Nova Scotia dietician introduces flax flour to long-term care sector
Wednesday, March 30, 2005 - Natalie Miller
In the kitchen of his Nova Scotia home, Howard Selig produced his first few cases of flax flour by grinding the seeds in a counter-top coffee grinder.

As the popularity of using flax flour in the kitchens of Canada’s long-term care homes grew, so did Howard’s operation. He now produces the flax flour through milling equipment and supplies about 120 long-term care homes, as well as retailers. Howard, a registered dietician, is the president of Valley flax flour Limited.

In late 1997 and early 1998, Howard was working as the dietician with North Queens Nursing Home in Nova Scotia. At the time, the dietary department was looking at ways to reduce the amount of pharmaceutical bowel care medications used. Staff introduced prune juice, prune puree, applesauce, water and whole flax seeds.

“Flax has a long history of being used for bowel care,” says Howard in a telephone interview with the OMNIway.

After awhile, residents turned up their noses at the flax seeds because of their appearance and texture, Howard says. Success came in the form of using a blender to grind the seeds into a texture similar to whole-wheat flour. When Howard’s contract ended, he told staff he would grind the seeds and ship the flour to them.

Word spread and there was “enthusiasm” from other nursing homes in the area about the flax flour. “Nursing homes needed a source of ground flax,” says Howard. His company now provides flax flour to health care facilities through wholesale distributors.

Flax, aside from being rich in dietary fibre, contains omega-3 fat, which may protect against cancer and heart disease, according to the Flax Council of Canada. Flax also contains protein which aids in skin care management. “Flax does happen to have a number of good health benefits,” Howard says.

A survey was conducted in 2000 of 10 nursing homes in Nova Scotia that introduced a bowel care program using flax flour. The average amount of flax flour consumed was one tablespoon per resident per day. Among the benefits noted were improved regularity and a decline in the use of pharmaceutical laxatives and enemas – a reduction of up to 80 per cent was reported in one nursing home.

Two OMNI homes are currently using flax flour in their kitchens, incorporating the product into residents’ diets daily. Flax flour is typically mixed into residents’ breakfast cereals, juice or spread as a condiment on toast. Andrea Smith, Garden Terrace’s former nutritional care manager, interned with Howard in Nova Scotia and brought the program to the Kanata long-term care home.

OMNI is now hoping to roll out the program at all of its 16 long-term care homes. Currently, Howard supplies about 20 Ontario long-term care homes with flax flour.