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Sources for flax oil


juliepoudrier
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What about buying it in a bottle rather than gel caps? Many health food stores online sell it, I don't use it because it gives Bailey diarrhea. But I think its cheaper in a bottle, although you would have to measure it out. The only way that I have seen it in bulk is if you are actually buying the flax seeds to grind yourself. Which sounds pretty unappealing to me!

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I use milled flax seed, it is much cheaper than oil. Our local supermarket has whole flax seed, but we don't have a grinder and it is my understanding that without being ground (or milled) it would pass right through the system. I'll look at the brand at home if you want me to. I get it at Hy-Vee in the health food section.

 

Betsy

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All you need to grind flax seeds is a coffee grinder (clean of coffee, of course). These can be had at any Mart of Wal for less than $10.

 

That said, I don't know where to get cheap flax oil, because I use fish oil for omega-3s.

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Thanks for all the comments. I use the gel caps (don't know the answer to your question, Bill, but I have to wonder) because I travel a lot with the dogs and it certainly is easier than carrying stuff that has to be refrigerated, especially in the summer months.

 

There are health food stores near where I work, so I'll check them out. Perhaps the solution is to use the liquid at home and the caps for on the road. I'll probably have to start getting up at 3:30 instead of 4 so I have time to measure all the stuff (another advantage to the gel caps--no measuring) that has to go in the dogs' breakfast before heading to the gym and on to work. (Which is why I am not inclined to grind my own--my days are about as tightly scheduled as they can get already).

 

And while I'm at it, I keep seeing flax combined with borage. Anyone know what the health effects of borage are supposed to be? All I know is that the leaves can be used in salads and supposedly taste like cucumbers (if I remember correctly from my herb-growing--no not *that* kind--days).

 

Thanks again.

 

J.

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I think borage provides Omega-6. But don't quote me on that.

 

I use a capsule for my dogs that has Omega 3-6-9. It has flax, borage, and fish oil. Its expensive though. I only have 2 dogs.

 

My capsules are preserved with a small amount of Vit E

 

Jennifer

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According to my Puritan's Pride catalog, borage oil provides gamma linolenic acid and linoleic acid. 50 capsules are $15.95 but they have a "buy one, get one free or buy two, get three free" deal going on right now. (In general, I highly recommend Puritan's Pride for very cheap vitamins and supplements -- it's where I get Solo's glucosamine and chondroitin tabs. http://www.puritan.com.)

 

I get fish oil capsules from Target when they have specials on their house brand -- 40 1000 mg capsules for $1.00. Actually, I stocked up when they went on clearance (humans in Northern Virginia are apparently not big fans of fish oil) and paid only .50 per bottle. There was a noticeable change in the quality of my dogs' coats after I started giving the fish oil capsules, so it seems to me that the supplements are of good quality and hell, you can't beat that price.

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You could grind a bunch at once, it won't spoil.
When you freshly grind flax seed, the oil does start to break down quite quickly. You don't want to grind more than enough for 2 or 3 days and keep it in the freezer.

 

I prefer to use fresh ground flax seed as the dogs get more benefits out of that than just the flax oil.

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What benefits? I am in the middle of e-mailing my holistic vet (though I'll see her Friday) to ask just such questions. But I'm curious as to what I might be missing by simply using the oil as opposed to grinding the seed.
Here is the nutrient information on whole or ground flaxseed:

http://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/cgi-bin/list_nut.pl

 

Here is the nutrient information on flax oil, which is used primarily for the omegas.

http://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/cgi-bin/list_nut.pl

 

Also, there is some interesting information on flaxseed and flaxseed oil here:

http://www.eattheapple.com/flaxseedlinks.htm

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Here is a description for Borage oil. As Previously discussed it provides GLA, an omega 6 fatty acid with anti-inflammatory properties.

 

http://www.supplementwatch.com/supatoz/sup...supplementId=51

 

As for whole seed versus oil, I would image the largest difference is fiber. However, for personal use, I am a big believer in whole food versus refined supplement. This is probably not the case here, but frequently there are undiscovered factors in the food which provides benefits not in the refined supplement.

 

I grind flax seed for myself, which I buy in bulk from the local, grocery store's health foods department. Gypsy, goes nuts at the sound of the grinder. All she gets now is part of my salmon, once or twice a week. I may consider sharing the flax seed.

 

I imagine even the flax seed oil capsules should be stored in the refrigerator, even though they are not as volatile as the oil. I store my flax seeds in the refrigerator. I consume the ground flax seed within a few days. So, I leave it in the grinder, unrefrigerated.

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I don't actually grind my own, but use already milled instead, so please excuse my ignorance in my last post. I assumed that "milled" and "ground" were the same thing, but perhaps they are not? The milled I use does not mention refridgeration or freezing, or even an expiration date.

 

Does "milled" = "ground"?

 

Betsy

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Generally, I think milled=ground. Maybe, a mill grinds the seed between plates and a hand held coffee grinder whacks the seeds with a blade, but the net effect is similar, with milling being slightly preferable.

 

I would refrigerate my milled flaxseed, if I were you. I know things are usually not refrigerated in stores, but flaxseed oil is easily oxidized and goes bad with time. Raw oil goes bad the quickest and whole seeds the slowest. Ground flax seed is in between somewhere.

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