In addition to all of the benefits hemp provides in the areas of fuel, construction materials, cleaning the air, improving soil quality, reducing the use of toxic farm chemicals, protecting forests, providing material for clothing, and localizing economies, hemp is an excellent source of nutrition.
Hemp seeds do not contain tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the psychoactive properties of the adult marijuana plant. There is often some very small amount of THC residue on the seed hulls from the flowers. But this is a minimal amount that would not contribute to a person getting high from consuming hemp seeds or hemp oil. It is also not enough to cause a person to fail a drug test, even if they were to consume hemp products every day.
Raw hemp seeds contain enzymes, which are essential to life. They also contain amino acids and essential fatty acids in the ratios humans need to maintain optimal health.
The amino acids in raw hemp seeds are of the highest quality. Amino acids are the building blocks of protein. The human body needs a constant supply of amino acids. Raw hemp seeds and the oil extracted from the seeds provide amino acids.
The body cannot maintain vibrant health without a continual supply of quality dietary amino acids.
People who follow a diet that is lacking in amino acids and essential fatty acids experience a less vibrant total physical appearance, which would include the skin, hair, nails, and eyes. Collagen protein is the most abundant protein in the body and is largely dependent on a constant supply of amino acids. Collagen is often cited as the protein that provides for skin health, strength, elasticity, and beauty. Collagen plays a part in the health of all body tissues, from the bones and teeth to the hair and nails. It also is present in the corneas and lenses of the eyes.
Raw hemp seeds provide the essential fatty acid and amino acid nutrients in the best form and at the best ratio for the body to maintain vibrant, strong, elastic, and healthy tissues.
Raw hemp oil also provides nutrients that maintain the collagen protein in the blood vessels, and that help to maintain a healthy cholesterol level. The essential fatty acids in raw hemp seed oil assists in the transference and metabolism of fat-soluble nutrients throughout the body. The globule edestins protein found in hemp is similar to the globulin of blood plasma that are essential to the formation of antibodies that fight off disease. Hemp seeds contain a ration of immune-boosting globulins higher than any other food plant. These are utilized as a nutrient when hemp is consumed and work in the formation of antibodies.
“Hemp seed oil appears to be one of nature’s most perfectly balanced EFA [essential fatty acids] oils. It contains both EFAs in the right proportion for long-term use, and also contains gamma-linolenic acid (GLA). It is the only vegetable oil with this combination.”
– Udo Erasmus, Fats That Heal, Fats That Kill; UdoErasmus.com
The gamma-linoleic acid (GLA) nutrient in raw hemp seeds is also found in mother’s milk. GLA is also present in black currant oil, borage oil, and primrose oil. GLA is good for the skin, hair, nails, and tissue growth, and it reduces inflammation. Along with all the other stellar quality nutrients in raw hemp seeds, the GLA content means milk produced from raw hemp seeds is an excellent food for babies (unlike soy milk, which is not so good for babies).
“Hemp seeds contain up to 24 percent protein. A handful of seed provides the minimum daily requirement of protein for adults.”
– Ed Rosenthal, Hemp Today, page 101
Raw hemp seeds are also a quality source of calcium, phosphorus, potassium, vitamin A, vitamin E, thiamin (B1), niacin, and trace nutrients including iron, manganese, magnesium, and zinc.
Heating hemp seeds degrades and/or destroys the nutrients in the seeds.
“You can basically divide (hemp seed nutrition) roughly into three components. There are essential fatty acids in the oil – omega-6, omega-3, omega-9 – and also minor fatty acids like gamma linolenic acid and stearidonic acid. So that’s one-third of its composition. Another one-third consists mostly of fiber, both soluble and insoluble. And it’s also one-third protein.
