Flax oil is the best source of omega-3 fatty acids and we are deficient in these while we eat too many omega-6 fatty acids. Very few foods have much omega-3 content and red meat is full of saturated fat and cholesterol. Flax oil is a much better choice than fish oil for a lot of reasons. Any studies on fish oil equally apply to flax oil since the active ingredient is, in fact, omega-3 fatty acids. Definitely you want to take 1 to 2 grams of flax oil a day rather than fish oil. Also, the advice to eat a lot of fatty fish like salmon and tuna is simply very impractical for a lot of reasons; you’ll never get enough omega-3s that way. Grinding up flax seeds is another impractical way to get your omega-3 fatty acids every day. This is the best source of information on the internet. They are a fine company, but you can get a better deal on flax oil from several other sources. Please keep this refrigerated, as it will spoil. You cannot cook with flax oil or it will break down but you can use it on your salads if you wish. There are so many studies in international clinics published in major medical journals on the proven benefits of flax (and fish) oil in humans that it is rather overwhelming.

These studies can really be impressive. In Progress in Neuro-Psychopharmacology & Biological Psychiatry (how’s that for a title?) Volume 26 in 2002 a fascinating study on hyperactive children was done. Children with ADD (attention deficit disorder) who were hyperactive were given fatty acids that are contained in flax oil. They should have simply been given the flax oil to make the study more practical and economical since the individual fatty acids like EPA are unnecessarily expensive. Children 8 to 12 years old were given these omega-3 supplements with no other treatment and improved significantly in just two weeks. Isn’t this an infinitely better choice than doping them up with amphetamines? That’s right; the doctors, teachers, parents and social workers routinely dope children with ADD up with amphetamines. Ironically enough these powerful stimulants depress activity in children who have not reached puberty. If you or I went to a schoolyard and gave children amphetamines, we would probably be jailed for the rest of our lives. This doping of children is prevalent all over the United States, but seems unknown in Europe and other countries.

While looking thru the very good journal Nutrition and Cancer 2001 (volume 39) a study at Oxford University in England found that flax will actually lower dangerous estrogen levels in women. This is just amazing. The only other supplements that are known to lower estrogen levels are DIM (di-indolyl methane) and I3C (indole-3-carbinol) from cabbage and other such vegetables (DIM is twice as strong and, thus, half the price). Postmenopausal women were given flaxseed (flax oil would have been much more convenient and easier to take) and their levels of toxic estrone and estradiol fell significantly, but not their levels of good estriol. Contrary to the conventional wisdom American women are generally up to their ears in estrogen, and this largely explains the epidemic rates of estrogen caused cancers such as breast, uterine, ovarian and cervical. The other hormones were not affected. There is no reason to think the same mechanism does not operate in men as well.

While researching diabetes there were many references to using flax oil. At the Center for Diabetes in Begamo Italy (Clin. Ter. 1994. v. 144) the clinicians said, “Omega-3 administration would appear advisable in insulin dependent diabetics with increased cardiovascular risk factors.” There were many other such references. There are many proven values to taking flax oil including diabetes, women’s health in general, coronary heart health, cholesterol, diabetes and even various cancers such as breast and prostate. A low fat diet is vital, but taking a mere gram or two of flax oil daily will do wonders for your health in many ways.

Flax oil has some VERY positive results out of the sack; Google for book "How To Fight Cancer And Win!"

I got my standard Stateside breakfast from that book:
About 1/4 cup freshly ground flaxseed - use a chopping-mill coffee grinder to grind this up
Topped with a sliced banana or your choice of fresh fruit (mango is nice)
Topped with a cream made of:
2 tablespoons cold-pressed flax oil
4 ounces cottage cheese
3 tablespoons milk (to make this blend creamy)
2 tablespoons honey (for sweet taste)
(All blended together with a stick blender)

It's a tasty breakfast - and look at all of that flax oil! Since linoleic acid (the omega-3 in flaxseed oil) will emulsify cholesterol at body temperature, I can hope it's scavenged any LDL out of my arteries. And it's good otherwise, as the post indicates.

I don't know where I'd find cold-pressed flaxseed oil in South America, but a reasonable amount of ground flaxseed will give you all the omega-3s that you can handle.