Let’s have a quick look at the question of lignans. Here is a simple quick guide which may be all you need, but for more, have a look on the web.
What are they, what do they do and what is the best way to get them in the diet?
Lignans are a group of chemical compounds found in plants and are one of the major classes of phytoestrogens, which are oestrogen-like chemicals and also act as antioxidants. Linseed (Flax seed) contains the highest content of Lignans than any other plant, sesame seed is next on the list but some way down. Remember do not confuse Lignans with Lignin’s. Lignin’s are a completely different thing altogether!
Ground LinseedThe best way to incorporate lignans into your diet would be to use ground or milled linseed (flaxseed). The milled seed can be used in many day to day recipes and as you get used to lovely linseed it soon becomes second nature, your body really loves it. A couple of desert spoons are often recommended, about 20-30mg per day. Linseed meal is increasingly being recognised as being a major contributor to gut repair and health.
High Lignan Linseed (Flax seed) oil - Should I buy oil that says High in Lignans?
There are a couple of issues here: firstly, lignans are not part of the pressing process they are prepared linseeds (flaxseeds) added to the oil afterwards. As you can see you need up to twenty grams per day of lignans that would mean in a 250 ml bottle of oil consumed at 10ml per day (25 days) you would need to contain 500grams of lignans at 20grams per day, even at 10grams that would be 250 grams. From my observations there are only about a maximum of 10 grams of added prepared seed this would seem to me to be of very little value. But by far the most damaging issue is the bottle has to be shaken to liberate the seeds so you are daily oxygenating the oil which will be degraded by this process.
So advice from The Linseed Farm experts is buy farm fresh oil and gets your lignans from fresh linseed meal.
Useful tip.
Sprinkle some whole linseeds in your water bottle every day and you will be drinking water with amazing hydrating properties.
A message from a heart centred farmer.
Durwin Banks
The Linseed Farm
