Stop consuming flaxseed! It disrupts your hormones, insulin, and thyroid, and acidifies your body. It used to be used to make paint.
- Nancy janssens
- Sep 16
- 9 min read
Summary Health Problems from Flaxseed
Flaxseed was once used as paint because of its high unsaturated fat content. When cheaper ways to make paint were discovered, they used propaganda to promote flaxseed as a superfood. However, internal consumption of flaxseed is harmful to your health.
Flax (linseed) contains many estrogenic compounds.
Flaxseed contains lignans, a type of phytoestrogen, which can mimic estrogen and contribute to hormonal imbalances, making it a fattening food. Flaxseed lowers testosterone and progesterone levels, leading to a range of health problems.
Acidify your body.
Flax oil oxidizes in the presence of heat, light, and oxygen. Can you imagine what happens when you consume this in your warm, oxygen-rich body?
Acidification and estrogen cause diseases
Acidity and fake estrogen cause cancer, heart and blood vessel diseases, hormonal problems, thyroid problems, etc.
Disrupts your thyroid
Flaxseed contains high levels of polyunsaturated fats (PUFA), making it susceptible to oxidation. Excessive PUFA consumption negatively impacts thyroid function and metabolism, as PUFAs block thyroid hormone production, transport, and cellular action. The thyroid gland is the primary metabolic regulator.
Disruption of insulin and carbohydrate metabolism
Furthermore, PUFAs block proper carbohydrate metabolism more than saturated fats. They inhibit two essential components of glucose metabolism. And the negative effect on glucose metabolism increases with the chain length and the degree of unsaturation of the fatty acids.
It has even been shown that consuming flax makes you more insulin resistant and hinders the use of carbohydrates. People who are diabetic or obese think they are healthy with linseed, but in fact they make themselves sicker.
Flax inhibits cholesterol production
Cholesterol is essential nutrition for your cells, brain, nerve cells, and sex hormones. It acts as a kind of cooling agent for inflammatory reactions in our bodies. If cholesterol doesn't cool your inflammation, you can die from inflammatory reactions. Cholesterol plays a crucial role in our bodies. A cholesterol deficiency dehydrates your brain, leading to the development of Alzheimer's or dementia.
Translate only words and concepts
Before we show you the article by Dr. Joseph Mercola, let's first provide some information. This will help you understand the article better.
MUFA = monounsaturated fatty acid (such as omega 9)
PUFA = polyunsaturated fatty acid (such as omega 3 and 6)
-->Unsaturated fats (MUFA and PUFA) don't tolerate heat well. They oxidize quickly. PUFA oxidizes even faster.
When you cook unsaturated fats, the molecules change and the oil turns into trans fats. Trans fats are very harmful. Even though it's a vegetable oil, it will spoil when heated.
MUFA and PUFA oils are NOT suitable for heating.
SFA = saturated fatty acid
Saturated fats (SFA) are fats that can withstand heat well because they don't oxidize quickly. For cooking, choose oils high in SFA, such as coconut oil and GHEE.
Saturated fatty acids are healthy.
So don't be caught by PROPAGANDA.
SFA are suitable for warming
Linseed oil, soybean oil and safflower oil were used in the past to make paint.
-->coconut oil contains 2% PUFA and 6% MUFA and 86% SFA
-->Flaxseed oil contains 68% PUFA and 18% MUFA and 9% SFA
-->Soybean oil contains 58% PUFA and 23% MUFA and 16% SFA
-->Safflower oil contains 13% PUFA and 72% MUFA and 7.5 SFA
See research article with list of all oils and their PUFA, MUFA and SFA.
PUFA: Polyunsaturated fatty acids are hydrocarbon chains that contain two or more double bonds.
The problem with PUFAs is that they are very sensitive to oxidation
due to exposure to heat , light or Oxygen . Choosing to cook with these unstable oils therefore invites oxidative damage and the accelerated aging and increased risk of disease that comes with it.
Doctor Joseph Mercola wrote:
You can also read this article by Dr. Joseph Mercola in PDF format in Dutch. See PDF Dutch translation
1-Flax (linseed) was used in the past to make paint
When we consider something a "health food," we need to put on our "metabolic lenses." We need to think more carefully about whether something improves our long-term health or not.
