Posted by kathryn in Fat and Q & A Thursday

The next question in Q & A Thursday comes from Zoe and it’s about LSA – does grinding the seeds make the nutrients more accessible?

What is LSA?

LSA is a mixture of linseeds (or flaxseeds), sunflower seeds and almonds – all ground together to form a finely powdered mixture. It’s available from health food shops and some supermarkets.

Many people use LSA as a dietary supplement, as it’s very high in nutrients – particularly the essential fatty acids. It’s one of the stronger vegetarian sources of Omega 3s. Plus it contains plenty of minerals, fibre, vitamins and even some antioxidants.

LSA vs the whole nuts & seeds

Eating whole nuts and seeds generally gives you really, really good nutrition. As I’ve said, they’re packed full of goodness and add some good oomph to your diet.

Provided you chew your food.

Sounds like a silly thing to say? But I know plenty of people who gulp down their food at a rapid pace. Rushing to move onto the next thing or get back to work. Big bites, a couple of chews and the food is swallowed down.

Your digestive system is equipped to breakdown proteins, fats and carbohydrates. To extract vitamins and minerals, and get rid of the waste. However once the food is beyond your mouth there’s a limited capacity to physically break up large chunks of food. Some churning and muscle contractions in your stomach, but that’s about it.

This is not so much of a problem with nuts. They’re bigger and you have to chew them. However linseeds are tiny and protected by a fibrous outer coating. So they’re much more likely to be swallowed whole, or only partially broken up.

And if this occurs, they will probably remain largely untouched during the journey through your digestive system. This makes them good fibre and good for your bowels, but you’re not extracting many of the nutrients.

And of course it depends

So really it depends on what you’re using the LSA for. If you want the goodness out of the linseeds, then you need to have them in the ground up form. However, if you’re looking for a good fibre supplement, then it’s the whole seeds for you.

But I’d feel free to eat most of your nuts and seeds whole. Just remember to chew a few times before you swallow.

What is Q & A Thursday?

This post is part of Q & A Thursday – a monthly burst of blogging, where you get to dictate the subject matter. Q & A Thursday is all about simple, practical answers to food and diet dilemmas sent in by readers.

For more information you can take a look at the Q & A Thursday archives.

03 July, 2008