When you detox it’s important to keep the wastes moving out of your body and one easy way to do this is with a flaxseed cleanse.
Benefits of Flaxseeds
- Flaxseeds are an excellent source of fiber, plant material that is not broken down by digestion,which is important for a healthy digestive system .
- Fiber gives the intestinal muscles something to get hold of and affects the function of the whole of the gut.
- Flaxseeds contain both soluble and insoluble fiber both of which affects your health and fitness in a number of ways.
- Insoluble fiber adds bulk to the contents of the intestines. That bulk helps to stimulate regular bowel movements and helps to remove the waste that contain the toxins that the liver has processed.
- Soluble fiber absorbs water in the stomach and intestine. It forms a gel that slows digestion and and helps you absorb the nutrients from your food. It can help to make you feel fuller while helping you to eat less. Ideal when you are detoxing to help with weight loss!
- Flaxseeds also contain omega-3 fatty acids, antioxidants, minerals, and vitamins and are good to sooth inflammation in the digestive system and for constipation.
- Lignins in flaxseed meal may help to reduce the risk of certain cancers, especially colon cancer and it also possess antimicrobial properties.
- Flaxseed may also help lower total blood cholesterol and “bad” (LDL) cholesterol levels, which may help reduce the risk of heart disease.
How to do a flaxseed cleanse
Make sure you buy organic seeds so they are pesticide and herbicide free.
There are several ways of using flax seeds to cleanse the bowel.
1. Whole flaxseeds
Rinse 1 – 2 tablespoons flaxseeds and place in a cup.
Cover with filtered water or juice and soak overnight.
They will form a sort of gel. Eat both seeds and gel in the morning. (you will either love it or hate it)
Add a little more water of juice if necessary.
Have this every morning for two weeks or more.
Use whole flaxseeds when you juice cleanse to keep the bowels moving.
2. Ground flaxseeds
You may prefer to grind the flaxseeds into a fine powder in a small coffee grinder and add them to yogurt, fruit salad, cereal or your green detox smoothie.
Ideally you should only grind what you need at one time as they go rancid quite quickly. Otherwise only grind a small amount at a time and store in a glass container in the refrigerator.
You will get the benefits of the lignans and Omega-3 fatty acids if you grind them before use. Lignans are phytochemicals that have a wide range of health benfits. Flaxseeds contain the highest amount of plant lignans.
The health benefits include protection against cancer, reduced risk of heart disease, improved digestion, and relief of hormonal imbalances.
Tropical Green Smoothie Flaxseed Cleanse
2 cups papaya
1 mango
½ a small pineapple
3-4 cups spinach
1 – 2 tbsp ground flax seeds ( or flax meal)
Blend the pineapple until smooth
Add mango, papaya, spinach and ground flax and blend until very smooth.
Experiment with different fruit, greens and ratios of fruit to greens to get the taste you like.
3. Bentonite & Flaxseed Cleanse
You can do a colon cleanse by adding one tablespoon of liquid bentonite and one tablespoon of ground flaxseeds to a glass of filtered water first thing in the morning and before bed. It’s best to wait for at least 30 minutes before eating.
Experiment with these flaxseed cleanses to see which one works best for you. Some people do better on whole seeds than the ground ones. Ground flaxseeds are more easily digestible, whole flaxseeds can pass through your digestive system.
Which cleanse works for you best? Please share your experience with my readers in the comment box below.
Thanks for putting up these lovely healthy ideas, they are of good us
Thank you
Matthew
Glad you find them useful Mathew. Thanks for taking the time to comment.
Good health,
Sandy
Looking forward to trying the flaxseed cleanse with green shake. I’ve been having trouble eating for about 4 momths. The first 2 months I got severe pain every time I ate, even with only a few bites of food. It then turned into almost always feelimg full without eating. When I try to force myself to eat I can’t get past 5 or 6 bites, then I feel there’s no room to eat anymore (even if I haven’t eaten all day). My family doc ran some blood tests and found nothing. So here I am left to just cope with it as I drop excessive weight. I decided today that I want to do a natural cleanse, hoping that will clear any possible blockage or whatever is goong on inside me. I hate not being able to sit down amd enjoy a meal with my family.
Hello Amanda,
So sorry to hear that you are having this problem with food and eating. I wonder what blood tests your doctor did? Standard blood tests are not always the right ones to do but it’s reassuring that he did not find anything on them. You might do better trying to find a Functional Medicine doctor or a Naturopath if possible. Has he considered esophageal reflux often known as GERD or a hiatal hernia? Could also be due to gastritis or H. pylori infection, the bug that causes stomach ulcers and GERD. In fact there are many things that could cause it so it’s best to find someone who could rule out these possible causes. Hope the flaxseed cleanse helps.
Best wishes for better health,
Sandy
Thank you for this article. My wife and I have been doing flax meal for about 14 months now. We’ll use it to cook from time to time but mainly consume it alone and then with water (wife) or mix it with a high protein vegan milk substitute. She’ll do the basic 2 tablespoons daily while I will consume 75-100 grams total in two servings. I love all the healthy fats and proteins from the milk and flax as I struggle to keep weight on. Each serving of mine is 6 tablespoons of flax and 2 ounces of milk equaling 20 grams of fat and 16 grams of protein.
In closing I would like to suggest the myth that flax meal goes ‘rancid’ quickly is entirely wrong. Perhaps at a moderate pace but surely not quickly. We’ve left the bag open and on the counter for a few nights in a row many many many times over the last year or so. Nary and issue although we keep it sealed and in the fridge for the most part. Take care and thanks again! 🙂
Glad to hear that flax meal has proved to be beneficial for you Dan. It can be just as hard to put on weight as it is to take it off. Avocados can help with this too. You may be right about the fact that flax meal can go rancid quickly is a myth. It was something that I had been told so I took it as fact. Some research I saw recently found that in fact flax meal was fairly stable. I have seen it said that exposing it to light for 10 minutes is enough to start it oxidizing but I can’t lay my hands on any research on the matter at the moment. Always best to keep it in the fridge to be on the safe side I think.
Thanks for dropping by and taking the time to comment.
Wishing you good health,
Sandy