… There are some oils on the market – hemp oil, crushed from the hemp seed. Again, that has the same ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 – which it’s most known for – as well as the other omegas that I described, and we can talk more about that. So there are oils. People also take the entire seed and shell it – that is, take the shell off the inside and you then just have the soft interior. So you’re removing a lot of the carbs and leaving primarily protein and oil. Then you can make protein powders from them by removing the oil and milling the rest into something like flour, then sifting it to remove more of the carbs so that you’re left with a higher protein fraction. I make all of those products and I make them certified-organic. In addition to that, I incorporate hemp seeds into more commonly used foods, like energy bars and salad dressings.”
– Ruth Shamai, RuthsHempFoods.com; in interview with Mike Adams, Health Benefits of Hemp Foods, NewsTarget.com; August 23, 2005
Hemp oil contains more of the essential fatty acids than any food oil. In addition, no food oil provides the ideal balance of EFAs that hemp seeds provide. With a minimal 35 percent oil content, hemp seed oil is only 8 percent saturated fatty acid while also being 55 percent linoleic acid (Omega-6), 25 percent alphalinolenic acid (Omega-3), and 1.7 percent gamma linoleic acid (GLA: Super Omega-6). Hemp also contains stearidonic acid (an Omega-3). These constituents are essential to the human body in building a strong immune system. The linoleic acids found in hemp seeds are vital to the transfer of nutrients and oxygen throughout the body, to the health of cell membranes, and to the removal of toxins. The EFAs in raw hemp seeds also lower cholesterol, improve brain function, keep the joints healthy, and maintain nerve health.
You may have heard that the heart-healthy oils in fish are superior nutritional oils because they contain eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) (omega-3 fatty acids). But fish are often contaminated with heavy metals from polluted waters. Most fish on the planet are also over-fished. Many of the fish sold in markets come from fish farms, which are not sustainable, damage local environments, risk contaminating wild stocks, and are often fed unhealthful diets that include dye to make their flesh appear healthy. Farmed fish are also treated with antibiotics, which can play with your own immune system when you consume the farmed fish. Some of the ALA in hemp converts into EPA or DHA inside the human body, thus providing nutrients that can be obtained from eating fish. People don’t need to be killing fish to get those nutrients; raw hemp oil provides the nutrients in a way that is more healthful and sustainable.
According to research detailed in the book Fats That Heal, Fats That Kill by Udo Erasmus, deficiencies in essential fatty acids play a role in a variety of health problems, including allergies, arthritis, bone depletion, cancer, cardiovascular disease, depression, diabetes, glandular atrophy, hair and nail problems, liver disease, multiple sclerosis, poor wound healing, premenstrual syndrome, skin issues, sleep disorders, slowed brain function, sterility, stress, weakened immune system, and weight problems.
Because of its high unsaturated fat content, hemp seed oil should be refrigerated. It is not good for frying (fried foods are not healthful anyway), but is good for many other food uses, including as an ingredient in salad dressings, hummus, dips, spreads, and sauces. A growing number of baked foods found in natural foods stores contain hemp seed oil as well as hemp seed flour.
Hemp seeds can be used to make milk, which is of a better quality than soymilk. The high levels of plant estrogens in soymilk are not good for men. Hemp milk can be made by high-speed blending hulled raw hemp seeds combined with vanilla, water, agave syrup, and a pinch of sea or pink salt. For added minerals, I add a pinch of powdered dulse or kelp. Some people also blend in one or two raw Brazil nuts because the selenium in Brazil nuts is good for male fertility (but eating more than several Brazil nuts in a week can provide too much selenium, which can cause brittle nails, skin rashes, upset stomach, and other issues). The essential fatty acids in the raw hemp seeds as well as in the raw Brazil nuts help to increase testosterone. The amino acid profile combination of the hemp seeds and Brazil nuts are an excellent source of protein. The minerals in the Himalayan sea salt, and in the kelp, as well as those in the Brazil nuts combined with the globule edestins and raw enzymes of the hemp seeds provide other high quality nutrition. This hemp milk can also be blended with berries or other natural ingredients, such as powdered raw cacao, which provide antioxidants. This milk is nutritionally far superior to cow milk, and much safer for the environment.
