Flaxseed benefits and how to incorporate them into your diet | Flaxseeds for menopause

​Healthy eating is easier said than done!  We all have good intentions, we fill the cupboards with fresh produce and health foods, then fail to maintain our new habits, lose interest and drift back to our old habits.  Does that sound familiar?  Don't be too hard on yourself, the best approach is to incorporate small, sustainable changes slowly.  Don't plan to change everything all in one go, start with a few ideas here and there and when you have established one habit, move onto the next!

I am managing to transform my habits, with the help of Jo and Anya who run a facebook based membership group called Menu & Mind, I am learning new recipes and ideas and adding them into my every day life.  I'm even cooking a vegan meal for (outdoors) guests on Monday!

Incorporate small, easy changes to your diet, don't try to do everything at once!

So what simple things can we do, as peri or post menopausal women, to start introducing healthier habits?

Alice who runs a nutrition consultancy Alice Godfrey Nutrition recently wrote a guest blog post for my readers.  In it she suggested including flaxseeds into your diet.  Alice said "Flaxseeds can be brilliant at bringing balance back to our hormone levels as they are a phytoestrogen so can replace the functions of some of the oestrogen we lose in menopause. And flaxseeds are a wonderful fibre and healthy fat which are important when there is low thyroid function."

At a glance, the benefits of flaxseeds include:

High in Omega-3 fatty acids.
High in fibre, excellent for digestion and aiding constipation.
Helpful in managing weight.
An antioxidant.
Full of nutrients and high in protein.
Good for helping with the symptoms of peri menopause.

So how do we include them in our diet?

Well a few months ago Linwoods got in touch with me and sent me a hamper to try out.  Linwoods have made healthy eating convenient and accessible to everyone with their comprehensive range of health food blends.  They are available to buy in supermarkets and online, not just in a health food shop!  Which makes it so much easier.  In my local Waitrose they have a massive selection or take a look at Ocado.

Linwoods range of healthy seeds, nuts and berries has now grown to include over 15 different premium blends and healthy seed snacks.  Their superfood combinations are convenient, easy and a quick way to add essential fatty acids, vitamins and minerals into our diet.

You can simply add one of their blends to a smoothie, sprinkle onto porridge, add to a yoghurt or a favourite cereal.  Or you can use  them to bake healthy but delicious snacks.

Linwoods sent me a selection of different options to sample - you can see them on the photo below.

Linwoods have over 15 different premium blends and healthy seed snacks

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The Flaxseed, Chia Seed with Apple & Cinnamon (far right) is a really easy one to add to a simple porridge, I have used this one the most so far.  Just add to a porridge for a bit of flavour and top with fruit.   And cinnamon is a great healthy addition to our diet, it may suppress appetite, regulate blood sugar levels and speed up metabolism. 

I have experimented with some recipes, first of all I asked Jo at Time to Nourish / Menu & Mind for a recipe to include the shelled hemp seeds - and she suggested her Crunch Granola Bars - you can find the recipe here.  The bars are packed full of protein and are low in sugar compared to the shop bought equivalent.  Bursting with nutrient dense ingredients they are easy to make and provide an ideal on the go snack or quick breakfast.  My husband liked these and that is a good test as he isn't usually too keen on anything healthier!  I loved them and will make again.

My daughter tried out the Banana Porridge Bread recipe from Linwoods.  This one used the Flaxseed with Bio-Cultures and Vitamin D (and we all need to be increasing our Vitamin D at the moment)!  The results were really good, tasty, the bread is quite heavy but I loved it lightly toasted with a little bit of butter or jam.  Another fabulous snack or breakfast.

And finally I made some porridge using the Blueberry Coconut Oats recipe from the Linwoods recipe page.  This was a really simple, quick and healthy, and tasty, breakfast option.

So next time you are in the supermarket or shopping online, have a little look at these healthy blends from Linwoods.  A very easy way to make small changes to improve your diet and a really positive ingredient to help us in midlife with hormones and menopause in mind.

​I hope you all have a lovely Easter weekend!
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Love from
Michelle xx
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Disclaimer: Linwoods sent me a hamper of their health blends to try out, I was under no obligation to write a blog post but they are products I have used and loved in the past so am very happy to recommend.

Further reading ...
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For more details of Menu & Mind with Jo and Anya, take a look here.
Alice Godfrey Nutrition is offering readers of my blog a free 'health goals planning' call, you can find out more on my blog post here.
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​My contribution to Jo's blog at Less is More - Most Used Kitchen Items

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It is a way to connect with other bloggers and share content and hopefully for me to be found by others and for my followers to discover new blogs!

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