Guest guest Posted November 13, 2002 Report Share Posted November 13, 2002 --- Leisa Hiatt <lhiatt3@y...> wrote: > Raw Flax coverts to SCN > Page 150 of The Omego Diet, Artemis Simopoulos, M.D., cautions > against eating more than 3 to 4 tbls of raw flaxseeds/meal a > day. It says " Flaxseeds, like lima and cassava beans, contain a > chemical called cyanogen that your body converts into another > chemical called thiocyanate (SCN). If you have high amounts of > SCN in your blood for long periods of time, it can keep your > thyroid gland from taking up enough iodine, increasing your risk > of goiter. Cyanogen is inactivated during cooking, however, even > if the flaxseeds are added to baked goods such as cookies or > muffins that are cooked for only 12 to 15 minutes. Flaxseed oil > does not contain cyanogen. Flaxseed oil has some problems associated with it - in particular it seems likely to increase the risk of prostate cancer. There have been threads on usenet with the title Alpha Linoleic Acid (Flax Oil) A Danger For Prostate Cancer ....which point out the studies that show the link there - e.g. " The association of fatty acids with prostate cancer risk " PMID: 11398173. Delicious though flax bread may be, I also have the impression that heating flax oil is a particularly undesirable thing to do - since it destroys the EFAs and generates free radicals and other mutagenic compounds. AFAICS, the best thing to do with flax seeds is to sprout them - or to grind them up and eat them immediately. Thiocyanate might be a problem if you eat large volumes of ground flax, but there are similar problems with a great many other vegetables and seeds. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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