Flaxseed & Low Carbs

Many consumers are asking an important question about flax: What benefits does flax offer to consumers of low-carbohydrate diets? Plenty, as it turns out. The health benefits that make flax good in regular diets make it good in low-carbohydrate diets.

Flax is Low in Digestible Carbohydrates
Low-carbohydrate diets count only the "digestible" or available" carbohydrates like simple sugars and starch in food. Flax is very low on available carbohydrates. Because one tablespoon of ground flax contains only 0.1g of available carbohydrate, flax fits in the low-carbohydrate diet. [read more about it: flax & low carbs-PDF]

Flax is a Low GI Food
Low-carbohydrate diets limit the intake of high glycemic index foods but allow for a few low GI foods. Because flax is low in available carbohydrate, it would be expected to have a low GI value like meat, poultry, fish, cheese, eggs, avocados and salad vegetables, which also contain little or no carbohydrate. [read more about it: flax & low carbs-PDF]

Flax is a Good Source of Dietary Fibre
One criticism of low-carbohydrate diets is their low dietary fibre content. Ground flax contains 2.2 g of dietary fibre per tablespoon and can add a significant amount of dietary fibre to low-carbohydrate diets. [read more about it: flax & low carbs-PDF]

Go with Flax
Low-carbohydrate diets appear to achieve greater short-term (six-months), but not long-term weight loss (12 months). What's needed now is more evidence showing that low-carbohydrate diets are safe and help people keep excess weight off in the long-term. Regardless of the carbohydrate content of the diet, there are good reasons to eat flax.

Download the complete 2-page article here(flax & low carbs-PDF)
Source: Flax and the Low-Carbohydrate Diet. Flax Council of Canada. www.flaxcouncil.ca.