Flaxmeal – instead of Oatmeal

As Dr. Lark in Hormone Revolution says, flaxseed helps women at every stage of hormonal development. For women in the throes of estrogen dominance, premenopause, early menopause, and even perimenopause, flaxseed helps to increase progesterone production while simultaneously flushing excess estrogen from your system. This keeps perimenopause symptoms such as heavy menstrual bleeding at bay.

Dr. Lark isn’t the only person to tout the benefits of flaxseeds.  Numerous studies have shown the importance of flaxseeds when it comes to balancing estrogen in the body.  Among all 129 World’s Healthiest Foods, flaxseeds come out number one as a source of omega-3s! The primary omega-3 fatty acid found in flaxseeds is alpha-linolenic acid, or ALA.

Flaxseeds are also a lignin, which are fiber-like compounds, which can help with constipation, a common issue for women with pelvic pain. In addition to their fiber-like benefits, they also provide antioxidant protection due to their structure as polyphenols. The unique structure of lignans gives them a further health-supportive role to play, however, in the form of phytoestrogens. Along with isoflavones, lignans are one of the few naturally occurring compounds in food that function as weak or moderate estrogens when consumed by humans. Among all foods commonly eaten by humans, researchers rank flaxseeds as the number one source of lignans.

So how do we get the necessary amount of flaxseeds into our daily diet.  It is recommended to take in 3-6 tablespoons for optimal health.  Make sure to buy whole seeds and ground them in a grinder before each use (refrigerate the flaxseeds) this releases the important lignans. Never buy already ground up flaxseeds (the lignans become dead, no nutritional value)

Instead of Oatmeal, I make a warm, yummy Flaxmeal.