In the Western world, we just look at the nutritional value of the food, and if that is the only parameter we take into account, then sometimes we can get into trouble. This is especially true in the case of flax seeds.
We get caught up in the fact that there are some amazing nutrients within the flax seed, such as omega-3’s which they are very high in. They also contain Vitamin C, iron, Vitamin B1, copper, and molybdenum. They contain one of the highest sources of alpha linoleic acid (ALA). ALA is an essential fatty acid that your body cannot produce.
However, in Ayurveda, we recommend that you not consume them. Why would that be, when they sound so nutritious? It’s because we look at what happens after the food comes in.
One of the very important things we look at is the effects on the liver. In this modern era, the liver is under constant assault from the 80,000 toxins we allow in our environment, in the air, food, water and even the pharmaceuticals and nutraceuticals we all take.
Because of this high volume of toxins, which our ancestors never had to encounter — the liver is overheating in about 99% of the population. Don’t forget that the liver is the main filter of any toxins that enter the body. Combine this with the fact that most environmental toxins create heat. Which means that in time the liver will overheat, unless we know how to detoxify it while at the same time keeping it cool. This is an art we have not as yet perfected here in the west since most herbs which detoxify the liver are very heating, which is the case with milk thistle, for example, one of the hottest of all herbs for the liver.
It turns out that all nuts and seeds create some heat as well. This is why it is recommended to soak them in water either overnight or at least an hour or so before you eat them. The soaking will cool them down.
Sesame seeds are especially heating so if we encounter a patient whose liver is very hot, creating some autoimmune diseases, cancer, food sensitivities or rashes, then we would tell them to avoid eating sesame seeds until the liver cools down from the herbs, dietary changes and other cooling therapies we would give them.
When it comes to the use of flax seeds, they are more than just heating — they are extremely heating. My teacher and mentor, Vaidya Rama Kant Mishra used to teach his students by giving them concrete examples which is one of the best ways to teach. He loved telling them his favorite story about flax seeds.
In India where he had two very successful Ayurvedic practices, there were poor people who could not afford much food, so many of them would eat flax seeds since they are so cheap and easy to grow.
He would then tell us how consuming the flax seeds would heat both their liver and spleen to the point where it created many health problems in those patients, where he and his father, another famous Vaidya or Doctor of Ayurveda from India, had to help to heal the poor souls from the ravages of the flax seeds they had consumed. He told us that the flax seeds were so heating that it created numerous problems in both the liver and the spleen, which are considered pitta organs, which means they inherently already contain some heat. But the addition of the pungent flax seeds took them over the edge. Both he and his father had to take numerous steps and utilize various treatments to try to get these people back to good health after they ate flax seeds for so long.
Then when my teacher came to America he encountered people who could actually afford to eat healthy food — and he was therefore in shock when he encountered many of the so-called “health conscious” people who were eating flax seed thinking it was healthy and not realizing the damaging effects it was creating in their liver and spleen.
So the next time you are told to eat flax seeds due to their high omega-3 content, please realize that while they may contain these healthy fats and other nutrients, in the long run they will torture your liver, as Vaidya used to say. So you might be better off avoiding them and instead turn your sites towards some nuts and sunflower seeds which you should soak in water before eating to cool them down. And do keep in mind that even if you soak the flax seeds in water they are still not recommended — even the cooling effects of water aren’t enough to cool them down to the point where they won’t harm the body.
And don’t worry — the diet that we give our patients is very high in all the good fats such as Omega 3’s, by including whole milk, dairy products, ghee, olive oil, avocados, nuts and seeds. And the daily oil massages we recommend enable every cell on the skin to absorbs the various oils we recommend, taking the omega 3’s and other nutrients directly into the bloodstream from the skin.
I hope this video will help you to understand the value of the energetics of foods and what happens inside our bodies once we swallow them, and not just be led by the nutritional value of the food only.