NEED HELP with Flaxseed :-(

DorisR184
DorisR184 Posts: 471 Member
in Food and Nutrition
For the first time, I ground up some flax seed and put 1 Tbl into my smoothie, and it was AWFUL! Not the taste, because I hardly noticed it, but the TEXTURE was HORRID! It was so gritty, I found myself coughing because I felt as if it was getting stuck in my throat :sick: Does anyone have any suggestions? I'm about ready to throw out the entire bag

Replies

  • CallMeCupcakeDammit
    CallMeCupcakeDammit Posts: 9,377 Member
    I've never put it in my smoothie. I do add it to my oatmeal, though. I buy the Hodgson Mill already ground flax seed. I'm too lazy to grind it myself. :smile:
  • dogladytwo
    dogladytwo Posts: 97 Member
    I thought the same thi(ng. I might use it for baking/cooking, but not for shakes! (I guess we just aren't gritty enough!)
  • DorisR184
    DorisR184 Posts: 471 Member
    OMG! I'm literally STILL trying to chug this smoothie down because I don't want to throw it away and admit defeat! LOL :sad:
  • CallMeCupcakeDammit
    CallMeCupcakeDammit Posts: 9,377 Member
    OMG! I'm literally STILL trying to chug this smoothie down because I don't want to throw it away and admit defeat! LOL :sad:

    Did you try blending it some more?
  • _noob_
    _noob_ Posts: 3,306 Member
    Yeah, if Omega 3's are so damn healthy, why do they make all the foods they're in taste like ****? (that's intentionally humorous/rhetorical, don't answer that)

    Other than adding to baked goods, I've just mixed some milled seed in water and drank it like metamucil before.
  • RunReadEat
    RunReadEat Posts: 37 Member
    I don't think I would ever try to put it in a drink. I do use it a lot in other foods though. I sprinkle it on salads and cereal and mix it into baked goods. I think of it as nutty and pretty much use it where I use other nuts. So, don't throw it out. Well, maybe throw out the smoothie. :wink:
  • micheleb15
    micheleb15 Posts: 1,418 Member
    I always add it to my oatmeal with honey and blueberries or whatever other concoction I try with oatmeal that morning. I've never notice it really. I guess it wouldnt occur to me to add it to a smoothie either. Chalk it up to a lesson learned. :)
  • drlaurafsu
    drlaurafsu Posts: 45 Member
    I put about 2 heaping tsp into my smoothies. First I had to build up to that amount. Start with one tsp and then gradually add as you acquire the taste. Second you have to really blend it up to get them to where you don't taste the texture. I have a vitamix and it only pulverizes them on high speed.
  • DorisR184
    DorisR184 Posts: 471 Member
    OMG! I'm literally STILL trying to chug this smoothie down because I don't want to throw it away and admit defeat! LOL :sad:

    Did you try blending it some more?

    I'm starting to wonder if when I was grinding the whole seed, I didn't let it go long enough... Either way, I'm not brave enough to put it into another smoothie lol but I'll try it in something else next time. :smile:
  • DorisR184
    DorisR184 Posts: 471 Member
    I always add it to my oatmeal with honey and blueberries or whatever other concoction I try with oatmeal that morning. I've never notice it really. I guess it wouldnt occur to me to add it to a smoothie either. Chalk it up to a lesson learned. :)

    Literally "Chalk" that's what I felt I had put into my smoothie lol :embarassed:
  • DorisR184
    DorisR184 Posts: 471 Member
    I put about 2 heaping tsp into my smoothies. First I had to build up to that amount. Start with one tsp and then gradually add as you acquire the taste. Second you have to really blend it up to get them to where you don't taste the texture. I have a vitamix and it only pulverizes them on high speed.

    Thanks for the idea! I'm going to start with little bits until I get used to it. Wish me luck :bigsmile:
  • missmegan831
    missmegan831 Posts: 824 Member
    I buy the pre ground golden flax seed and its like a powdered sugar texture and isnt gritty at all... its most likely the shell isnt ground enough for the texture you are looking for... chug it down and maybe try grinding your next batch a bit more next time
  • 130annie
    130annie Posts: 339 Member
    For the first time, I ground up some flax seed and put 1 Tbl into my smoothie, and it was AWFUL! Not the taste, because I hardly noticed it, but the TEXTURE was HORRID! It was so gritty, I found myself coughing because I felt as if it was getting stuck in my throat :sick: Does anyone have any suggestions? I'm about ready to throw out the entire bag

    You can buy the flaxseed oil....I've never tried in smoothies though.
  • shaff1rm
    shaff1rm Posts: 39 Member
    Try flax oil! I use it in my green smoothies. I bought a bottle of it (organic) at my local co-op and you can't even taste it.
  • alpine1994
    alpine1994 Posts: 1,915 Member
    I just bought some already ground (Red Mill brand I think?) and I've only tried it in oatmeal so far but it was fine! I didn't even really notice it.
  • VasylP
    VasylP Posts: 136 Member
    I have never used it in a ground format. This morning I put a table spoon of flax seed along with two table spoons of dry roasted pumpkin seeds in my oatmeal before cooking it. It seems to soften both of the seeds up. I've also used it in soup. I have thought of doing the following to break the little seeds up along with pumpkin seeds.

    I usually trough the same amounts of the two seeds into a cup and fill the reset with plain yogurt and chop up about four fresh mint leaves nice and fine and mix it all together. They make it down into my gut with the yogurt, though if they were ground would probably be able suck the goodness out of them easier, but that little concoction I call a Minty seedy twirl. I have thought of mixing up a bigger batch of it and use an immersion blender on it but I don't have one and I'm too lazy to clean my regular blender.

