AP Barry Bonds

In yesterday's Barry Bonds indictment, the words "flax seed" appears six times. It is, after all, flax seed oil that Bonds claims he thought he was using instead of steroids.

While Bonds might have never used flax seed oil or tried eating flax seeds, many have surely become curious from its mention in Bonds related stories. And its worth mentioning that flax is hotter than ever before.

"We've doubled our revenues since last year," said Stephanie Stober of www.flaxusa.com, based in Goodrich, N.D. "When we started this business eight years ago, nobody even knew what flax was."

Sales really can't be linked to Bonds, of course. Though the flax boom does correspond to its mentioning on the sports pages. According to a tracking firm called Data Monitor, flax was in 220 foods and beverages in North America in 2000 and five years later that number increased to 630 products. Just look at the folks from Flax USA. They have everything from roasted flax seeds to its newest product, Flax Sprinkles! ("Just shake on food or drink, it's that easy.")

The reason for the boost comes from the fact that flax has those important Omega-3 fatty acids and in recent years it has been linked to helping aid menopause in women, prostate health in men, reduce the risk of diabetes, lower cholesterol and a spanking new study says it helps ward off dementia .

As I'm reading more and more about flax, I'm starting to think, maybe Barry really should have taken this stuff. Hey, it probably could have helped him hit home runs, too.

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