In a message dated 1/16/03 3:30:55 AM Eastern Standard Time,
[log in to unmask] writes:

Flax is an herb, not a grain.

For several years, I used to use 3 tablespoons of freshly ground flaxseed
daily because at the time it was  (and still is) being touted as a breast
cancer preventative. Also, it tastes delicious to me.   I also had a
long-standing minor skin problem with what looked like tiny goosebumps on my
upper arms and upper thighs.  Although pro-flax literature says that flax is
excellent for your skin, my skin problem never cleared while on flax and in
fact, it seemed to worsen a bit. I never made any connection with the
flaxseed until I stopped using it completely after reading that some people
such as hypothyroids and diabetics have trouble converting fax's alpha
linolenic acid to Omega-3.  As an experiment, I switched over to fish oil and
lots of sardines, salmon,etc and to my surprise (and delight), within 2
months or so, the skin on my upper arms and thighs became velvety smooth. I
believe that the skin problem was caused by overload of Omega-6 and/or far
too little Omega-3.  Even though I thought I was getting plenty of Omega 3
via flax, I obviously was not converting the alpha linolenic acid to Omega-3.


Subsequently, on occasion, I have used 1-3 tablespoons of freshly ground
flaxseed to prevent contsipation when going very low carb in my diet.  Any
thoughts on whether this would this counteract any benefit of the fish oil
and sardines, etc I regularly eat?

Much of the pro-flax literature claims it is high in alpha linolenic acid and
characterizes this as an Omega-3.  In fact, some flax sites claim there's
more Omega-3 in flax than salmon. Isn't this a gross mischaracterization
because in reality, alpha linolenic acid is just a precurser to  Omega-3
which is EPH and DHA?