Flax – an Invariable SUPER Food

This past weekend, I spent a morning at Valley Flax Flour’s Middleton headquarters learning about a group of products that is getting some serious buzz amongst health-conscious eaters in Nova Scotia and beyond.

During my short period of time at the HQ, I obtained my phd in flaxology (note that “phd” is all lower case, it takes much longer to earn one’s PhD in flaxology). It helps when your teacher is a computer programmer turned professional chef turned registered dietician turned social entrepreneur. Howard Selig has been at the helm of Valley Flax Flour since 1998.

The company is deeply rooted in the beautiful Annapolis Valley town of Middleton, “the Heart of the Valley”. Valley Flax Flour currently shares its product with retailers and nursing homes across Canada and shares its success with the community in the form of job opportunities and support of local events and fundraisers.  

Turning a problem into an opportunity….
So, how did a registered chef get into small-scale commodity processing and distribution?

It started in 1997 with a problem Selig encountered while serving his dietician internship at a nursing home. In order to ensure residents were getting enough fiber, whole flax seeds were included in a number of menu items. The result was a barrage of complaints from residents about having flax seeds stuck in their teeth. As Plato once said, “necessity is the mother of invention”.

Having spent over 16 years as a certified chef, Selig knew his way around the kitchen. He came up with the idea of grinding up flax seeds into a finer consistency using a small coffee grinder – making them easier to incorporate into recipes and allowing for cleaner resident chompers – a win-win situation!

Things have grown substantially from there. Valley Flax Flour has gone from a practical change in diet planning to production of three major product lines available in Sobeys and other retail grocery outlets across the Maritimes… with big plans for expansion in the near future.

Flax – an invariable SUPER food!
Selig attributes the success of Valley Flax Flour to increasing public consciousness of healthy eating and a growing awareness of the health benefits of flax. Drawing on his background as a dietician, he shared with me a number of the benefits associated with flax – an invariable SUPER food due to its high levels of Lignans, Omega-3 fatty acids, fiber and protein.

Fast Flax Fact 1: A 2-tablespoon serving will give you 16% of your daily-recommended fiber requirement under the Canada Food Guide. Fiber helps keep you “regular” and is proven to fight off many types of cancer.
Fast Flax Fact 2: Omega-3 helps to fight inflammation. Studies have shown that those who suffer from arthritis have benefitted from increased consumption of flax.
Fast Flax Fact 2.1: Omega-3’s positive anti-inflammatory agents can be blocked by Omega 6, which is commonly found in things like margarine and vegetable oil…. so, to get the full benefit of Omega-3, avoid combining flax consumption with these products.
Fast Flax Fact 3: The lignans contained in flax help promote hair and fingernail growth… kiss those costly spray-on hair thickeners goodbye!

But does it taste good?
Of course, all the nutritional benefits in the world don’t mean a thing if a product doesn’t meet taste bud’s demands for delicious – just ask lima beans.

Selig and his team provide customers with a number of ways to make delicious, healthy foods with flax as a prime ingredient – they’ve got dozens of tasty recipes available for free on their website. I opted to take a few breakfast-related options for a test drive. It is, after all, the most important meal of the day.

The bluenose breakfast of champions
On Howard’s advice, I decided to make the ultimate flax-tastic breakfast, using a few recipes from Valley Flax Flour’s website, and incorporating some other Taste of Nova Scotia products I’ve come to know and love:

• Milk from Fox Hill Cheese House
• 100% wild blueberry juice from Van Dyk’s
• Natural smoked bacon from Meadowbrook Meat Market
• Maple syrup from Acadian Maple Products

As a big-time smoothie enthusiast, I decided to give the Blueberry Cooler smoothie a go, with a few custom additions of my own.

Smoothie
250ml Fox Hill milk
250ml Fox Hill vanilla yogurt
100ml Van Dyk’s 100% wild blueberry juice
20ml of golden Valley Flax Flour
and my own special ingredient – 20ml of Acadian Maple syrup (honey also serves as a great addition).

The result is a delicious, anti-oxidant and fiber-packed super smoothie!

I also put Valley Flax Flour’s newest product, Wheat Free Pancake Mix, to the test. I simply added some milk and an egg, and in no time, I was feasting on pancakes with a fluffy interior protected by a crispy crust. A fantastic, nutritious breakfast that was ready to go in under 20 minutes and left me feeling powered up to tackle my day.

If you are looking for an easy-to-use, healthy and versatile ingredient that is gluten-free and diet friendly, pick up a few Valley Flax Flour products on your next trip to the grocery store.