There is some really good marketing (propaganda) out there trying to convince us that ingredients once used as paint are now a superfood.
This is because it is extremely profitable!
One example is flaxseed and flaxseed oil – you shouldn't consume these! We explain why flaxseed oil is perfect for paint and harmful to your body.
The primary use of flax oil in the past was in paints, coatings, and other industrial applications; the fibers were used to make fishing nets, ropes, and sailcloth. Linseed oil, obtained from the flax plant, is one of its most widely used applications. It has been an important binder for oil paints for over 500 years.
Flax is rich in an omega-3 polyunsaturated fat (PUFA), alpha-linoleic acid, C18:3. PUFAs contain two or more double bonds (shown in green below). Each double bond in the fat makes it more unstable and susceptible to oxidation.
The longer the chains of these PUFAs become (such as ALA), the more unsaturated and unstable they become.
Linseed oil or flax oil is technically synonymous with the term "flaxseed oil," as both refer to the oil obtained from the dried, ripened seeds of the flax plant.
The oil is obtained by pressing, which sometimes involves many chemicals for more industrial applications. The processing often means there are more chemicals in it
Some call the "edible" oil linseed oil. And in industrial use, it's called linseed oil. But the fatty acid composition of linseed oil or flaxseed oil (used interchangeably) is both rich in PUFA.
Linseed oil works well as a paint because of its high PUFA content;
all those double bonds make them extremely sensitive to oxidation. In fact, linseed oil is classified as a 'drying oil', meaning that it changes from a liquid to a solid film through oxidative reactions. So ideal for paint.
When this flax oil is exposed to air, the double bonds of ALA react with oxygen, resulting in a relatively soft, durable film. This property is known as the "drying" quality of linseed oil.
See some advertising posters from the past.
2-How did flaxseed become a superfood?
However, newer petroleum products began to replace linseed oil because they could be produced more cheaply, leading to a reduced reliance on flax. The flax industry therefore had to find another market for it: That's how flax entered the food industry. Through extensive marketing and propaganda, flax became a superfood.
Fifty years ago, paints and varnishes were made from soybean oil, safflower oil, and linseed oil. Later, chemists learned how to make paint from petroleum, which was much cheaper. As a result, the large seed oil industry found it increasingly difficult to sell its crops.
Around the same time, farmers were experimenting with poisons to fatten their hogs on less feed, and they discovered that corn and soybeans legally served that purpose.
The crops grown for the paint industry were used for animal feed. These foods, which made animals fat cheaply, were then promoted as food for humans, but they were intended to distract from the fact that they were very fattening. The emphasis on "cholesterol" was just one of the marketing tools used by the oil industry.
The false claims about cholesterol and saturated fat continue even after it has been proven that the unsaturated oils cause both heart disease and cancer.
~ Dr. Ray Turf
3-Health problems caused by flaxseed
1-Flax contains many estrogenic compounds. It acidifies your body.
Have you ever noticed that flax oil is only sold in dark containers and must be stored in the refrigerator? It oxidizes in the presence of heat, light, and oxygen.
Can you imagine what happens when you consume this in your warm, oxygen-rich body? The inside of our bodies should be 98.6 degrees F (37 degrees Celsius). And yes, flax contains some fiber, but it's still high in PUFAs.
Flax acidifies your body
Too much acid in your body compared to antioxidants causes oxidative stress. And oxidative stress contributes to typical chronic diseases like cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, autoimmune diseases, and more.
-Per 100 grams:
-The oil extracted from flax contains 100 grams of fat with 14.3 grams of linoleic acid and 53.4 grams of ALA.
-Whole flax contains less fat (42.4 grams) because there is fiber, but still 5.9 grams of linoleic acid and 22.8 grams of ALA.
You can get this fiber from other foods without all these PUFA.
2-Flaxseed contains a type of phytoestrogen called lignans.
Phytoestrogens act like estrogen in the body. We don't need more estrogen these days. We're bombarded with enough fake estrogen already.
Lignans are structurally similar to the well-known estrogenic compounds. If we consume too much estrogen, our testosterone (men) and progesterone (women) levels decrease. This leads to a range of health problems.
Another example of a well-known phytoestrogen is the isoflavones in soy. Well, flax is 20 times more potent than soy when it comes to its estrogenic impact!
