AGING CANADIANS ARE INCREASINGLY CHOOSING FOODS LIKE FLAX SEED
TO HELP THEM AVOID SERIOUS HEALTH PROBLEMS.

The number of seniors in Canada will shoot up by 50 per cent to about six million by 2016, Statistics Canada predicts. A greyer population means more people with a greater risk for chronic disease like arthritis, heart disease or cancer. The number of people with high blood pressure increases sharply after age 50, the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada reports. High blood pressure doubles a person’s risk of both heart disease and stroke.

NUTRITION

Those not willing to sit by and wait for disease to attack are tackling their diets as a way to healthy living. “Using the diet as a means to maintain good health is a growing trend, which will become an important market force in the future,” predicts Kelley Fitzpatrick, president of the Saskatchewan Nutraceutical Network.

A nutraceutical is a product that comes from food and is sold like a medicine in a pill or capsule. A functional food is one chosen for health reasons as a normal part of a diet. Together, these form a worldwide market that could be worth billions by the end of this decade, partly because of the aging Canadian population, Fitzpatrick says.

Part of this market growth comes from the large number of so-called baby boomers (persons born between 1946 and 1964) who are now reaching 50 and 60 years of age.

MORE THAN ONE FLAX SEED BENEFIT

To arm themselves against chronic disease, more and more people are turning to foods like flax seed, which has known health benefits.

People choose flax seed for several reasons. Flax seed oil provides omega-3 fatty acids, which may reduce the risk of sudden death from heart disease or stroke. Whole or ground flax seed also contributes valuable fibre, which improves laxation. This can be especially important for the elderly.
Flax seed also contains lignans. These compounds, in combination with omega-3, have been shown to protect against certain types of cancers and other chronic diseases.

Health benefits increase the popularity of flax seed, but taste adds to the appeal. Flax seed adds a light, nutty taste to baked goods. Whole or ground flax seed can be kneaded into the dough, or whole seeds can be sprinkled on top for a crunchy texture, similar to a sesame topping.

Flax seed foods attract customers who choose a healthy diet. The oil in flax seed is especially healthy because it contains the most omega-3 fats of any vegetable oil. Flax seed contains a full 57 per cent alpha-linolenic acid (ALA), an omega fat. Compare this with 11 per cent omega-3 found in canola oil, and one per cent omega-3 in corn oil.

A tablespoon of whole flax seed provides 2.5 grams of omega-3 — important grams, which may protect against chronic disease like heart disease and cancer. One study showed ALA lowered total and LDL-cholesterol in eight healthy men, aged 20 to 34 years.

Another study of 15 men and women showed that the addition of 15 grams of ground flax seed to their daily diet reduced total and LDL-cholesterol by 7 and 11 per cent respectively.

Despite these proven omega-3 advantages, food experts says the amount of omega-3 in the typical North American diet has now reached a dangerously low level. Typical modern diets contain 10 to 25 times more omega-6, an otherwise healthy fat, than omega-3. This proportion is more than twice as high as Health Canada recommends. Health Canada calls for a ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 of between 4 to 1 and 10 to 1.

The reason for this fat ratio is partly because many processed foods, such as cakes and crackers, are prepared with oils like soybean and corn, which are high in omega-6s. The same is true of the meats from livestock that are fed grain-based diets.

“Too much omega-6 fat in the diet affects the body’s immune system, leading to chronic disease such as coronary heart disease, arthritis and cancer,” says Dr. Diane Morris of Mainstream Nutrition. People can choose foods rich in omega-3s to correct this fat imbalance, she says.

Flax seed suggests a solution to the omega-3 deficiency.
As more and more people at the critical 50-year mark look to their diets for better health, they are turning to flax seed as a tasty food that can keep chronic disease away. The growing number of Canadians at risk for heart disease and cancer can translate into ready customers for the flax seed baked goods on bakery shelves.

By Barbara Metrycki, communications coordinator for the Flax Council of Canada, www.flaxcouncil.ca, excerpted from Bakers Journal, December 2000.