Put linseeds in your brekkie and you'll live forever!

13 February 2012 the mighty Sue Perkins tweeted (@sueperkins):

"Mate: 'put linseeds in your brekkie, you'll live forever'. Great, an eternity of eating porridge that tastes like a liquidised cricket bat"

Now lets just pretend the second half of that tweet was one big typo and YES! Linseeds are in fact the philosopher's stone of seeds. In ones quest for immortality, linseeds are the answer!

Disclaimer: Linseeds to my knowledge do not hold any magical and or hold any life lengthening properties...sorry.

But linseeds are good for your tummy. So good in fact the NHS actually recommends them. 

So my number one, ultimate, all time favourite morning breakfast is the simple, sturdy and under appreciated.... 

Porridge with linseeds

Ingredients:

• Porridge
• 2 tbs of ground linseeds
• Rice Milk (or whatever milk you can tolerate)

Additional extras:

• Brown sugar (unless you are already sweet enough...)

OR if you don't fancy being quite so hands on, the lovely people at Flax Farm have mixed it all up for you and is available to buy online.

1. Grind linseeds! For this you have two options, manual or electric.

Manual: This is where I started. I liked the pestle and mortar. It made me feel all fancy, professional even, like I was making my Gran proud. But you know what I didn't like? The pure PAIN and arm ache this brought to my morning routine. Initially though I stuck with it, imagining I'd soon have toned arms to rival Michelle Obama. But I was weak, I couldn't handle the 15 minutes bashing routine and my arms remained less than spectacular. Plus I'm not a morning person, so this really did not help.

So I admitted defeat and tapped "seed grinder" into Google and low and behold....

Electric: Hello mini grinder! It's little, kinda looks like a bullet, and this baby is packing 150W. I've had it since August 2011 and it's yet to fail me. So for £15 I think it is very reasonable.

And it transforms my linseeds...

The more you bash em, whizz em, crunch em, the better they are for your belly. So I whizz up a whole packet, put them in a container and dispense each and every morning into my bowl. Simple!

2. Mix linseeds with however much porridge your morning appetite dictates.

3. Add appropriate amount of rice milk.

4. Heat in microwave for approximately 2 minutes. Or simmer on stove on a low heat for 5 minutes. Stir frequently to prevent it from burning.

Now if anyone at this point mutters "It kinda looks like sick...", hit them. Give them a loving thawk from me. Because they are a limited breakfast eating individual. Just because it doesn't have Tony the Tiger roaring "It's grrrrrrrrrrreat" over it, doesn't mean its not. 

This breakfast has transformed how my tummy feels in the morning. And it fills me up till lunch! I don't snack at all, just gimmie a cuppa tea around 11am and I'm good till lunch. So you know what that means? Not only is your tummy happy, but you are looking good and healthy due to having no desire for naughty mid morning snacks. Win win people!

But don't just take my word for it, a wise, wise man called David Nicholson once said: 

"Ground flaxseeds...are the best form of fibre for IBS sufferers. The fibre in the outer husk is able to absorb very large amounts of water, causing it to swell and form a soothing gel. Within the inner seed of flax there is a good supply of omega-3 essential fatty acids, which are known to support the immune and digestive systems. The flaxseed should be ground, otherwise the outer husk will not be broken down and the EFAs will pass out of the body."

So this does mean it is important to have a large glass of water or whatever your preferred morning liquid is with your brekkie. But this is no bad thing (the health benefits really do come thick and fast with this breakfast), as a large glass of water in the morning:

• Flushes out the kidneys. 
• Prepares the stomach for food by stimulating the glands on its walls. 
• Helps the bowels move regularly and naturally. 

This ritual is one to stick with, because it helps give you clear skin too. See, I told you this breakfast was good.

Anyway so back to the breakfast...

Eat, enjoy and have a great day!

But before I go, I will leave you with one final linseed fun fact:

"A mere table spoon of linseed is the health equivalent in lignans, vitamins, minerals and antioxidants of 30 cups of broccoli"

30 CUPS OF BROCCOLI! Can you imagine eating 30 cups of broccoli every day! Well of course not, as broccoli falls into the 'restricted' section of the FODMAP diet...but still! Linseeds are a powerhouse of nutrition, and I think they're great.

Love,

FODMAP free 

x

P.s. What's your 'go-to' breakfast? Do you have the arm power to handle the pestle and mortar?