Weight gainers and shakes are just more convenient ways of getting total calories in your diet. Whole food is always prefered. Stick to whole eggs, milk, red meat, yams, and anything else you can get in that's relatively clean. In between meals if you want a MuscleMilk shake go right ahead. You can probably save some cash and just buy a whey protein powder and get your EFA's from Olive Oil, fish and nuts instead. Forget about Flax. Just eat and lift heavy weights.