Brief Nutritional Breakdown of Hemp Oil
With widespread discussion of legalization of cannabis on the rise, primarily for recreational use, the other benefits offered by the plant and the various compounds it produces are becoming more recognized.
Medicinal marijuana has been in use for quite some time. It’s not something that just anybody can qualify for, even if you do have a condition that could be greatly helped by weed, it can be challenging to acquire.
Cannabis it is commonly used as a method of pain control for people with a variety of serious illnesses. Cancer patients are frequently given access to it in order to make enduring the misery of chemotherapy more manageable.
It’s also an effective way to relieve the symptoms and pains of things like endometriosis and Parkinson’s disease as well as to manage nausea and loss of appetite when associated with more serious problems.
The interesting thing about medicinal marijuana is the acknowledgment from the medical community that cannabis is not something that should be viewed as dangerous or detrimental to your well-being.
It’s used as a legitimate treatment and has undergone many safety tests. The general consensus is that it is safe and therefore looking at cannabis in other forms is worth our while.
One of those forms which has gain tremendous popularity is hemp oil. This is a compound that is derived from pressing hemp seeds and can be used in a number of ways. With that in mind, let’s have a look at the nutritional elements present in hemp oil:
Protein
The importance of protein is no great secret. It has a number of different functions in your body such as building muscle and tissue as well as developing various enzymes, antibodies, and hormones.
A complete protein is considered to be one that has every possible amino acid that our body can’t produce, of which there are nine, and has a high enough quantity of them with an appropriate ratio to meet our bodies’ needs.
Hemp oil has all of these. The only food you’ll find more protein in is soybeans, but even they have certain disadvantages that hemp oil doesn’t have, the most notable of which is oligosaccharides, which tend to cause an upset stomach.
Using hemp oil as a part of your diet is guaranteed to give you that extra boost of protein. This doesn’t mean of course that you can use it as a substitute for other protein high foods such as eggs and meat but it will definitely enhance your protein intake.
Fatty Acids
Similar to the essential amino acids that we discussed above, essential fatty acids are the ones that are not produced by the body and can only be obtained through various foods and supplements.
We’re talking about things like omega-3 and omega-6, typically the type of thing that people can get over-the-counter tablets and supplements. A common source of omega-3 is fish oil, which a lot of people take in pill form.
They’re helpful in a lot of different ways. These essential fatty acids are excellent for your heart and can help to fend off heart disease as well as a variety of other cardiovascular problems. They’re also effective in preventing cancer and are good for infant development.
The big advantage of hemp oil when it pertains to essential fatty acids is the fact that it contains omega-3 and omega-6 in an optimal 3-1 ratio which is actually pretty rare. Because omega-6 is found in more foods, people tend to get too much of that and not enough omega-6.
But including hemp oil in your diet can help to shift that ratio in the opposite direction and ensure you’re not missing out on all of the benefits of omega-3.
Antioxidants
There are unstable atoms present in our bodies known as ‘free radicals’. This is probably not a term that you’ve heard before, but these particular atoms are responsible for many different serious diseases, as well as aging itself.
Now of course, these things can’t be avoided forever and the older you get the more free radicals there will be present in your system, but you can subdue them with antioxidants and avoid diseases on some level.
Hemp oil is high in antioxidants, most notably in the form of Vitamin E and carotene. There are numerous other beneficial minerals as well, including iron, magnesium, zinc calcium, and phosphorus.
In terms of increasing your vitamin and antioxidant count with hemp oil, you shouldn’t rely on it completely and should probably aim to use it in more a supplementary capacity. Meaning that you should ensure you’re getting a good chunk of your vitamins elsewhere and just enhancing it with hemp oil.
Health Trends has a lot of multivitamins on offer which can ensure you get a well-rounded and effective dose of all of the important nutrients you need and they have a good supply of options for both men and women.
Calories
A single tablespoon of hemp oil is actually relatively high in calories, being about 130 in total. The reason for this is because of something known as polyunsaturated fat which accounts for about 95% of the total calories in that tablespoon.
These fats are quite beneficial for you because they offer a similar function to the fatty acids that we discussed earlier in that they help to lower your cholesterol as well as your risk of developing Type 2 Diabetes.
To sum this up, hemp oil is actually packed to the gills with nutrients, and incorporating a single tablespoon of it into your diet every day will benefit you greatly in a number of different ways.
Conclusion
As we continue to discover more uses for the cannabis plants to help improve our well-being, it is important to not forget the nutritional value of hemp oil as part of a daily lives. As we saw, this plant can provide many benefits for regular use in your diet.