A resource for healing through good nutrition and clean body care
Omega Nutrition is an excellent resource for a number of healthy kitchen staples and body products. Their entire line of high quality, mostly organic culinary oils, therapeutic oils, soaps, pumpkin seed butter, and more, is very reasonably priced, making it a great one-stop-staple-shop.
I’m always eager to share a product line that helps to remove the cost barrier for people making the effort to create a healthier lifestyle, and especially love that shopping Omega Nutrition may inspire you to include pumpkin seed butter and oil—a little known super-food—into your diet!
Omega Nutrition’s Flax Oil is top-notch
As one of the first supplier’s of Flax Oil to North America, Omega Nutrition has had some time to perfect their process. Since 1987 they’ve been making therapeutic grade Flax Oil prepared in small batches utilizing a proprietary fresh-pressed, low temperature, expeller process called omegaflo®.
Because flax oil is largely made up of polyunsaturated fatty acids it’s very fragile and exposure to too much heat, oxygen and light during extraction will oxidize the oil, rendering it unhealthy. According to Robert Gaffeney, one of Omega’s founders and CEO, the omegaflo® process helps to protect the delicate essential fatty acids from those damaging effects.
With the same concern in mind, Omega oils are packaged in opaque BPA free, polyethylene (HDPE) plastic bottles to protect them from light throughout their shelf-life. My disdain of plastics makes me long for a UV protected amber glass option, but according to Robert, even the darkest of amber bottles, sitting on a grocer’s fluorescent-lit fridge shelf, will eventually allow the oils to become exposed to enough light to become rancid.
What I do like about the plastic bottles is that they help keep the cost down. Flax oil is a rather expensive food supplement that can play an important role in good nutrition, so it’s pretty exciting to be able to recommend a reasonably priced flax oil, that’s as carefully sourced as it is made.
Other decent, similarly priced brands (also packaged in opaque plastic bottles), like NOW, Barlean’s and Jarrow Formulas, may be a fine choice as well, but I feel more confident that as a smaller scale producer who’s primary focus is the production of these high quality oils, Omega Nutrition’s oils are more likely to be stable and as a result deliver the expected health benefits.
A variety of high quality culinary oils
In addition to Flax Oil, Omega Nutrition can also be your source for several other culinary oils for hot and cold preparations, all made with the omegaflo® cold-pressed extraction method:
- Coconut
- Avocado
- Olive
- Pumpkin
- Sesame
Aside from the surprisingly tasty Orange flavored Flax Oil, I also had a chance to try Omega’s oh-so delicious Pumpkin Seed Oil. It had a really nice nutty flavor, which was excellent on salads and gave a little richness, and a nutrition boost, to my smoothies.
Why should you incorporate EFA’s into your diet?
Essential Fatty Acids are necessary for healthy body function, but because our bodies can’t produce these nutrients on their own, we have to find ways of getting them through food sources. Even with an above average diet, chances are you’re not getting enough of the right EFA’s into your body each day. Just one to two teaspoons of Flax Oil per day could supply you with the necessary balance of omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids.
Flax oil is made up on average of 50% alpha-linolenic acid (ALA), an Omega-3 fatty acid which the body then converts into other fatty acids, such as eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), similar to the omega-3s found in fish.
Omega-3s are important to good health because they decrease inflammation in the body by protecting cell membranes and supporting proper cell function. As a result, some of the benefits of long-term daily use may include:
- Reduced inflammation in the joints, skin and kidneys
- Prevention of swelling and inflammation of the prostate
- Reduced inflammation and repair any intestinal tract damage
- Lowered cholesterol levels
- Improved bowel function
- Reduced nerve damage that results in numbness and tingling
Topically, Flax Seed oil can be used to soothe and reduce:
- Inflamed, itchy skin from eczema, psoriasis and rosacea
- Sunburns
- Acne and clogged pores
- Soften rough patches
Pumpkin Seed Superfood
Pumpkin seeds are yet another source of ALA, but they’re also packed with a whole lot of other nutritious goodies like zinc, magnesium, tryptophan, antioxidants, fiber, phytoestrogens and altogether have an anti-inflammatory effect on the body.
This is great news since Omega’s pumpkin seed butter and oil are both truly delicious. Unlike flax oil, the flavor adds an extra layer of robust richness to a savory or sweet dish rather than needing to be masked.
I’m sure you’ll love adding these pumpkin seed foods into your rotation of nut butters and salad dressing oils. You might even consider eating pumpkin butter in place of, not-so-healthy, peanut butter which contains carcinogenic aflatoxins! One thing to note with pumpkin seed oil–like any other long-chain fatty acid oil–never cook with it. Enjoy it any way you like, just keep it raw!
Last, but not least: Naturally Clean Body
Being in the business of oils, naturally Omega Nutrition expanded into creating a line of high quality Castile soaps. Their body soaps are all 100% natural and because they contain Essential Fatty Acids leave your skin supple and soft. I was even surprised to find that the All-in-One liquid soap did a good job with my hair. The bar soaps are especially nice on the body with their satisfying lather and pleasantly exfoliating texture made of ground flax that can be used for both body and face, leaving skin smooth without feeling dehydrated.
Buy
Access the entire line of products directly at Omega Nutrition.
Although there is a vendor on Amazon selling Omega Nutrition’s products under the name “Omega” this is not an authorized dealer, This is importnat especially with the oils, as you may be getting a product that is rancid and not handled properly! Buying directly from Omega Nutrition you’ll benefit from their excellent customer service, quick shipping and quality guarantee.
Omega Nutrition
from $3.50
Pros
- Quality Assurance
- Natural Ingredients
- Organic Ingredients
- Sustainabilty
- No-fillers
