RE: Flax Phytoestrogens WAS: Mercola: the corruption begins

[Guest guest]

> NT uses ground flax in a lot of recipes.

> What's your take on the merits (or the lack of) in flax?

> -Pratick

Hi Pratick, I know this is directed to . I just wanted to add something

to your question specifically:

It's always seemed strange to me that flax seed oil must be kept carefully

chilled while the seeds are sold bulk in bins in health food stores. Also,

if the warm oil in the seeds is somehow okay because it is protected from

air by the hull, wouldn't the ground seeds easily become rancid? What's up

with that?

~Robin

[Guest guest]

Pratick-

>What's the deal with flax phytoestrogens?

>Are they the same as phytoestrogens in soy?

Well, yes and no. There's a vast universe of phytoestrogens out

there. (Amazing when you think about it.) I don't have a detailed rundown

of which are in flax and which are in soy, but in general, I'd say that if

something contains any phytoestrogens, you ought to avoid it. Hence,

thanks but no thanks to both flax and soy.

>I remember reading that the phytoestrogens in flax do not cause the

>problems as regular

>estrogens and have a non cancer-causing effect.

If it's a phytoestrogen, it's going to have some degree of estrogenic

effect. What with the huge number of pollutants out there also having

estrogenic effects, I doubt there's any room for " benign " or " neutral "

phytoestrogens -- IOW I doubt they exist, at least not for men, and maybe

not for women either.

>NT uses ground flax in a lot of recipes.

>

>What's your take on the merits (or the lack of) in flax?

It's no good. The omega 3 oils are short-chain, not the useful long-chain

n3s like EPA and DHA. It's prone to rancidity. It contains lots of

phytoestrogens (particularly high-lignan flax, which is sold as an

extra-healthy version). There's really no upside that I can see.

-

[Guest guest]

Hi Robin,

> It's always seemed strange to me that flax seed oil must be

> kept carefully

> chilled while the seeds are sold bulk in bins in health food

> stores. Also,

> if the warm oil in the seeds is somehow okay because it is

> protected from

> air by the hull, wouldn't the ground seeds easily become

> rancid? What's up

> with that?

Looks like nobody answered your question so even though gave them the

big thumbs down I thought I'd let you know that you are basically correct.

The oil is protected by the seed and goes rancid very rapidly once exposed

to the air by grinding. The solution is to eat your flax immediately after

grinding it. As to phytoestrogens, well that's another issue and I'm not

qualified to speak to that.

Ron

[Guest guest]

Ron-

>Looks like nobody answered your question so even though gave them the

>big thumbs down I thought I'd let you know that you are basically correct.

>The oil is protected by the seed and goes rancid very rapidly once exposed

>to the air by grinding. The solution is to eat your flax immediately after

>grinding it. As to phytoestrogens, well that's another issue and I'm not

>qualified to speak to that.

I'm so behind on my email it's ridiculous, but do you really have doubts

about phytoestrogens? Isoflavones and high-lignan flax are actually

promoted to both sexes as wonderful health foods, but imagine if the

advertising were a little more honest. How do you think people would react

if the labels said " Get your female hormones here! " ?

-

[Guest guest]

Hi ,

> I'm so behind on my email it's ridiculous,

I can relate.

> but do you really

> have doubts

> about phytoestrogens?

Not really, but I'm not educated enough in the area to want to spread my

opinion around.

> Isoflavones and high-lignan flax are actually

> promoted to both sexes as wonderful health foods, but imagine if the

> advertising were a little more honest. How do you think

> people would react

> if the labels said " Get your female hormones here! " ?

Yes, legitimate issue. There is actually a pretty well developed sub-group

of people who are showing the effects of these chemicals. One of the more

common cosmetic surgeries for bodybuilders is breast reduction. These guys

are pumping through so much soy protein and chemically raised chicken breast

(among other things) that they are showing the effects of ingesting large

quantities of estrogen like substances even when they are trying to optimize

their nutrition for testosterone production.

Ron