Before we dive into some of the most beneficial reasons as to why you should be consuming hemp seeds, we need to clarify some rumors and misconceptions about hemp seeds.
Because of the name hemp, a lot of people refer to it being the same thing as marijuana or sharing a lot of similarities with the sativa cannabis influencer so there’s a lot of people that think hemp seeds are the exact same thing as marijuana. Spoiler alert, they’re not.
However, they’re both from the same species of plant, known as the Cannabis Sativa L. There are a lot of similarities between the two but there are vast and major differences as well.
#1 – Hemp contains less than 1% THC, coming in at .3% THC. Consuming hemp seeds will not get you high. The way they’re cultivated reduces the amount of THC in the seeds.
#2 – They’re grown for different reasons as well. Hemp plants are grown for their seeds and marijuana plants are grown for their THC content.
#3 – Hemp seeds also contain mostly CBD or otherwise known as cannabidiol, which doesn’t produce a high feeling or a deep euphoric state.
The Top Five Benefits of Hemp Seeds
So, what are the top five benefits of hemp seeds?
#1 – Protein
If you’re looking for a good source of protein, then hemp seeds contain a lot of protein. They contain about the same level of protein as soybeans. If you have around 30 grams of seeds, then you’ll have about 10 grams of protein. Also, you can find all nine sources of amino acids in hemp seeds. The reason that these amino acids are so important is the body can’t produce all of them on its own. They must be ingested.
#2 – Heart Disease
Reducing your risk of heart disease is really important because heart disease is the number one killer worldwide. It causes more deaths than the next few top causes of deaths combined. One of the main benefits of hemp seed is that it helps regulate how nitric oxide is used in your body. Nitric oxide when it’s in your body is a chemical that will help your blood vessels dilate and you’ll find yourself in a more relaxed state.
Also, you can reduce your overall blood pressure which is a great benefit for hemp seed, especially for people who are older.
#3 – Weight Loss
It should be no surprise that something that’s so high in fiber can also assist with weight loss. Obesity is a common problem in the west, particularly in the United States. Hemp seeds contain a healthy amount of both dietary fats and fibers that help regulate all the amino acids in your body. Also, hemp seeds work as an appetite suppressant so that you won’t feel as hungry all the time, causing you to eat less and gain less weight overall.
One thing you do have to take note of though is that these seeds are pretty high in fat content, so you’re going to be ingesting a lot of calories.
#4 – A Natural Source of Vitamins
There’s a wide array of different minerals, vitamins and rich resources to help get your daily dose of vitamins. Some of the vitamins that are contained in hemp seeds are Vitamin E which helps greatly enrich your skin and give you clearer and smoother skin. There’s a great source of magnesium in hemp seeds as well. A couple of other rich resources are phosphorous and potassium.
There are some other vitamins contained in hemp seeds such as niacin and riboflavin which are essential for regulating your central nervous system health. Then, you have thiamine, vitamin B-6 and folate which greatly helps you digest food and improve your mental state of mind.
#5 – Reduces Inflammation and Helps Fight Certain Diseases
In hemp seeds, there’s a healthy amount of Omega-3s and Omega-6s that helps you fight inflammation. You can reduce or even eliminate inflammation altogether, depending on where it is and how severe it is. Also, if you regularly consume hemp seeds, you may also benefit from their anti-inflammatory properties to help prevent inflammation from happening or coming back.
However, a lot of these studies conducted have so far been tested on animals and any research to prove they work on humans hasn’t quite been proven yet or properly researched.
Adding Hemp Seeds to Your Diet
When you’re trying to add hemp seeds to your diet and when we talk about consumption, it’s important to remember that people typically use extracts of hemp seeds and not the entire hemp seed raw, even though some people actually do that. You can open the shell yourself but some people prefer to buy already packaged and processed hemp seed that you can simply put into your food.
Here are some examples of what people do to consume hemp seeds:
- They add seeds to different smoothies or ice cream mixtures to help enrich the flavor and get the benefit
- Some people like to bake the seeds directly in with whatever they’re cooking
- Some people like to make their own little hemp milk which can be made a variety of different ways
You can eat hemp seeds with just about anything which can include yogurt or cereal. A lot of people like to use hemp seed powder instead of using protein powder because it tastes better and a lot of protein powder doesn’t quite do exactly what the label says they do.
Most protein powders that promise results are usually just marketing gibberish but hemp seeds are true to their nature in the benefits they provide.
Are There Any Risks with Hemp Seeds?
There’re no known risks associated with consuming hemp seeds that are known at this time. Hemp seeds contain absolutely no THC which is the main psychoactive ingredient in marijuana and cannabis. The only complaint we’ve seen commonly associated with hemp seeds is that people have reported failing urine tests but there’s no side effects or risks with containing hemp seeds.