibre called “mucilaginous gum” – a gelatinous type of soluble fibre also found in seaweed and legumes. If you’ve ever soaked flaxseeds in water and noticed how slimy they get, that’s mucilaginous gum doing its job. When eaten, “this gel-forming soluble fibre can increase feelings of fullness and help with weight management,” says Panitz.
The fun with fibre doesn’t stop there. “Flaxseed is also high in insoluble fibre content and can bulk up stool to make it move through the colon more quickly,” explains Panitz. “This is how it helps those who suffer from constipation or who have irregular bowel movements.”
All this fibre also means good things for the gut microbiome as well. “Flaxseed fibre can also feed beneficial gut bacteria,” points out Panitz. “Along with its high amounts of ALA omega-3 fatty acids, it has been shown to alter the gut microbial composition to promote more good-for-you species of bacteria that help maintain and heal the gut lining, which in turn increases insulin sensitivity, slows the progression of diseases like cancer, and decreases inflammation.”
Lignans, which are also related to fibre and also only found in plants, are another beneficial compound. “When metabolised by gut bacteria the lignans found in flaxseed exert phytoestrogen effects that may reduce the risk of breast and ovarian cancers, endometriosis, and lessen mild menopausal symptoms like hot flashes and vaginal dryness,” says Panitz. “These lignans are also a source of antioxidants, which help to reduce damage from free radicals throughout the body.”
In other words, eating flaxseeds is not just a way to ensure excellent gut health, it’s a way to maintain and protect your wellbeing overall.
What’s the best way to eat flaxseeds?
Flaxseeds are incredibly easy to incorporate into your current diet, and you don’t need to eat cup-fulls of them to reap the benefits. “Most of the health benefits of flax come from eating just one to two tablespoons a day, which is easy to do,” says Scheinman. “Flaxseeds are a great food to include in a longevity-focused diet.”
She likes to add flaxseeds to smoothies, sprinkle them on yoghurt or porridge, or add them to baked goods. And, because of their ability to hold moisture – that mucilaginous gum in action again – she says they can even be used as a vegan alternative to egg when baking: “Just mix one tablespoon of ground flax with three tablespoons of water and let it rest for several minutes.”
Panitz also advises getting creative with flaxseeds. “When baking, you can replace up to half of the amount of flour called for in cakes, breads and muffin recipes with flaxseed,” she says. Or: “You can use ground flax in place of breadcrumbs when making homemade meatballs or veggie burgers.”
It’s important to remember that for fibre to do its job properly, it must also be consumed with plenty of water – that’s what keeps things working smoothly. “So, don’t forget to increase your fluid intake when adding more fibre to your daily routine,” Panitz says.
Ground or whole?
Both experts concur: flaxseeds are way more useful to your body when finely ground. “This is because it can be tough for our digestive tract to break down the outer wall of the intact seed, so they pass through the digestive tract without us being able to reap all the benefits,” explains Scheinman. “If you have whole flaxseeds, you can easily grind them up in a coffee or spice grinder.”
Also keep in mind that flaxseed is a fresh food, and all fresh foods can eventually go bad. “Any seed – whole or ground – contains fat that can oxidise over time when exposed to the air,” Panitz says. “So you’ll want to keep flaxseed or ground flax in a sealed container in the refrigerator to prevent them from going rancid and having an ‘off’ taste.”
Beauty and the seed
Eating flaxseeds can also be a game-changer when it comes to skin health. One recent randomised controlled study found that adding flaxseed oil to participants’ daily diets diminished skin sensitivity and improved skin barrier function after just 12 weeks. “Flaxseed oil led to significant decreases in sensitivity, roughness, and scaling, while smoothness and hydration were increased,” the results said.
As for applying it topically? While there aren’t a huge amount of studies on the benefits of flaxseed or flaxseed oil applied directly to the face, there have been some promising results from studies done on the application of omega-3 fatty acids from fish oil, which has many of the same properties. “Clinical trials for skin application are still limited,” one recent study explains, but it found that “omega-3 fatty acids can improve skin barrier function, inhibit UV-induced inflammation and hyperpigmentation, attenuate dry skin and pruritus elicited by dermatitis, accelerate skin wound healing, and prevent skin cancer development”, and that “all of those benefits can be achieved by different administration routes including topical application”.
Applying a mixture of freshly ground flaxseed and water to your hair definitely won’t hurt it, and it just might add some moisture and even possibly encourage hair growth. One recent study found that the lignans in flaxseed oil could “potentially be used as a treatment for alopecia”, while another earlier study even found that omega-3 fatty acids stimulated hair growth when applied to the hair follicles of rodents. That being said, because the molecules in flaxseed oil are larger than those of other oils, it might be challenging for the skin or scalp to absorb them fully. You’re probably better off eating your flaxseed rather than experimenting with topical application.
“While flaxseeds can produce some pretty awesome effects on the body, it’s important to remember that there isn’t just one food that will cure all of your ailments,” says Panitz. “Eating a variety of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, lean proteins and healthy fats is still the best way to meet all of your nutrient needs and reduce disease risk.”
So, eat the rainbow and remember that flaxseeds are just one small part of the all-important whole. “Adding flaxseed can be the cherry on top of an already balanced diet,” Panitz concludes.