#FIBERMAXX: ground flax seed maxxing.

After 10 years on them, my hip surgeon took me off my continuous low dose birth control six weeks before surgery this past December, and I never went back on them after that. So, I'm approaching the six month mark without The Pill.

Prior to being sent over to orthopedics for my hip, I was sent to a pelvic floor therapist, who put me on Benefiber for my digestive and high cholesterol issues. I took Benefiber for a few months, until I realized there were cheaper, easier ways to boost my fiber intake.

Ground flax seeds have been a staple of my pantry since my allergy diagnoses, because I use them as a binder in my baked goods and loaf/patty/balls kind of food situations in place of eggs. But my pelvic floor therapist mentioned in passing (pun not intended, but heh) that a number of her patients like stirring ground flax seeds into their yogurt into the morning. Oh?

My breakfast every day since then had been 1/3 cup dairy-free plain coconut yogurt for the probiotics, 2 tablespoons of ground flax seeds for the prebiotics, and a teaspoon of either raw honey for more probiotics, or grade B maple syrup for the minerals. It's somewhere around 230 calories total, and heavy on the good fat, protein, and fiber, as well as Omega 3's, iron, and potassium.

My go-to bedtime snack has been the same amount of flax seed stirred into the same amount of cinnamon applesauce. It's the easiest apple crisp ever. It's also very filling - I'm sure everyone's seen flaxseed gel before. This might be the best diet hack I've found so far.

The other thing about flax? It's phytoestrogenic. That means that it's a plant source of estrogen. Now, I've talked to people on Reddit's Perimenopause forum who have had very bad experiences with the phytoestrogens in flax seed. I myself had lipidema issues for decades thanks to an un-fermented soy heavy diet in puberty when I had a soy allergy. If you have a seed allergy, or an existing estrogen imbalance, don't think this will work exactly like it works for me. As with all health things, talk to your doctor and nutritionist and all that. And I highly recommend allergy testing for everyone.

But for me? August will be the true test, but I'm not sweating like I used to. I... may be able to skip HRT?? 🤞🏼🤞🏼 I believe August is also the next time I see my PCP and have blood work done, and I'm actually excited to see my cholesterol numbers this time!