If you want to improve your nutritional intake and get healthier by the day, flaxseeds need to be a part of your diet plan. Flaxseeds are great because they’re rich in dietary fiber, provide a good dose of protein, and also supply some omega-3 fatty acids to your diet. They’re also a relatively low carb food, so ideal for those who are using lower carb diet plans.

But how do you use flaxseeds? That’s the question. Most people don’t know how to incorporate them into their menu, so just tend to forget about them. That should change today. Here are four great ways to use more flaxseeds in your cooking. Note that all of these require ground flaxseeds, so that’s the form you’ll want to purchase them in.

Add Them to Smoothies

Perhaps the simplest ways to use flaxseeds is to simply just add them to your morning smoothie. Smoothies are a great way to get your nutritional needs met because you can virtually put anything you want in the smoothie — you have complete control.

Flaxseeds are great here as they blend up well and you’ll hardly notice they are in there.

Stir Them Into Oatmeal

Another option? Simply stir a tablespoon of flaxseeds into a bowl of oatmeal in the morning. Oatmeal is already a very low fat food, so the extra fat will help balance out this meal and make it more satisfying.

Again, as long as you choose to flavor your oatmeal with something else (some berries or sugar-free maple syrup for instance), then you won’t even notice a taste difference.

Bake Them Into Muffins

If you’re someone who’s constantly baking up muffins or squares, this also presents an opportunity to use flaxseeds as well. You will want to seek out recipes that call for flaxseeds specifically because mixing flaxseeds with water can produce an egg like consistency and could impact the end result of your baking. But as long as you research up some baked recipes that call for this ingredient, you should have no problem adding them to your day.

Use Them in Burgers

Finally, consider using them in burgers as well — or if you prefer, meatloaves. These recipes typically already call for an egg, so if you want to use flaxseeds to replace that, you’ll just need to mix together one tablespoon of flaxseeds with three tablespoons of water. Add this to your recipe and you’ll slash your cholesterol while increasing your fiber.

So don’t leave out flaxseeds. Start adding them to your day so you can reap these health benefits.

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