Get Healthy With Hemp: Hemp History Week
May 24, 2013
If you keep up on current nutrition trends and health news, surely you’ve read about hemp. It’s a sustainable and versatile seed known as a nutritional powerhouse. June 3rd is the start of the fourth annual Hemp History week. Learn more about some of the well known endorsers like Andrew Weil, Ziggy Marley and Alicia Silverstone. Their mission is to change the outdated federal policy – created in the 1930’s – that currently prevents U.S. farmers from growing this nutritious, versatile, healthy and eco-friendly crop.
With all this talk of hemp, have you explored it or tried it? Hemp seeds can be used in cereals, smoothies, baked items, and breads among other things. There’s even hemp milk and hemp ice cream.
Health Benefits of Hemp:
There are several benefits to hemp.
- Hemp is an amazing source of non-meat protein.
- The omega fatty acids in hemp are a perfect ratio of omega 3’s to omega 6’s.
- Unlike some other exceptional healthy super foods, you don’t need to soak, grind or do anything major to hemp.
Where to Buy Hemp:
You can buy hemp seeds at any health food store. Fresh seeds should be similar to sunflower seeds in smell and taste. Be sure to look for hulled seeds. Once purchased, you can store hemp seeds up to a year at room temperature and longer in the refrigerator.
Cooking With Hemp:
There are a variety of uses for hemp, but it is easily burned, so be careful when cooking it. Here are some ways to enjoy your hemp:
- Sprinkle a tablespoon or 2 over a salad or pasta salad, or even yogurt.
- Mix it into trail mix, cooked grains or hot cereals like oatmeals.
- Use it in smoothie as well (a more powered version works for this).
- Ground hemp seeds can be used mixed with water to replace eggs in a recipe (like muffins or breads) much as ground flax seed can.
Other Uses For Hemp:
It’s not just for food. You can also find hemp in body care creams, lip balms, and salves for it’s superb emolliency. Other uses include:
- Several green companies encourage using hemp instead of cotton for clothing.
- Several car companies are using hemp composites in door panels.
- Energy efficient homes are built using hemp concrete.
With all these health and green benefits, it’s shocking that the grain cannot be grown in the United States. You can take action by visiting HempHistoryweek.com, writing or calling your your State Representative or Senator, or finding an event near you. Imagine if America could grow some of this crop that already has 452 million in U.S. sales?
