----- Original Message -----
From: "Don Wiss" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Wednesday, October 01, 2003 2:41 AM
Subject: Re: list topics - olive oil - flax seeds

It used to be popular to prescribe flax seed to people with constipation.
The idea was to eat a teaspoon every morning. They look like little black
beetles (smaller than rice and flatter) and taste absolutely nothing. If
they did what they were supposed to do I don't think they were very popular.
Ripe seeds have an irritating habit of falling on the ground when you touch
them. Has anybody tried to find a seed (let alone many) that has fallen in
the turf of a field?
Eva

>  >Don Wiss wrote:
>  >> And do you really think our ancestors collected and ate flax seeds?

> Isaac Wedin wrote:>
>Sure, just probably not in large quantities, and probably only in
>  >season. You think a hungry hunter/gatherer would just ignore some tasty
>  >seeds?

> >Don Wiss wrote:
> Are they tasty? I've never eaten any. But I was under the impression that
> they were small (and probably smaller in the past), and difficult to
crack,
> even with careful chewing. And if simply swallowed, they wouldn't taste
> like anything, and would not be absorbed by the body.
>
> Don.
>