Dr. Hobbins is a former surgeon who pioneered the detection of breast cancer using mammography and thermography. Dr. Hobbins and Wendy Sellers have hundreds of thermographic images that show striking visual evidence that estrogenic foods (including flax) promote vascularization and angiogenesis in breast tissue, increasing the risk of breast cancer.
Poorly informed health professionals and manipulated studies promote these phytoestrogenic foods as cancer preventative—when instead they only make matters worse!
Add to that the fact that the accumulation of PUFAs in tissues promotes estrogen action by activating aromatase. People with a slower metabolism also have fewer bowel movements. Bowel movements aren't just for eliminating food waste; they're also a way to rid the body of used hormones and other toxins! So, not pooping every day will cause some estrogen reabsorption.
Do you really have low estrogen? Or do you have estrogen dominance?
In this estrogenic and PUFA-rich world, it's no wonder hormonal imbalances are rampant and testosterone levels in men plummet!
Many people think they have low estrogen levels based on blood tests performed by their regular doctor. Unfortunately, serum estrogen levels are NOT representative of the estrogen stored in tissues. Estrogen can be low in plasma but high in tissues.
And when stored estrogen is assessed, most people are estrogen-dominant due to a high PUFA diet. This refers to exposure to environmental estrogens from pesticides, hormone disruptors, and plastics.
And for women: add to that many years of contraception, which produces exogenous estrogen! So you probably don't need more estrogenic foods (like flax).
A simple way to measure estrogen stores in fat and tissues is a prolactin blood test . Prolactin blood tests can be used as a proxy for stored estrogen, as estrogen promotes prolactin production. Ideally, prolactin should be less than 10 ng/ml.
3-Excess PUFA decreases thyroid function
Another reason not to eat flax: Excessive PUFA consumption lowers thyroid function and metabolism because PUFAs block thyroid hormone production, transport, and cellular action. The thyroid gland is the primary metabolic regulator.
Fatty acids inhibited T3 binding to both receptor proteins (TR-alpha and TR-beta). The effectiveness of inhibition depends on the chain length and the degree of saturation of the fatty acids.
4-PUFAs block carbohydrate metabolism
Furthermore, PUFAs block proper carbohydrate metabolism more than saturated fats by interfering with the function of the PDH enzyme and cytochrome C oxidase to inhibit – two essential components in glucose metabolism.
And the negative effect on glucose metabolism increases with the length of the chain and the degree of unsaturation of the fatty acids. It has even been shown that consuming flax makes you more insulin-resistant and hinders the utilization of carbohydrates.
5-Flax inhibits cholesterol production
Another undesirable property of flax is that it reduces endogenous cholesterol production—which may sound good at first. But cholesterol is the building block of steroid hormones.
Lowering cholesterol through estrogenic foods like flax will lower testosterone in men and progesterone in women.
In addition, anything that suppresses your cholesterol synthesis increases your risk of cancer and Alzheimer's (such as statins).
The best way to lower elevated cholesterol levels is to improve thyroid function, which allows the body to continue producing sufficient androgens. Hormones are a downstream effect and should not be manipulated through estrogen-rich foods.
Restore metabolism and thyroid health, and hormonal balance will become easier!
Instead of flax try something else like:
-Reducing PUFA consumption and prioritizing saturated fats instead
Reducing exposure to plastics such as plasticizers and BPA. These are powerful hormone disruptors.
-Consuming carbohydrates to stimulate the thyroid and metabolism (adequate thyroid function is essential for both progesterone production and estrogen detoxification by the liver)
-Supplement with bioidentical progesterone if needed (adequate progesterone levels help control estrogen)
-Ensure adequate vitamin B6 consumption (serves as a prolactin inhibitor)
Dr. Joseph Mercola (America)
Physician and surgeon, osteopathic medicine, pharmaceutical technician, natural medicine, internationally recognized expert and activist for natural health, media renown, speaker, award-winning author of 11 books, owns supplement company.
Dr. Joseph Mercola has conducted extensive research on the importance of healthy fats and which fats are harmful. He has written a book on this topic. His book on fats is highly recommended. The book has been translated into Dutch. Book: Fat as Fuel.
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