#091 All about Flaxseed + Happy Holidays from Less Stressed Life listeners

This season, let's help Santa with his mission by adding flaxseed to his milk and cookies!

In this week's special episode of the Less Stressed Life podcast, we had listeners share their favorite Christmas traditions with us.

Also, we learn more about interesting uses of flaxseed and its benefits from Mary Ekman of Manitoba Milling Company.

Some things I learned from Mary:

• How to spot high-quality flaxseed
• Flaxseed oxidation and freezing
• Benefits of flaxseed to hormonal issues
• Interesting ways you can use flaxseed and so much more!

Since this is a special Christmas episode you get a 25% on your next order of milled flaxseed at manitobaflax.com by using the code 25Manitoba

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Transcript

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spk_0:   0:00
and because of the aggressive process that oil is typically exposed so it will oxidize and you're getting the opposite effect, then you're getting a much lower shelf life products.

spk_1:   0:10
So when I started the less stress Life podcast in 2017 it was kind of an accident. I wanted to collect and connect people's information that helped make life better. But I picked the title less stress life because it was when I was doing more Facebook live videos. And when I talked about inflammation on Lee, people that knew what inflammation was tuned in. So I wanted a broader term, and that's how we landed on stress, which is really a synonym for all the good and bad inflammation in life. In 2019 we went to weekly episodes and got a great response, and I just want to say thank you for being here and for listening. This podcast is one of the best parts of my week, and because of you we get to keep putting it out. There were a lot of exciting stuff planned in 2020 and I'll be sharing more about that in the new year. But first and before we get to this week's show. I asked listeners last month to submit their favorite holiday traditions, and here were some of their responses. My name is Emily, This is Brett. My name is Brianna. This is Sandy. This is Scott's tickle. My favorite Christmas Past Time is singing Christmas carols with my family. My favorite Christmas past Time is singing at the midnight service at the cathedral. We sing Christmas carols, and we also dance around the Christmas tree in a big circle. Thio traditional Swedish Christmas songs. My favorite Christmas Past Time would be going to the night Mass with my family and then afterwards, getting together and just playing a few card games or any kind of games and just hanging out with family. My favorite part about the holidays is the turkey, and we decorate our Christmas tree, usually the Sunday after Thanksgiving, because it's a long holiday home from school. When we were younger, we would all go to my grandma and grandpa's house every year for Christmas, and we'd all be creamed in living room, Um, after a beat, open presidents

spk_0:   2:09
and in the Big Christmas dinner, and my grandma would

spk_1:   2:11
get on the piano and she would play some Christmas carols. We'd all sing along, kind of enjoy the turkey and seeing all the family together and setting up the Christmas tree that Sunday after Thanksgiving. It's kind of a family tradition we've done, and my kids and I really enjoy it. We also have the Swedish version of Santa, which is called a tempeh, and the tempeh comes dressed to the house and brings gifts for the kids. I am so excited for Christmas this year. Merry Christmas. So there you have a Those were the less stress life favorite holiday traditions from listeners. Also thank you to Scott, who submitted his holiday tradition and won the recent give away last month. You can submit questions any time on the speak pipe widget or app over at less stress to life dot com. Okay, today on the last years of life, we are talking about flax, and we're going to talk about flax. Why it's important. How will you use it in practice with different health conditions, like very functionally. But we brought in someone who knows a lot about flax because she grew up around at her entire life. Her name is Mary Eckman, and she is one of three sisters that is in the family, the Pizzi family that has been. They've been flax farmers for ever for many, many generations in Manitoba, Canada. So Marianne, her sisters are the second generation in their families. 1,000,000 business, so they've had the family farm for a long time. But long story short. Mary's parents, Glenn and Linda, were really interested in the health benefits of flax seed in the eighties. And so Linda began baking flack spread and selling it at farmers markets and using ground flax seed. And so from that. Eventually this turned into a company known as Pizzi's Milling, which supplies flack see to food and pet food manufacturers throughout North America. And you may or may not have seen some of their products labeled as a Manitoba 1,000,000. I know I've had them. I have them in my kitchen. I've been using them a lot for recipe testing just lately, So Mary and her sisters are really behind that milling company, and she's gonna chat with us about some uses for Fox today. Welcome, Mary. Thank you. So I really also love flax, and I would love to paint a picture here for the listeners. I live in farm country and we don't have flax right here where I live like around Writer, I can't see flacks from my house. But I used to work with a nurse whose family did organic flax farming. And they actually exported most of it to Brazil, which would be kind of interesting to talk about the uses like how much is used in the U. S. And what not that I think is just sort of interesting to know that background people don't usually know that stuff, but just to paint a picture. Flax is gorgeous. It's thes blue flowered fields that just look like a sea of beauty when they're blooming. Is that how you picture it as well? Or is that like, What was that, like growing up around so much of it? I guess because I've seen such like, there's only a few fields like this around me, and they're just breathtaking.

