Flax seed oil

[vtknitgirl]

I am wondering about using flax seed oil as an added fat.  i have used it in the past, its rich in omega 3 and 6 but I can't find anywhere if i could use it or not.  

 

[Susan W]

It's a seed oil so not encouraged. It may have omega 3 but omega 6 is something we get way too much of. If I remember right, it also interferes with omega 3 absorbtion. I could be wrong about that though.

[Tom Denham]

You can have flax seed oil, but it is not a good choice. There is a huge amount of hype about the omega3s in flax seed oil. Unfortunately, those omega3s are in the form of ALA, but our bodies use EPA and DHA, so it doesn't do us any good. Animals are good at converting ALA to EPA/DHA, but people are not.

[vtknitgirl]

Thanks for the info.  i will stick to coconut, olive oil and avo olive as the good fats that I use.  In the past i have used Flax but that is when I was a vegetarian.    

[PamH]

Flax does have other health benefits, but if you are looking for Omega 3s it is not a good choice.  Like others said, humans do not convert the ALA to the useful DHA/EPA readily; as little as 6% conversion rate.  Since it is a seed oil and on Whole30 it isn't recommended then stay away for the 30 days, I guess.

 

We should shoot for 1g (1000mgs) per day of EPA.  You would need close to 15g flax seed oil per day to meet that need.  I think your GI tract would revolt...  

 

A quality fish oil is a nice way to get the Omega 3s for our brain.  I like Nordic Naturals but there are other good brands out there.

 

I know you were looking for cooking oil, but I thought I'd toss that fish oil advice out there.  Grass fed beef and wild caught fish are also good Omega 3 sources if you can find them and afford them.