Why is HEMP a Better Option?

Hemp a Better Option: As one of the oldest agricultural crops grown by man, hemp has stood the test of time. It’s seed food and stalk fiber has been utilized for centuries. The hemp seed is one of the most perfectly balanced foods we can eat. Clean eating, straight from Mother Nature, not a synthetic supplement.

The seed comes from a natural grown plant, cannabis sativa L, that is not a Genetically Modified Organism (GMO). Hemp seed foods are naturally free from Tetrahydrocannabinols (THC), Gluten, Dairy, Soy, and Peanuts; and they’re vegan approved. As you read more, I think you will agree it will be hard to find another plant with such an impressive resume.

Harvest ready hemp seeds on a Kentucky hemp farm

Hemp a Better Option for Raw Materials

From food to fiber… the fiber from the hemp plant is outstanding for textiles and other useful everyday items we need. It’s estimated that over 25,000 products can be made from the hemp plant. Hemp can provide the renewable raw materials to feed us, clothe us; shelter us; and provide us with fuel and medicine.

The oil from the hemp seed is not only nutritional for consumption, but can be used to replace petroleum based products including plastics. The hurd of the hemp stalk, which is the inner woody fibers, has many uses and can be utilized for most anything a tree would provide while out producing tree cellulose 4:1.

Hemp a Better Option for Farming

Hemp is a sustainable agricultural commodity. The hemp plant sequesters carbon and can remediate and regenerate depleted, compacted soil.

Some of What Hemp Fiber & Hurd Can Provide

Hemp a Better Option for Nutrition

The nutritional composition of hemp seed is quite unique and exceptional! Whole hemp seeds contain approximately 36% dietary fat, 26% high quality and digestible protein and 31% carbohydrates comprised mainly of dietary fiber, in addition to an interesting array of vitamins and minerals.

Hemp a Better Option for Getting our Essential Fatty Acids

Hemp seed’s dietary fat is primarily composed of polyunsaturated fats or the “good fats.” Hemp seed oil’s fatty acid profile is comprised of 80% polyunsaturated fats, 11% monounsaturated fats, 9% saturated fats and zero trans fats. It’s recommended that fat intake should make up 20% to 35% of your total calories. They further recommend that most of your fat intake should come from polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats, while limiting the intake of trans and saturated fats. Hemp seed dietary fat meets this recommendation.

Hemp Seed Oil contains Zero trans fat and is cholesterol-free.

Hemp Seed Oil provides one of the highest concentrations of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) categorized as Omega-6 and Omega-3 Essential Fatty Acids (EFAs) in an ideal 3:1 ratio. EFAs are vital for good health but cannot be manufactured by our body, so they must be present in our diet through the foods we eat. EFAs are both important components of cell membranes and are precursors for substances in the body involved with regulating blood pressure and inflammatory responses.

Hemp Seed Oil also uniquely contains naturally-occurring Gamma-Linolenic Acid (GLA) and Stearidonic Acid (SDA). GLA and SDA are direct metabolites of Omega-6 and Omega-3 EFAs, respectively. These two metabolites are important for regulating inflammation and auto-immune functions in our bodies.

Hemp a Better Option for Eating Protein

Hemp seed is a source of high quality, plant based protein and is vegan. Analysis of hemp food proteins has resulted in a Protein Rating of 40 (1.) and above, meaning that the protein content in hemp foods is not only present in high amounts, but also of a high quality!

Hemp protein is free of trypsin-inhibitors. Trypsin is a key enzyme that breaks down peptide bonds in proteins, enabling protein uptake in the human body. Hemp protein contains no trypsin inhibitors, such as those found in other protein rich sources like soy that can cause flatulence and gas. Hemp seed and foods not only contain a high quality protein, available in high amounts, but they are also free of inhibitors that impede protein digestion making hemp highly digestible.

Hemp a Better Option vs Whey or Soy

Hemp a Better Option for Getting Dietary Fiber in your Meals

Hemp protein is very high in dietary fiber. Fiber helps to keep the digestive system healthy and functioning properly. The dietary fiber found in hemp is primarily composed of insoluble fiber, which helps with digestion and maintaining regular bowel movements.

Hemp is naturally gluten and lactose free. Gluten is a type of protein found in most grains commonly used in cereals and baked goods. Most people allergic to gluten have a similar reaction to lactose and soy. Hemp foods naturally have zero gluten and lactose content (2.)

(1.) Per Health Canada Regulations, Protein Rating = Protein in a Reasonable Daily Intake x Protein Efficiency Ratio (PER); Reasonable Daily Intake for hemp products = 64 grams.

(2.) Hemp seed is naturally gluten-free. However, cross-contamination can occur at the field level during handling, transportation and storage. Our supplier of hemp food products conducts regular gluten testing on seed lots to ensure that gluten content is <20 ppm, which is the acceptable threshold by both the World Health Organization (WHO) and Health Canada for a gluten-free claim.

Healthy People. Healthy Earth. Hemp Can Help

A Touch on Hemp’s History

For nearly a century, hemp farming was federally prohibited in U.S. farm fields. Starting in the 1930’s Harry Anslinger was on a mission to eradicate hemp from the face of the earth. Disinformation led people into thinking hemp was something different than what it actually was.

Then in the 1970’s, hemp got misclassified as a drug when Richard Nixon placed hemp on the Schedule I Control Substance List. There is sat for several decades until on December 20, 2018, President Donald Trump removed hemp from the Control substance List making it federally legal to once again grow hemp in the United States.

Little did we know when we began selling hemp seed food products in 2008; that we would become advocates for hemp farming and educating people on hemp seed nutrition. In those days we were known as Cousin Mary Jane and Lady Jane Seed Co.

We advocated for hemp and helped to bring this plant home to the United States where farmers could once again grow this agriculture commodity.

What’s important today is we do have better access to hemp seed food products!

About Better Option Foods, Joseph & Laura Noble