spk_0:   5:12
Yes, absolutely. That that's one of its signature trademarks on the Canadian prairies. You can, and I think, growing up around it, you kind of just take it for granted. Quite frankly, I live in the in the park in a part of the U. S. Where I no longer see flax seed either. And it's not until I've moved away that I've really noticed. Um, just how beautiful it really is. It it truly looks like a lake, Um, in the, you know, late June, early July through early August, when it when it starts to become ready for harvest. But it it really looks like a blue lake, and it's it's beautiful. So if you've ever traveled across the Canadian prairies and and seen it, you will definitely. No, there's there's no mistaking it

spk_1:   5:59
s o. I mean, your family is obviously still into the farming of flax. And how common is this? So it's really common in Canada the way you make it sound. It's very what conditions have to be president for flax to grow and thrive. How common is it? What percentage of your farming market is? It's sort of interesting, just kind of realize where your food is coming from and where it's where it's coming. The groan,

spk_0:   6:23
it's it's certainly much more common on the Canadian prairies, and even in North Dakota and someone Montana. Then it is in any other states in the U. S. Um, but it's becoming, you know, more of a minor crop as well for Canadians. Unfortunately, I have noticed a little bit of a decrease in the amount of acres that have been growing over the years. But that all said we still use such a small percentage for human nutrition. Most of the flak see that's growing still goes into what we call Maur industrial purposes. So it's crushed for its oil, which goes into paint. Um, and that that's still the majority, um, of the use of John Flax seed is into industrial purposes for paint or for flooring. Linoleum is they use flax oil in linoleum as well. And so we still use, I would say, maybe 15% of the total flax seed growing in Canada is used for either human food or beverage or even pet food manufacturing. So we still use such a small amount of it that even though the acres have been going down a little bit, we we still have a huge portion to draw from most of the time for human food.

spk_1:   7:42
Yeah, it's really interesting to see. Um, I bet we could say that for a lot of other crops or grains. But it's weird for probably people to hear that because we don't think we think about flax is being such an edible right. And so you just think that more of it would be used for human consumption. And I know some of it actually goes to pet food as well. Correct,

spk_0:   8:01
Yes, A large volume bills into pet food. In fact, most most major or most dog foods on the market, I would say mid to high quality dog foods how flax seed in them. So I would also say that the pet food industry has been a little bit further ahead than the human nutrition um market, for for realizing its benefits and for putting it into, uh, Adam, our pet food products,

