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What’s Up with Hemp?
A Bite-Size Read for Your Health and Waistline
Have you seen hemp in your grocery store? With the craze around plant-based products, hemp is on the rise. First, to dispel a common misconception…hemp is NOT the same as weed! While they are two varieties of the same plant, they have different chemical properties. Hemp comes from the plant Cannabis sativa, while weed comes from the plant Cannabis indica. Both can be used for CBD products, but hemp does not contain THC like weed does. It is legal to grow and sell hemp in all 50 US states, and you’re likely to see hemp products in a variety of categories from textiles, oils, and supplements to seeds as a food product, which is why I want to dig into it. What are the health benefits of hemp?
Nutritionally speaking, hemp gives us fat, protein, and phytochemicals which are “good” compounds found in plants. In 3 tablespoons of hemp seeds you’ll find about 12–14 grams of quality fat, 100–165 calories, and 9–10 grams of protein. We also get vitamin E, and minerals like phosphorus, potassium, sodium, magnesium, sulfur, calcium, iron, and zinc. Hemp qualifies as a superfood, too! The fats are Omega-3 and Omega-6; the protein in hemp includes all 8 of the essential amino acids, which means we call it a complete protein, and it’s an easily digestible protein. This is the reason for (I think) hemp’s acclaim. Hemp is potentially a better choice…
