Flax seed is a very powerful GI irritant, in addition to having very easily
oxidized fatty acids so it is highly prone to rancidity.  The GI irritant
effect is what makes it so popular as an ingredient in bread/muesli.  It
really gets you moving.   If it is not scrupulously fresh it does more harm
than good.  Rancid fat is bad for anyone.

Fish oil is a mixed bag.  If the fish were caught on the planet Earth then
there will be environmental toxins in the fish fat, which is what fish oil
is made from.  Unless the process used is good enough to remove dioxins and
PCBs, then fish oil is a totally unsuitable food for children and for women
of reproductive age, and should only be consumed in very moderate amounts by
anyone else.  If the fish oil has been properly treated so that toxins are
removed, then it is an excellent way to get DHA, vitamin D and vitamin A in
forms that are less likely to cause toxicity than when these vitamins are
given in multivitamin formulations based on water.

Cod liver oil continues to be the only dietary supplement recommended for
every person over the age of 5 weeks living in Norway.  I live in the very
southernmost part of the country and we now have daylight from about 9 -
3:30, and it's a month til the winter solstice when days stop getting
shorter and start getting longer.  It is not possible to get enough daylight
exposure to produce adequate vitamin D here.  Cod liver oil is not
allergenic.  There is no protein in it and fats are not known for inducing
allergy.  In fact, the presence of a higher proportion of omega-3 fatty
acids relative to omega-6 fatty acids in the maternal diet is thought to be
a possible mechanism for reducing allergy in breastfed children (and the
reverse proportion, with too much omega-6 relative to omega-3, is thought to
be a possible reason for increased allergy risk in *some* breastfed
children, according to Lars Hanson). 

Increasing the amount of omega-3 fatty acids in the maternal diet has been
shown to increase the amount of same in human milk.  This is seen as a Good
Thing, certainly not potentially risky.  I have no idea whether the GI
irritants from flax seed pass into breastmilk so don't know whether there
would be concern for GI effects on baby from a mother's use of flax seed
oil.    

Rachel Myr
Still wishing I owned stock in the cod liver oil company, in Kristiansand,
Norway

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