spk_1:   8:23
Right? Yeah, that's a whole another conversation is about about just the market that is animal nutrition and especially pet nutrition. So So let's talk about it in terms of we're all humans listening to this so we'll talk about this in human terms going forward. So I I use the flax a lot in nutrition practice because it's traditionally been talked about for its fiber and lignin, but specifically, when we're dealing with hormonal issues, people have sometimes high estrogen, and that can look like strong periods. Heavy periods, painful, painful menstrual cramps and flax is a wonderful functional food to take a high doses to improve how that works. So basically, the lignin kind of bind on estrogen helped take the access out of the body on, so you can get some symptom relief. But when we're doing that, we recommend a lot on DSO. I want you to kind of talk to us about some really unique ways to use flaks. But before we do that, let's talk about the fatty acid properties as well, because flax is, um, Alfa linoleic acid. So it's an omega three fatty acid like chia seeds, but our body doesn't really efficiently process that particular Omega three into the type, like our body should process it into a usable D. H A and E P. A format. We're actually talk a ton about that coming up in a few weeks on the podcast. We're talking about different types of omega threes and specifically their health benefits. But the reason I really like flax is because you use it very commonly to This is hard to describe it. Basically, to get nutrients inside cells, they have to have these beautiful cell membranes and flax oil does a really nice job improving that nice remembering I always uses a Not a great analogy, but like a lawn with really dry soil. If the cell membrane is like cracked and not very doesn't have these nice fatty acid component to its structure. You're not gonna get like a grass seed inside of it, right? If it's like nice and moist and whatnot and it's beautiful cell like beautiful fatty acid profile, you're gonna allow certain nutrients to get into this a little bit easier. So that's a weird thing that I'm using flax for a lot in practice. It seems to work really, really well. But, Mary, why don't you tell me like you grew up with this? Do you see, like what has been your interpretation of health benefits in flax in your own life and family? And then, as you kind of look out at the general landscape over the years, yeah,

spk_0:   10:55
So, first and foremost, the Omega three was really what it first became known for, where people you know were initially very excited about it. And they still are for sure. And that that whole discussion around a l A vs E p A and D. H A is a really interesting one, and maybe we can circle back on that at a later date. But I'd love to share more with you about the benefits of ale, a omega three from Flax Seed versus D H A N e p A. Which is more commonly found in Fish or Al Jr or more of the Marine sources. We have found that a lay on its own has benefits that e p a N D h a also do not have Thea. Other thing to point out is that the human body is very smart. It's very capable. Maybe is a better term. It will convert a l. A. Into EPA, and D. J. Never has been a lot of debate around. Okay, does it convert enough, um, or you still getting the amount of D H and E p A. That your body needs? And so that's a whole other discussion topic. But the main point that we've learned is that Aila does not need to convert T p a nd a j, although what it does and your body will convert as much as it feels that it needs on. There's many variables that play into that, but it will convert as much as it it needs in order to get benefit from it. So that's a whole other discussion. Maybe we can, um, take up down the road, but I think it's very interesting.

spk_1:   12:29
The F Lance has so many other benefits beyond Omega threes, right? So that's

spk_0:   12:34
exactly eso es Lee is one of them. The other thing is, is the league nan's, which you have already mentioned. That's a very we feel still untapped benefit of flack. See that many people still are not aware off is that the league knows which they they're a plant based estrogen. They act like estrogen in your body, and there's a whole ton of research that's been done primarily around breast cancer. Prostate cancer, more than hormone sensitive cancers in in both women and men were linked downs of showing just outstanding benefits. But then again, the other thing that flax seed is very high in this fiber, so there's another you know there's a number of nutritional properties of flax seed. We don't always know where the full benefit is coming from. You know, people take it for a number of different reasons. Cardiovascular, health, um, cholesterol, lowering all kinds of areas. And it's hard to pinpoint. Is the benefit coming from the A l. A. Is it coming from Ligue Nan's? Is it coming from fiber or a combination of all of those things? So there's this a ton of benefits to flax seed, and it's we're still working on narrowing down exactly where the benefits coming from. And

spk_1:   13:57
that's the beauty of nature, right? It's the whole brand in the synergy of it. That right all works really together to tiu in for a really great health benefits,

spk_0:   14:06
right? Exactly so And that's the key. You know, many people have taken flax oil capsules, which those contain the Omega three, so that's good. But what you're missing them is the fiber in the leg nods, and flax also has protein. So we've always been big proponents of using the the whole seed and the other um, portion of flack see that that is out there in the marketplace is called flax seed meal, and there is a difference. Flax seed meal typically refers to the byproduct of oil pressing, and many people don't know that. So the downside Thio flax seed meal is that it only contains the fiber in the protein. The oil has an analogue, Nance. The oil has been pressed out of it. So that's the other thing to be very aware of. You really want the whole seat, the whole male flack. See,

spk_1:   14:58
I hadn't seen flax meal on the shelf that I'm aware of, but I imagine they would press out the oil because it makes it marshal stable longer. Would that be correct?

