The Uses And Processing Of Flax

Flax is a fairly tall and slender plant that features vivid green leaves and vibrant pale blue flowers. Flax, both in its pure plant form as well are from its seeds and fibers, has an astonishing array of uses. Flax is used in such diverse applications as foodstuffs, clothing, medications and nutritional supplements, and flax once even has some automotive uses before the advent of automotive synthetics. While flax can be grown in a wide variety of locations, it is most commonly produced commercially in northern Europe, most notably in Ireland and several of the former members of the Soviet Union.

The seeds of the flax plant are used in a number of ways. For instance, the oil of the flax seed is useful as a drying agent in various kinds of paints and varnishes. Additionally, since flax seed oil is high in omega-3 fatty acids (an important nutrient found most commonly in fish that is lacking in many American diets) the extract of the flax seed can be used as a source of Omega-3 either in its pure form or, more commonly, as a component of a nutritional supplement. Flax seed can also be eaten, and many cultures have utilized it as a food source, as well as for livestock feed. Flax extract can also be used as a binding agent and can therefore replace eggs in baking recipes.

Flax finds most of its more visible uses through the production of flax fiber. For example, a major component of the fabric linen is flax fiber. It is believed that humans have been using flax fiber to make clothing for thousands of years, so it is clear that flax fiber has some serious staying power. Flax fiber is extracted from the derma of the flax stem, and it is used in products such as clothing, rope, bank notes, and even cigarette papers.

Flax is primarily cultivated in northern Europe. Flax is harvested while still green as the quality of flax fiber quickly declines once the flax seeds reach maturity. Unlike many other agricultural products, flax is not cut--rather, flax is pulled up from the ground with the roots intact in order to achieve the maximum fiber length. After harvest, flax undergoes threshing. Threshing involves the use of machines to separate out the important parts of the flax plant--the wood, the fiber, and the seed.

Flax is one of the most diverse cultivated plants in the world. The uses of flax and flax by-product range from food and nutritional supplements to the use of its fibrous components in ropes, twine, and clothing. While flax is rarely consumed directly (though parts of the flax plant are edible), the seeds as well as flax seed extract are a common component in many foods.

Help Your Immune System Fight Diseases With Natural Health Medicine

The benefits of taking care of yourself are some of the rewards you get from knowing that you are doing the best for your body. This includes the most important part of your body--the part which is in fact a mechanism that protects your body: your immune system.

Your immune system protects you against viruses, bacteria, and toxins. And to ensure that your body keeps doing all these things and more, you need to take good care of it. This includes taking precautions against diseases; and helping your body when you do get infected with diseases.

That is why only the best will do. Before you begin to incorporate a natural health lifestyle into your everyday life, you should first start to learn what options are available for you.

Natural health medicine is one of part of the pool of many medicines available in the natural health market. Because of its natural, anti-bacterial effects, many people are using in favor of traditional medicine to cure their illnesses.

Natural health medicine is good in that it has a harmonious effect. It does not act as a drug, but more as a supplement for all your bodies needs. You know that you are giving your body the best of that nature has to offer; rather than bombarding it with chemicals that will harm it as much as help it.

Natural health medicine does not cause drowsiness and it works with the body to help you get better. The most-praised element of natural health medicine is that it is made from natural ingredients. And these ingredients enhance your body's effectiveness to work for you.

When you know what is at stake, you understand that natural health medicine can give you that ultra boost you need to get your body in the best defenses shape possible.

In addition to everything else, you will not suffer side-effects when you take natural health medicine; instead, the medicine will help your body to heal without harming it simultaneously.