Want to know how to gain weight quickly? Fill your diet with flaxseeds—an excellent source of protein, fiber and essential fats.
Here’s the latest health trend that you can add to your list of kitchen must-haves for healthy weight gain: flax seeds.
Flaxseeds or linseed are seeds from the flowering plant, Linum Usitatissimum. It may sound like some kind of a recent health discovery; but actually, flaxseed is one of the oldest known sources of fiber in the world.
It is known to have been first cultivated by the ancient Egyptians and the Chinese.
Read further to find out more about the benefits you can get from this highly nutritious food.
Health Benefits Of Flax seeds
It’s a smart way to add calories to your diet since it is an excellent source of protein, fiber and essential fats.
Two tablespoons of flaxseed contain about 4 grams of fat, 2 grams of protein and 3 grams of fiber.
Flaxseed is also dense in folate, calcium, magnesium, potassium and phosphorus—all of which are important minerals that help regulate the metabolism.
A tablespoon for flaxseed oil already contains 125 calories—so adding one tablespoon to each meal is a great way to boost your calorie intake.
As someone who is looking for ways on how to gain weight quickly, flaxseed offers a great opportunity to add healthy calories to your regular meals.
Flaxseed, when used at the right dose, doesn’t alter the tastes of your food much; but in terms of increasing the health benefit, it does a lot.
Another excellent benefit you can get from flaxseed oil comes from its high essential fatty acid content. Specifically, flaxseed is rich in a type of essential fat called alpha-linoleic acid.
This essential fat is converted into Omega-3 fatty acid in the body, which plays an important role in lowering levels of bad cholesterol, increasing insulin-sensitivity of muscles and assist in steroid production.
Since the fat you get from flaxseed and flaxseed oil is heavily utilized by the body, it’s a great way to increase your fat intake without risking unhealthy weight gain.
You should also take advantage of the disease-preventing properties of this product. Remember that although you are skinny on the outside, you are not immune to heart disease, diabetes and cancer.
How To Add Flax seeds to Your Favorite Food and Beverage.
You can add flaxseed to your diet by either adding the seeds or oil. Seeds can provide you with the additional benefit of protein, fiber and minerals while the oil contains more alpha-linoleic acid and calories.
Seeds are usually added to shakes and baked goods while the oil is often drizzled on soups, salad and cereal.
If you go with seeds, make sure you include a grinding or crushing step as you prepare it, since the husk can go undigested in your GI tract. This can be done by mixing with fruits and ice in a blender, or pounding it with ginger, garlic or pepper.
Most bodybuilders add flaxseed to their post-workout drinks by blending it with protein powders and some fruits.
That’s a good idea because aside from the protein, flaxseed is also rich in calcium, magnesium and potassium, which are some minerals your body needs to restore ion balance after a tough workout.
If you want to maximize the cardiovascular health benefit from flaxseed oil, avoid cooking or exposing it to heat. Alpha-linoleic acid is easily oxidized with heat, making it less effective in controlling your cholesterol levels.
However, if you just want the protein, fiber and extra calories, cooking with flaxseed oil will not change the value and quality of these nutrients.
The interest on this “neglected food” has just been revived fairly recently, thanks to the resourcefulness of some nutrition experts who looked at ancient practices for inspiration to modern fitness trends.
Some of the most groundbreaking research that will uncover and prove the other benefits of flaxseed are yet to come; but so far, we already know that it is an excellent source of high-quality calories.
So go ahead, take advantage of the many benefits of this food and see how it helps you achieve your ideal weight.