spk_0:   15:06
Oil is typically exposed so it will oxidize and you're getting the opposite effect. Then you're getting a much lower shelf life product.

spk_1:   15:14
So what is that use for?

spk_0:   15:16
Well, there is quite a bit of it on the store shelves. Unfortunately, other other parts of it will go into animal feed or pat food, but very little actually can be used in cat food because of the sensory um, ability of dogs, for example, they know when when their food is oxidized. So getting back to the pet food discussion just very briefly. There's actually some higher standards for pet food than there is, even for human food, which is quite shocking in some ways. But dogs will not eat anything that's oxidized, so they're very, very tight with that. So you've gotta be very careful with with any byproducts. But you know what's black seed oppressed seed? You're actually ending up with a product that is much less stable.

spk_1:   16:04
So is it possible that this is being labeled on the shelf as ground flax? But it's flax meal. Is that correct?

spk_0:   16:10
It is possible. It is possible. Yeah,

spk_1:   16:12
got it. Okay, so you guys with Manitoba 1,000,000 have uninterested set of products yet flax milk, and you have specific milled flax seed. Let's talk about the appropriate ways to consume flax seed for the ultimate health benefit. And why this milk? So your flax seed, your ground milled flax seed is different, fluffy or very, very unique compared to any other flax seed I've ever touched her used before. So let's talk about that,

spk_0:   16:38
Yeah, so it's It's just very, very finely milled, to put it very simply that that is, there's really no mystique behind it, other than it's just a very finely milled product. So the other, more common ground flax seeds that are out there are just coarser ground. So there's more whole, um, still intact versus our product. Everything is still there, but it's It's just very, very finely milled, so it's a much slower process. It takes us longer to do that, but we just feel like it's a little bit more palatable for people. It's a little bit more universal. You could use it from many other things that maybe you couldn't use just the regular course, more coarsely ground product for So it is velvety smooth. You can put it into a smoothie, you can put it. I just put mine in yogurt. I know many people do that just because it's easy and, um, you can certainly notice it's there. But it has. It just helps with the mouth feel pretty, pretty significantly so it's just been more universal for people. We also put our our product through a pasteurization process that's for food safety there. Flax seed is not inherently risky from a food safety perspective, however, it isn't just a raw agricultural products, and anything could happen, so we do it Number one for food safety in the number two. There's also some flavor development that happens during that heating process. And people here pasteurization and think that that's a really you know, you're more familiar. Maybe with dairy pasteurization are our juice Pasteurization. Our process is very, very slow. So you're still getting the effect, But the this it just takes much longer. So you get really nice flavor development as well. Which takes takes away a little bit of that more greenie. Um, sharp taste that some people have been known to notice with flax seed.

spk_1:   18:35
I have a weird question about I've been using your fox a lot to make egg substitute as I'm testing different recipes without eggs and you basically just makes a little water with milk. Flaxseed works really, really, really well with your flax seed. Um, this doesn't This is not a question particular necessarily to your flax seed, but it's something I've noticed with certain flax products, and I think it has to do with oxidation. And as I was doing some recipe development recently with like flax and cheesy cracker, there was a lot of discussion in some recipe comments about a fishy smell. Now there's no fish there and sometimes they let off like literally, my five year old said. Why does this smell like eggs? There are no exit nous on DSO. Is that an essence that the flax is giving off? Because it seems to be like, Is there something going on there? Do you know what I'm talking about? I

spk_0:   19:21
do. And yes, if you notice a fishy smell, that is an oxidation problem, and that's one of the quickest ways you can tell if you know this a fishy smell. You? Yeah, you, definitely. That's an indication of oxygenated products. So whether it's flax, orci or whatever it is you're working with, it is a very common occurrence with black sea that has not been processed correctly.

