Hemp protein is a pretty new innovation and more and more companies and individuals are taking advantage of the nutritional powerhouse that it is.
This article will hopefully give you some insight and basic knowledge of the benefits and value that hemp protein can provide to you, your family and community.
Use it in your morning smoothie, your salad dressing, cookies or brownies!
And NO hemp protein will never get you high.
Hemp is the non-psychoactive variety of the cannabis plant – and contains no THC, and by law has to contain less than 0.03%. We can assure 100% of the products we offer on this website will always comply.
The Roots of Hemp for Food
It’s been written that hemp has nourished humanity for thousands of years.
This little seed of life is, according to Buddhist tradition, what Buddha ate during the six steps of asceticism that led to his enlightenment.*1
In fact, the story goes that he only ate one hemp seed a day.
Maybe he was able to do this due to hemp’s jam-packed nutritional content.
It does, after all, have all nine of the essential amino acids, important fiber and crucial fatty acids ~ along with vitamins, minerals, chlorophyll, antioxidants and other phytonutrients.
Although hemp protein is a relatively new creation, hemp seeds have been enjoyed for centuries.
Of the millions of plants that can be eaten, hemp is most certainly on the top ten list of most nutritionally sound foods. *2
Hemp seeds have been eaten in its whole seed state, with the shell removed, crushed into oil or ground up into a porridge like state.
According to our research, hemp protein has only been around for for decades rather than centuries… there may have been ancient civilizations pressing seeds for oil and using the remaining cake for protein or flour applications, but we’ve never found evidence of this.
The refining process is a way to concentrate and or separate the nutrients.
Hemp protein is made through a process of crushing or pressing the small but nutritious seed.
The dry material that is separated from the fatty-acid rich oil is referred to as hemp cake which is the milled into a powder, which is referred to as hemp flour or protein.
In other words, once the oil has been separated from the fiber and bulky protein material, it can then be milled and further processed and concentrated into a protein rich product.
Hemp’s Protein/Amino Acid & Nutritional Profile
As mentioned above hemp protein as well as the raw seed contains all ten essential amino acids.
What does this mean?
It means you are getting a full spectrum of powerful and essential building blocks to support your immune system, as well as providing the basic building blocks of the human body.
Our skin, hair, nails, eyes, and literally every part of our body requires amino acids (the basic components of protein) in order to function properly and be healthy!
Here is a the fundamental breakdown of the nutritional profile for a hemp protein.
Additional Hemp Protein Information
In addition to the standard use of hemp protein, putting it in your morning favorite smoothie, you can literally use hemp protein in hundreds of dishes.
You can put it in savory dishes, sweet dishes and everything in between. Try hemp cookies, hemp cereals, hemp milk, or hemp porridge.
There are several varieties of hemp protein.
The more you mill it down and process it the more protein you can concentrate into the final product. The standard hemp protein is about 45% – 50% protein content.
The most fundamental hemp protein product is the 15% hemp protein – this is known as hemp flour or hemp meal.
The highest protein content on the market is the 75 – 80% hemp protein. The more you process the material down the finer it gets.
Some people don’t like the grittiness of the more basic hemp protein products.
The higher the protein content the more smoothness. Also, the higher the protein and smoothness the higher the cost.
So, although you might need to clear your throat more often when it comes to eating the lower content hemp protein products, you will be saving quite a bit of money.
More and more companies are developing ways to lessen the git of hemp protein. If you mix it with your baked goods, or cereal or smoothie it’s actually quite nutty and delicious.
Our team LOVES consuming hemp protein, hemp seeds and hemp oil on a daily basis.
We realize that it’s possibly the most nutritious plant-based source of protein and is easily digestible, tasty and versatile. It’s best to prepare hemp seeds, or protein at temperatures under 350F.
Once you begin heating the hemp seed or protein it can distort the quality and integrity of the oils and proteins – this is true for any food really.
When it comes to hemp oil, we don’t recommend heating it at all as hemp oil is very sensitive to heat and will spoil very quickly turning the oils to trans fats.
If you have any questions about hemp protein or would like to place a small or large order, we are more than happy to hempower your hempishere!
Give us a call today or visit the Hemp Protein section of our website to see all the options.
References
1. From the first chapter in the Book “Healthy Eating Made Possible” by Paul Benhaim
2.The Emperor Wears No Clothes, Jack Herer, (Ah Ha Publishing, 1993), Chapter 8