origin

Hemp belongs to the hemp family (Cannabaceae) and is one of the oldest cultivated plants in the world. It originally comes from Central Asia and has been spread worldwide by humans over the years. A distinction is made between common hemp (Cannabis sativa L.) and Indian hemp (Cannabis indica Lam.). Hemp is a very versatile renewable raw material. Almost all parts of the plant are used for a wide variety of purposes: seeds, leaves, flowers and fibers.

The fibers are used in paper, cosmetics and clothing production. Hemp is also used as a light and durable material: for example, as a component of bandages, for the production of ropes and sails.

While leaves and flowers are used as a luxury item, hemp seeds have been popular as food for many centuries due to their high content of high-quality protein and polyunsaturated fatty acids. The seeds contain around 22-25% protein, 35-37% carbohydrates and 30-35% fat; they also contain a high proportion of fiber, vitamins and minerals. When producing hemp seed oil, the hemp seeds contained in the peeled hemp nuts are cold-pressed at around 40-60°C. At higher temperatures (“hot pressing”), some of the valuable ingredients would be destroyed.

Since misunderstandings often arise with hemp products, it should be explained at this point that a fundamental distinction must be made between the so-called "industrial hemp" varieties and hemp as a medicine and narcotic. Whether a hemp plant falls under the Narcotics Act depends primarily on the THC (delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol) content, which is the psychoactive substance in hemp and may not exceed 0.2% if a plant is to be classified as industrial hemp. Industrial hemp is primarily the "Cannabis sativa" variety.

Benefits and Effects

The special thing about hemp oil is the high proportion of healthy, unsaturated fatty acids, which is about 70%. These include the nutritionally valuable polyunsaturated fatty acids such as: alpha-linolenic acid (an omega 3 fatty acid), linoleic acid (an omega 6 fatty acid), palmitic and stearic acid and omega-3 fatty acid. The body cannot produce these fatty acids itself, the so-called "essential fats", and therefore must ingest them through food. They are particularly important for a normal heart and brain function as well as for energy and oxygen balanceWhile omega-6 fatty acids are also found in numerous vegetable oils, omega-3 is a so-called "marine fatty acid" that is found primarily in fatty cold-water fish such as salmon. For vegans and vegetarians, hemp seed oil is therefore a good alternative for still being able to absorb the valuable omega-3 fatty acids.

Also important vitamins, minerals and trace elements are other components of hemp seed oil. These include vitamin E, B1 and B2, the minerals phosphorus, potassium, magnesium, calcium and sodium, as well as the trace elements iron, manganese, zinc and small amounts of copper. The ingredients of hemp seed oil have anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties, which are particularly attributed to alpha-linolenic acid.

An in vitro study published in 2016 on antioxidant effect of hemp seed oil postulated that the polyphenols it contains could be responsible for its strong antioxidant properties.The abstract of the study states:

"The aim of this study was to characterize the polyphenolic compounds and antioxidant activity of cold-pressed seed oil from the industrial hemp variety Finola (Cannabis sativa L.). Different methods were applied to evaluate the in vitro antioxidant activity of Finola hemp seed oil (FHSO). From the results, it can be seen that FHSO has high antioxidant activity as measured by DPPH radical (146.76 mmol TE/100 g oil), inhibited the bleaching of β-carotene, quenched a chemically generated peroxyl radical in vitro and showed high chelating activity of iron ions. FHSO contains a significant amount of phenolic compounds, of which 2780.4 mg quercetin equivalent/100 g total flavonoids. Our results suggest that the significant antioxidant properties of finola seed oil in general may depend on the phenolic compounds, especially flavonoids such as flavanones, flavonols, flavanols and isoflavones.“ Source: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/ptr.5623

Legal Consumer Information

German and European law aims to protect consumers from allegedly misleading claims about effectiveness. The statements made here refer to the original Ayurvedic and TCM texts. This knowledge, which has been passed down for thousands of years, is based on experience passed down from generation to generation. It is not intended to claim that the products described here have an effect in the sense of Western medicine. All products are food supplements; they are not medications and have no medical effect. If you are ill and require medical care, please contact your doctor or pharmacist.