Well: How to Add Flaxseed to Your Diet

 Andrew Scrivani for The New York Times

Flaxseed is credited with a number of health benefits, including better digestive health, lower cholesterol and fewer hot flashes during menopause. But how do you add flaxseed to your diet?

Most nutrition experts suggest adding ground flaxseed to breakfast cereal or yogurt. But in this week’s Recipes for Health, Martha Rose Shulman gets creative with flaxseed, offering delicious recipes that focus on the nutty flavor of toasted flaxseed.

Flaxseeds are harder than sesame seeds, so it’s a good idea to grind them — coarse or fine, depending on the recipe. That way, too, all the nutrition in flaxseeds is more readily available to the body. Keep what you don’t use in the refrigerator or freezer, as the oils in flaxseeds, like those in most nuts and seeds, will oxidize if not kept cold.

Besides using them in this week’s recipes, you can add ground toasted flaxseeds to yogurt, smoothies, granola and baked goods. You can sprinkle them on salads or mix them into salad dressings, or even stir them into mustard, mayonnaise or other sandwich spreads.

Here are five ways to cook and eat dishes with flaxseed.

Raspberry Crumble: When you bake raspberries in this crumble, the flavors deepen.

Banana Almond Flax Smoothie: This substantial smoothie is perfect following a high-energy workout.

Cornmeal and Flax-Crusted Cod or Snapper: These crisp fillets are a great way to work flaxseeds, toasted or not, into a main dish.

Flax and Mixed Grains Granola: Use toasted flaxseeds for this nutty, not-too-sweet granola.

Granola Bars With Chocolate: Inspired by a recipe from “Good to the Grain,” by Kim Boyce, and not too sweet.

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