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UVSS HEMPOLOGY 101 CLUB LESSON #4 : HEMP PRODUCTS - Part 2 |
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Seeds of the hemp plant contain all the essential amino acids and essential fatty acids necessary to maintain healthy human life. No other single plant source provides complete protein nutrition in such an easily digestible form. More importantly, hempseed contains the oils essential to life in a perfect ratio for human health and vitality. Hempseed oil (35% of total seed weight) is the richest source in the plant kingdom of these Essential Fatty Acids (EFAs). The lustrous oil contains 80-81% EFAs, and is among the lowest is saturated fat content, at 8% of total oil volume. Marijuana seeds are nature’s perfect food for humanity. Chris Bennett, GREEN GOLD, THE TREE OF LIFE, MARIJUANA IN MAGIC AND RELIGION, 1995. As a result of their proven low THC content, Health Canada has approved 27 cultivars or varieties of industrial hemp for the 2006 growing season (1). Cultivated plants usually consist of a single main stalk and a growth of leaves, with the potential to grow to up to 7 metres (21 ft) in height. However, hemp plants usually reach heights between 2 and 4.5 metres (6-15 ft), with a period of seeding to harvest ranging from 70 to 140 days, depending on the purpose, variety, and climatic conditions. One hectare of hemp can yield an average of 800 kg of grain which in turn can be pressed into 200 litres of oil and 600 kg of meal. The same hectare will also produce an average of 6 tonnes of straw which can be transformed into approximately 1.5 tonnes of fibre. Agricultural and Agri-Foods Canada, CANADA’S INDUSTRIAL HEMP INDUSTRY web page. Hemp oil contains 57% linoleic (LA) and 19% 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. The best sources are oils from freshly ground grains and whole seeds, but EFAs are fragile and quickly lost in processing. EFAs are the building blocks of longer chain fats, such as eicosapentaenoic (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) that occur naturally in the fat of cold-water fish like sardines, mackerel, salmon, bluefish, herring, and, to a lesser extent, tuna. Adding these foods to the diet seems to lower risks of heart attacks because omega-3 fatty acids reduce the clotting tendency of the blood and improve cholesterol profiles. They also have a natural anti-inflammatory effect that makes them useful for people with arthritis and autoimmune disorders. Andrew Weil |
Hemp helps the planet because it is a sustainable grown agricultural plant, not requiring gross amounts of chemical pesticides and fertilizers as cotton for example. It can be, and is, grown in cold climates such as northern Alberta and in tropical areas of Asia. Canadian farmers tell me how they like growing this crop because it is generally easy to tend. Banned since the 1930's in the "free world", as we called it before the fall of the Soviet Union, because of its relationship to its cousin plant, marijuana, hemp is slowly re-emerging as a crop which can be used as a nutritious food, healthy skin care product, paper maker, and a strong, natural textile for clothes. Canadian farmers are now allowed to grow hemp, but their American counterparts are not. Since Canada has no textile manufacturing plant, our farmers have no market for their crops except in seed and oil production. By far the largest source of hemp textile material in the world is China. For 10,000 years the Chinese have used this plant for food and clothing, and two thousand years ago, they invented paper using hemp fibres. There are some Eastern European hemp textiles, but to make comfortable soft clothing my company sources hemp, hemp/cotton and hemp/silk blends of fabrics from China. So, my dilemma: Do I join the Canada Tibet Committee in boycotting all Chinese made products? Or do I retain my environmental agenda of introducing hemp as a better choice to the more degrading cotton ad petrochemical nylon type fabrics and continue to use Chinese hemp? Bill Finley – owner of H&C and Shift Natural Fashion, Hemp & Company web-page. Industrial hemp is the number one biomass producer on earth, meaning an actual contender for an economically competitive, clean burning fuel. Hemp has four times the biomass and cellulose potential and eight times the methanol potential of its closest competing crop - corn. Burning coal and oil are the greatest sources of acid rain; biomass fuels burn clean and contain no sulphur and produce no ash during combustion. The cycle of growing and burning biomass crops keeps the world’s carbon dioxide level at perfect equilibrium, which means that we are less likely to experience the global climactic changes (greenhouse effect) brought about by excess carbon dioxide and water vapours after burning fossil fuels. hemp.co.uk |