spk_1:   19:44
And this could happen because for the listeners, oxidation is when the oil oxidizes and so Ran said it makes the product rancid. And this is why it makes a lot of sense of you by something in a large quantity to store it in the freezer and a store, a small container of it and you're covered because then it's its shelf. Life has kept much longer in the freezer. But what about the egg smell? Am I like just making that up? Or is there? Do you ever catch that?

spk_0:   20:09
That's a brand new one. I've never heard that before. No, I'm not sure

spk_1:   20:13
we'll retrial this. OK, so you've got this special milled flax seed and I want to talk about I want to talk about someone used to use it. But you also have a milk, which that's not something we see a lot on the shelf, either. I don't feel like you confined flax milk very readily. Why is that?

spk_0:   20:29
It is brand new. It is absolutely brand new. We are just launching it now. We've launched it across Canada. It's It will be in most major centers in Canada within the next couple of weeks on down here within the first of the year. So we're we're a small company. It's it's taken some time, but it's out there. It is on Amazon right now. It's a little bit cumbersome to purchase a perishable product on Amazon, but it is available there as well. But cut coming soon to a grocery store near you, like I guess, is what I'd say.

spk_1:   21:04
Yeah, so the reason that we don't see a lot of flax milk on the shelf. Is it because it has to be like we can't make that? It's not common to see that should be, um, shelf stable. I only see it in the refrigerated section. Is that correct?

spk_0:   21:17
Actually, no. Um, we we have the ability to go shelf stable as well. Again, it goes back to see equality, and that's really what we've built our products on. Is is good quality flax seed and are milling process. So there's a God. There's a lot of good flax seed products out there. There's also a lot of I would say subpar. Unfortunately, um, it's definitely very, very doable toe. Have a shelf stable flax seed products. We just chosen to go in the refrigerated section because we feel like that's the part of the grocery store that we'd rather be in. So it's been of, ah, just a company choice in that regard,

spk_1:   21:57
what goes into a higher quality flax seed other than how long it's been sitting?

spk_0:   22:04
Actually, the most important, um, aspect of good quality flax seed is how it's grown. So if if if it's deficient, if in the growing season. If there's been any type of stress on the plant during the growing season, it doesn't matter what you do, do it afterwards. It's not. It's it's been oxidized. So going back, Thio, you know, putting flaccid in the freezer. That actually also will not help. Um, if it's oxidized, it's oxidized. So it goes right back to the field. And that's the benefit we have. As farmers, we've we've we grow in flax seed. Well, I certainly haven't. But my family's growing it for over 100 years in Manitoba, so we've learned a lot about it. Um, and if it's not taking care of, if the if the soil is is also malnourished, Um, to put a one way the seed is not going to be quality product, and you means we'll stop right there. So that's number one. Number two again goes back to the milling process, so you want to make sure that when you're milling it, the oil stays still bound in the seed matrix so that it's not opened oxidation. And those are the two primary things you have to watch refrigerating it, putting it in a airtight container. Actually will not help that the second you open the container, it will oxidize. So unfortunately, that's just the way it is. You have to start with good quality seed, and then you have to millet properly or you're gonna have a problem.

spk_1:   23:37
Okay, so at no stage you would say that storing it in the freezer is useful, even if it's like fresh out of field doesn't preserve it any longer because you're saying it starts. Okay, So start with good seed. And so, um, I'm assuming you don't plant flax in the same fields year after year because that would create a malnourished plant. So what other? What other crops do you have an irritation, and the reason you to rotate is to take care of the soil. So there's different nutrients being pulled from the soil, and then some people put cover crops in to replenish your put soil, put nutrients back into the soil. So do you use any of those in your farming?

