Seed
Food · Other · Food, Typed Supps
Grind them, or you get very little. The whole seed's shell survives digestion more or less intact.
Stage by stage
- Intake (Chewing rarely breaches the hull): Whole seeds are small and hard enough that teeth usually miss them; the ground form skips this problem entirely.
- Gut transit (Mucilage swells): Soluble mucilage absorbs water and adds bulk, which is the basis of linseed's effect on stool consistency — and why it needs fluid alongside it.
- Absorption (ALA and lignan precursors): Only milled seed releases its oil and lignans; gut bacteria convert the lignan precursors to enterolactone and enterodiol.
- Cardiovascular tissue (Limited conversion to EPA): ALA converts to EPA at roughly 5 to 10% and to DHA hardly at all, which caps how far linseed can substitute for fish.
Time to effect
- Days to weeks: Bowel regularity responds within a day or two; plasma fatty acid changes take several weeks of daily intake.
Allergens
None of the fourteen major allergens. May contain: Gluten, Peanuts, Sesame, Tree nuts. Derived from what this food is, not from a product label.
Eating patterns
Fits: Vegan, Vegetarian, Pescatarian, Halal, Kosher, Keto. Depends on the product: Low-FODMAP, Gluten-free.
Satiety
161 on the satiety index, where white bread is 100 — high. Modelled from the Holt et al. (1995) measurements.
Cost band
Mid — roughly £4 per kg, as a band midpoint rather than a price.
Key nutrients
Nutrition per 100g
- Calories: 450
- Protein: 21.6g
- Carbohydrate: 2.8g
- of which sugars: 1.5g
- Fat: 32.6g
- of which saturated: 3.3g
- Fibre: 32.9g
- Sodium: 60mg
Food vs. supplement
Against linseed oil capsules, ground seed supplies the same ALA plus 32.9g of fibre per 100g, the lignans and the magnesium — none of which survives into an oil. Against fish oil, the comparison fails on the point that matters: the fatty acid is different, and the conversion step in between is inefficient enough that no serving size closes the gap.
Kitchen tip
Grind what you need in a coffee or spice grinder and keep the rest whole. Whole seed is stable at room temperature for months because the hull is doing the protecting; the moment it is milled, that protection is gone and the meal belongs in the fridge or freezer.
Common myth
“Linseed is a plant-based replacement for fish oil.” In reality: It supplies ALA, which converts to EPA at roughly 5 to 10% and to DHA at close to nothing. It is a genuine omega-3 source and a poor substitute for the specific fats fish supplies ready-made.
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