Currently it is illegal to possess raw, live hemp seeds in the U.S. All whole hemp seeds that are brought into the U.S. must be heated or fumigated to kill them so that they can’t sprout. This damages the nutrients of the seed, greatly lowering the quality of some of the nutrients while killing others.
Vacuum-packed, raw, dehulled hemp seeds are available in many natural foods markets. These hemp kernels are of a color similar to sesame seeds, have a nutty flavor, and must be refrigerated to preserve the oils and nutrients that become less stable once the seed’s hull (outer layer) has been removed.
When a person purchases hemp seed oil at a natural foods store or other venue in the U.S., that oil has either been brought into the U.S. in oil form after the raw seeds have been pressed, or the oil is from seeds that were killed before they were brought into the country and then crushed for their oil once the seeds were imported. Many companies that make hemp oil then sell the leftover, fiber- and nutrient-rich crushed hemp seed “meal” to companies that make food products, including dog food.
It is better to consume raw hemp seed oil that was pressed from living seeds than it is to consume oil that has been heated, or that is from seeds that had been fumigated. The fresher the oil, the more healthful it is. The oil is fragile and breaks down easily when exposed to heat or light. Keeping it refrigerated in a dark glass bottle will help to preserve it.
If hemp were legal to grow in the U.S., the nutritional value of the oil would be of a higher quality and the price of the seeds would be lower. Farmers, the environment, wildlife, and people would all benefit from this on many levels.
“Hemp seeds contain 25 percent high quality protein and 40 percent fat in the form of an excellent quality oil.
… [Hemp seed oil] has a remarkable fatty acid profile, being high in the desirable omega-3s and also delivering some GLA (gamma-linolenic acid) that is absent from the fats we normally eat. Nutritionally oriented doctors believe all of these compounds to be beneficial to health.
Hemp oil contains 57 percent linoleic (LA) and 19 percent linolenic (LNA) acids, in the three-to-one ratio that matches our nutritional needs. These are the essential fatty acids (EFAs) – so-called because the body cannot make them and must get them from external sources.”
– Therapeutic Hemp Oil, by Andrew Weil, M.D., Ratical.com/Renewables/TherapHOil.html
“Of all the 300,000 species of plants on Earth, no other plant source can compare with the nutritional value of cannabis/hemp/marijuana seeds. It is the only plant on Earth that provides us with the number one source, and the perfect balance of essential amino acids, essential fatty acids, globulin edestin protein, and essential oils all combined in one plant, and in a form which is most naturally digestible to our bodies.”
– Jack Herer, author of The Emperor Wears No Clothes; JackHerer.com
“Studies by Dr. Joanna Budwig, M.D. (nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize every year since 1979) have shown unparalleled results in the use of essential fatty acids in the treatment of terminal cancer patients. What are essential fatty acids? The term ‘essential’ is the tip-off. Truly, there can be no life anywhere without the essential oils, linoleic and linoleic acids. These essential oils support the immune system and guard against viral and other insults to the immune system. Studies are in progress using the essential oils to support the immune systems with victims of HIV. So far they have been extremely promising.
What is the richest source of the essential oil? Yes, you guessed it, the seeds of the cannabis hemp plant. The seeds contain 25 percent LNA acid and 51 percent LA acid. What better proof of the life-giving values of the now illegal seed.
Fortunately, when the Creator made the hemp plant there were no politicians and lobbies for multinational corporations around to advise, and no ignorant congressional committees sitting in executive session to declare it illegal.
What the world needs now is intelligent legalization of cannabis hemp, especially for medical intervention.”
– William Eidelman, M.D., UCLA and R. Lee Hamilton, Ed.D, Ph.D. Medical Researchers-Biochemists, UCLA Emeritus, March 20, 1992
But why is hemp illegal, and how and when did that happen? I’ll get to that. First, lets talk about…