LSA, Linseed, Linseed Meal: Traps for Young Players

I've recently been introduced to the benefits of LSA. That is:

3 parts Linseed
2 parts Sunflower seeds
1 part Almonds

This was used by Sandra Cabot as a liver cleansing diet (although originally put together by a couple of other Australians, in the 80's).

Ok, so that's great. Soak, grind & add that to my diet, and we're away. Right? Wrong.

Turns out, I didn't have any linseed hanging around the place, just some linseed meal — I figure that's gotta be the same stuff, just ground up, so where's the problem?

One thing that juice fast taught me was to listen very, very closely to my body when I'm feeding it things, and I noticed that after having the LSA mix, something wasn't quite right. Basically ok, just a little off.

So I started doing some research.

Linseed is another term for flaxseed. Flaxseed is well known as a source of omega-3's, etc etc. So what's the problem?

Turns out linseed meal is a by-product of extracting the oil from flax/linseeds. Ie, it's what's left over after you take the oil away.

Now, linseed meal is fed to horses, and is still high in protein, so what gives?

Then I discovered this [pdf]. "The toxic action of linseed meal on trout". Turns out some scientists discovered that when you feed linseed meal (ie, the by-product, not the entire seed) to trout, it turns them black. And blind. And dead.

So. Entire seed, good. Meal, bad. Of Course! How Obvious! *facepalm*

It's a tricky world out there. Stay sharp kids!

July 18, 2008 | Posted in health |
  • http://www.neato.co.nz Christine D.

    Horse, is quite palatable. Horse food, it would seem, less so.

    (Which is not to say *all* horse food, of course; given there are all sorts of valid human-food that horses eat. Like carrots.. and apples..)

  • http://sidawson.org Si Dawson

    uhh.. yesss… :)

  • http://joelpitt.com Joel

    Heh, you've got to be careful relating to fish… since horses don't turn black and go blind when fed linseed meal and humans are closer in genetics/physiology to horses than to fish ;)

  • http://sidawson.org Si Dawson

    Generally I do agree with you. In this case though:

    1. I started the hunt because when I was having linseed meal it made me feel a bit 'off' (which I don't in the slightest when having linseed itself), and

    2. Horses are much bigger than fish.. and people.. so it may be messing with them too, just not to a significantly noticeable degree.

    Also — wasn't it the flatworm that we're 99% genetically similar to? You can draw some very disturbing conclusions if you start down that line of reasoning.. :)

  • http://joelpitt.com Joel

    I included physiology as well as genetics in the similarity measure :P

    Ok, I'll admit I have no evidence or knowledge of how it treats horses though, and they do have a large caecum which humans don't.

  • http://sidawson.org Si Dawson

    ha ha.

    I do think until "science" can come up with conclusive evidence one way or the other — and particularly given the wide variety in individuals' biological/metabolic systems, the best approach is simply to listen to one's own body.

    Mine says "ergh, no thanks" to linseed meal (on several occasions), but "hey, that's ok" to linseed. Ergo, that's probably a reasonable point.

    It's definitely smart to reproduce the experiments several times — and adjust for externals factors (eg, do it repeatedly over a period of days/weeks, while keeping the rest of your diet reasonably static), but ultimately, you're the person responsible for (and living with) your own health, so who better to listen to?

  • Nat

    You are an idiot!!!

  • Anonymous

    Hi I am a manufacturer of linseed meal and LSA, I feel you are generalising a little in regards to how these products are made. When we produce linseed meal the whole seed it put through a specific type of mill where the seed is not crushed but cut, which produces a dry meal containing all the nutrients found in the seed, we then keep the products under refrigeration to slow down the oxidation of the ground product as this will take place from the moment it is mealed. I would suggest buying linseed meal or LSA from retailers who refrigerate the products on display or at least sell the product quickly so you have the freshest product possible. I would suggest that it is possible you consumed old linseed which could have caused you to feel unwell. We have our product tested regularly for rancidity to ensure the product leaves our factory fresh.

    Kind Regards Ted
    Priority Health Pty Ltd

  • http://sidawson.org Si Dawson

    Oh! That's VERY interesting.

    And yep, you're bang on the money. The stuff I had wasn't refrigerated — it had just been sitting in my cupboard. It's quite possible that was indeed what was wrong with it.

    I don't recall the specific manufacturer it came from (this was some time ago), but if I recall correctly, it was just stuff I'd picked up from a bulk bin at a supermarket (or the local markets).

    MOST interesting information. Thank you very much.