    Try it, it might work for you.
  • Sabine_Stroehm
    Sabine_Stroehm Posts: 19,263 Member
    I have never used it in a ground format. This morning I put a table spoon of flax seed along with two table spoons of dry roasted pumpkin seeds in my oatmeal before cooking it. It seems to soften both of the seeds up. I've also used it in soup. I have thought of doing the following to break the little seeds up along with pumpkin seeds.

    I usually trough the same amounts of the two seeds into a cup and fill the reset with plain yogurt and chop up about four fresh mint leaves nice and fine and mix it all together. They make it down into my gut with the yogurt, though if they were ground would probably be able suck the goodness out of them easier, but that little concoction I call a Minty seedy twirl. I have thought of mixing up a bigger batch of it and use an immersion blender on it but I don't have one and I'm too lazy to clean my regular blender.

    Try it, it might work for you.
    I've read that if you DONT ground it, you don't get the benefit because it stays whole as it passes through your system. Just a thought.
  • Sabine_Stroehm
    Sabine_Stroehm Posts: 19,263 Member
    What I do is sprinkle it in my yogurt and peanut butter (I mix them all together). I also put it on top of peanut butter and jelly, and also in my oatmeal. Oh, and on salads.
  • scress0514
    scress0514 Posts: 51 Member
    i buy the whole flax seeds and use them for my salads, oatmeal, cottage cheese, soups...i put them on everything i can, i dont grind them up. try that you might like them better whole.
  • Sabine_Stroehm
    Sabine_Stroehm Posts: 19,263 Member
    Here's a link on "whole" versus "ground"

    http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/flaxseed/AN01258
  • VasylP
    VasylP Posts: 136 Member
    I have never used it in a ground format. This morning I put a table spoon of flax seed along with two table spoons of dry roasted pumpkin seeds in my oatmeal before cooking it. It seems to soften both of the seeds up. I've also used it in soup. I have thought of doing the following to break the little seeds up along with pumpkin seeds.

    I usually trough the same amounts of the two seeds into a cup and fill the reset with plain yogurt and chop up about four fresh mint leaves nice and fine and mix it all together. They make it down into my gut with the yogurt, though if they were ground would probably be able suck the goodness out of them easier, but that little concoction I call a Minty seedy twirl. I have thought of mixing up a bigger batch of it and use an immersion blender on it but I don't have one and I'm too lazy to clean my regular blender.

    Try it, it might work for you.
    I've read that if you DONT ground it, you don't get the benefit because it stays whole as it passes through your system. Just a thought.

    You have a good point there this is what the Flax Council of Canada says to the question:

    "Which is better for me, whole or ground flax seed?
    Ground flax seed provides more nutritional benefits than does whole seed. That’s because flax seeds are very hard, making them difficult to crack, even with careful chewing. Grinding flax seeds breaks them up, making them easier to digest when eaten. Then the body can profit from all that flax goodness.

    If whole flax seeds remain unbroken, they may pass undigested through the body, reducing the nutritional advantage of eating flax seed in the first place. "
    Source: http://www.flaxcouncil.ca/english/index.jsp?p=faq

    I guess I'm going to be grinding up my kilo of flax seed. :)
  • DorisR184
    DorisR184 Posts: 471 Member
    I have never used it in a ground format. This morning I put a table spoon of flax seed along with two table spoons of dry roasted pumpkin seeds in my oatmeal before cooking it. It seems to soften both of the seeds up. I've also used it in soup. I have thought of doing the following to break the little seeds up along with pumpkin seeds.

    I usually trough the same amounts of the two seeds into a cup and fill the reset with plain yogurt and chop up about four fresh mint leaves nice and fine and mix it all together. They make it down into my gut with the yogurt, though if they were ground would probably be able suck the goodness out of them easier, but that little concoction I call a Minty seedy twirl. I have thought of mixing up a bigger batch of it and use an immersion blender on it but I don't have one and I'm too lazy to clean my regular blender.

    Try it, it might work for you.
    I've read that if you DONT ground it, you don't get the benefit because it stays whole as it passes through your system. Just a thought.

    Yes, that's exactly why I decided to grind them up. When you don't grind them and just eat them whole, they can pass right through you without being digested and absorbed into the body. :wink:

    I'll try again but I'll be letting them grind up a whole lot longer. If it's still yucky to me, I'll give the oil or the already ground up flax a go :drinker:
  • lilmom1
    lilmom1 Posts: 69
    If you grind it to a powder then soak it in a bit of warm water for about 2 mins. you'll never taste it
  • tracymat
    tracymat Posts: 296 Member
    Try flaxseed oil. It's delicious!

    You need to mix it in with things, don't try to cook with it... it doesn't withstand heat.
  • AliandTrev
    AliandTrev Posts: 194 Member
    I put it in my smoothies all the time. I've never even noticed it in there. I grind mine in a coffee grinder until it's a nice powder. Try grinding them a little longer.
  • singer201
    singer201 Posts: 563 Member
    Grind your flaxseed as you use it--don't grind up a whole bag all at once, since it deteriorates and loses some of its benefit. We feed flax to our horses for the omega 3's, and always grind fresh just before adding to their feed.
  • LynNann57
    LynNann57 Posts: 30 Member
    Yes do grind the seeds longer. Grind a small amount of seeds at a time. Keep any extra that you ground up, in a sealed container in the fridge. And grind them till they are a fine powder.
    I do not have a coffee bean grinder. I do have a small one serving blender, that I grind the seeds up in. It is a cheap one, and it does a great job of making the seeds into powder!
    I have a smoothie every morning, and I add a teaspoon and a half of the ground flaxseed to it. I love my smoothies! I am gradually working my way up to two tablespoons in each smoothie - not because of the taste or texture, because this is not an issue. My digestive system happens to be sensitive to the flaxseed!
    Please try it again, but really grind the seeds to a fine powder!

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