Tihs reply is late, but here it is.

Some people choose flax oil over flax seeds because the oil is more
concentrated, providing a larger does of ALA.  Some people experience
obnoxious and malodorous intestinal gas as a result of eating ground flax
seeds.  Perhaps if someone eats an otherwise low-fiber diet this is not a
problem.  Or, it may be that some folks can tolerate a higher intake of
these fibrous seeds than others.

Also, it bears mentioning that flax seeds/oil are not equivalent to fish
oil.  Fish oil contains preformed omega 3s (EPA and DHA), which are not
present in flax oil, which is rich in ALA.  The body must convert ALA to EPA
& DHA and the converstion rate is apparently very low and some people may be
unable to make the conversion at all.

ALA is important for health, but so are EPA and DHA, although the total gram
requirpments per day are low.  Granted, some health authorities think that
we modern people need to take higher doses of essential fatty acids to make
up for long standing deficiencies and to rectify health problems that may be
related to EFA deficiency.


Rachel