Long before bone broth, moringa juices, and mushroom coffee, there was flaxseed. A staple of the early health food movement, flaxseed gained a reputation for its nutritional benefits. But it largely fell off the wagon in favour of newer, trendier “superfoods.” That is until more recently, when people started picking up on flaxseeds’ benefits and adding it to their grocery list.

You may not realise, though, that flaxseed appears in many places in the supermarket. In your favourite lunch bread? Check. In your go-to box of cereal? Check. In your plant-based burger? Check. So it’s likely a bit of flax is already sneaking its way into your daily diet.

If you’ve been paying attention to ingredient lists, you might be wondering if this ubiquitous seed is doing your health and KOM or QOM pursuits any good.

Read on to discover the nutritional benefits of flaxseed, why there is good reason to praise this humble little seed, and how to sprinkle it everywhere.

What are flaxseeds?

Most nutrition experts are quick to point out that many people could benefit from eating more flax than the sparse amount sprinkled into packaged foods. Tiny but mighty, flaxseeds are nutritional powerhouses that prove great things come in small packages.

Nutty-tasting flaxseeds are harvested from the perennial Linum Usitatissimum plant with light blue flowers that may have originated in Egypt, but is now grown across the globe. Since the fibre of the plant is so strong, it was originally used to make clothing before cotton came into play.

What are the nutrition facts for flaxseed?

Don’t let their small size fool you; flaxseeds pack a big nutritional punch.

A 1-tablespoon serving of ground flax contains the following:

• 37 calories
• 1 g protein
• 3 g fat
• 0 g saturated fat
• 1.5 g omega-3 fat
• 2 g carbs
• 2 g fibre
• 27 mg magnesium
• 57 mg potassium

“I think flax is a great dietary choice because it is well-rounded in its overall macronutrient composition with a good ratio of carbs, protein, and fat,” says board certified sports dietitian Dina Griffin, M.S., R.D.N., C.S.S.D., owner of The Nutrition Mechanic.

Flaxseeds contain healthy fats because they’re a notable source of alpha-linolenic acid (ALA), a type of omega-3 unsaturated fatty acid that is deemed essential and therefore must be obtained from the diet. Research suggests consuming more ALA-rich foods like flax could help keep your ticker beating strong, lessening the risk of premature death from heart failure.

“The heart benefits of ALA is largely due to its anti-inflammatory effects,” Griffin says.

Just keep in mind the form of omega-3 fats found in seafood, such as salmon and sardines—eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA)—are generally believed by researchers to be more powerful with respect to health measures than the ALA omega-3 in plant-based foods like flax and walnuts. Some ALA is converted in the body to these marine-sourced omega-3s, but Griffin says most people’s conversion rate is typically pretty low.

Flax is also one of the richest food sources of lignans (polyphenols found in some plant walls), which may reduce the risk for hormone-related cancers (like breast cancer) and heart disease.

“These lignans are also showing promise for having antioxidant properties,” Griffin says. But the full impact dietary lignans have in human health is not yet fully clear.

What health benefits do you gain from flaxseed?

These healthy seeds supply ample amounts of dietary fibre—an important nutrient. In fact, nearly all the carbohydrates in the seed are in the form of fibre. Most Americans fail to get enough fibre into their daily diet, so sneaking more flax into the diet can certainly help make up the shortfall. In particular, flax is abundant in soluble fibre.

“This soluble fibre may help with increasing feelings of satiety and helping out bowel motility,” Griffin says. “If consumed regularly, the fiber in flax may also help with lowering LDL (bad) cholesterol and contribute to better gut microbiome status.”

A recent study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition discovered that higher intakes of soluble fiber can slash your risk for cardiovascular disease and colorectal cancer.

And, perhaps the hunger-smashing powers of fibre is one reason why research has found that supplementing with 30 grams of flax daily (about 3 tablespoons) was associated with reductions in body weight and waist circumference. But in order for flax to help achieve that (if those are your goals), it likely needs to displace other calories in your diet.

Griffin cautions that all that fibre can do a number on your stomach if you go overboard and aren’t used to eating a lot of fibre, or if you decide to stir heaps of flax into your pre-ride oatmeal. Be sure to ease into a world of high fibre by taking in plenty of liquid with any high-fibre food, including flax, to help your body usher it through the digestive system more effortlessly.

It’s also reasonable to assume that flaxseeds’ ability to lower cholesterol, blood sugar, and blood pressure is a result of a synergistic play between the healthy fat, fibre, and lignans in the seeds.

All of this is to say that just like spending ample amounts of time on the saddle, including flax in your diet more often helps sharpen your health.

How do you add flaxseeds to your diet?

On store shelves, you may see both golden and brown flaxseed. Which one you should choose is based on personal preference, as there is a lack of data demonstrating any major nutritional differences between the two versions. You can also buy flaxseed oil, which is pressed from whole flaxseeds and offers up a bonanza of omega-3 fatty acids. But in this form, you won’t be getting the fibre, lignans, and micronutrients present in the whole seed.

Ground flax works brilliantly as an incognito addition to oatmeal, smoothies, waffle and pancake batters, bread recipes, energy balls and bars, and even meat mixtures (think meatloaf and meatballs) or veggie burgers as a binder in lieu of breadcrumbs. You can also sprinkle it over roasted vegetables, soups, and pasta for a subtle nutty flavour.

“Vegans or those with egg allergies can use it as an egg substitute for baked goods,” Griffin says. To replace one egg in a recipe, such as muffins or pancakes, stir together 1 tablespoon ground flaxseed with 2 1/2 tablespoons water and let sit for 5 minutes to thicken. Then add the flax gel to batter like you would a regular egg.

You can use flaxseed oil when making salad dressings, pesto, and dips. Flaxseed oil doesn’t hold up well to heat, though, so keep it out of the skillet.

One caveat: Since the body has a tough time breaking into the hard outer shell of whole flaxseeds, nutrition experts, like Griffin, stress that to fully tap into the nutritional bounty of flax they need to be ground prior to consumption. (Keep this in mind when you’re purchasing a loaf of flax bread, which just has a few symbolic whole seeds on its crust.) Purchase flaxseeds pre-ground or grind the whole seeds yourself using a spice or coffee grinder to gain all the benefits.

It’s also worth noting that ground flaxseeds do spoil faster than whole seeds, so store them in the fridge or freezer to extend their life.