spk_0:   24:11
Yeah, we we actually rotate all the time, So I think that if Lexi I think there's like, a three year rotation. So if flaccid is growing one year, we would be either growing wheat or canola or barley in the other years. And then we would go back to flax for that very reason that you mentioned it depletes the soil if if you grow the same thing over and over again. So we really, really watch are sort of nutrition to make sure that we're not depleting it, and we're taking care of it so that it could give us healthy plants. That kind of seems like a very simplistic, elementary way to describe it. But that's that's really what it is,

spk_1:   24:52
right? Yeah, and it's a means obviously makes a huge difference in the product quality. So you're saying that a lot of flack see May flax seed may arrive to the shelf already oxidized or is a subpar product?

spk_0:   25:05
Exactly. Unfortunately, that is the case. You

spk_1:   25:07
got it. All right, so let's talk about I was talking earlier about making significant recommendations 1/4 to 1/2 a cup a day now, normally with blackstar combinations to start with a teaspoon couple teaspoons, maybe up to a tablespoon today because it can really jump start that that digestion, that fiber, that it acts like a broom right in the digestive system and helps you go and have regular bowel movements. But for certain things, we use a very large amount. So what are some of your top ways or some unique ways to get flax into your everyday living or everyday consumption thatyou event?

spk_0:   25:42
Yeah, so you mentioned one of them already using it in place of eggs. That's a common one. Using it in other bakery products to replace fat is another really easy way to get it in brownies or muffins. I use it in making pancakes. I don't have any oil at all to pancakes. I just used flax seed, and the ratio is 321 So, for example, if your recipe called for one tablespoon of oil, you could use three tablespoons of flax, and you may want to increase your water depending on what the recipe is. But that's a very, very common one is to use it in your baking. And that's been done for quite a while. And if you're not a baker of of course, you know there's other ways you can add it. But our we've we've done a lot of recipe development, eh? So we have quite a few different recipes on instagram everything from like peppermint macaroons, too, while overnight oats is probably one that people are also somewhat familiar with, but it really, truly can be added into almost anything. Um, we put it in soup as well. We'll dump it in soup in. It really blends in extremely well. You can put it in sauces, and it acts also was a thickener. So one of the properties of flax seed is that it holds up to eight times its weight in water, so it will thicken sauces or soups. I haven't tried it in gravy, but I've heard of others that have. There's really limitless ways you can use it. And I for myself. I do something pretty boring. It is. Dump it in yogurt, but that works for me in the morning. I don't actually have about 3.5 tablespoons a day in my yogurt, and I could certainly no notice it's there. But it's very, very palatable, and I just you know, that that's what works for me. So many people put it in smoothies as well. It blends right in and you'll never even know it's there. So we've got a lot of recipes on our Instagram and Pinterest, and our website blogged that you might be surprised when you kind of scroll through some of them what you can put it in, but it really, truly is limitless.

spk_1:   27:52
I'm actually looking right now and I am seeing Graham Crackers Donuts. I am seeing a lot of overnight oats. I am seeing Apple Chris Crumble. You had mentioned people putting it and coffee. I've never tried that either. It's kind of like a different way to think about it, and I'm seeing a cute idea. We are, by the time people are listening to this, it is right after Christmas. But if you're like me, you're probably still giving away some late Christmas gifts. And I see a really cute, uh, my easy idea where it's a little mason jar where people have made some overnight oats and added in some flax and things as a gift, kind of like a baking in a jar, but more of like an overnight oats. Senator and I thought that was really kind of sweet. Mary, what is the website is that manager open 1,000,000 dot com.

spk_0:   28:38
It is exactly yeah,

spk_1:   28:39
cool and the Instagram pages. Manitoba 1,000,000 over An instagram as well. Mary, thanks for coming on and talking to us a little bit about flaccid and correcting, uh, correcting me when I'm wrong about oxidation and another other flax seed discussion. Yeah,

spk_0:   28:55
well, thank you so much for having me. I really appreciate it. And I hope we can connect again. One

spk_1:   29:00
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