Hemp is becoming an increasingly popular product with a diverse range of benefits. Hemp helps in different ways with its leaves, flowers, fibres and seeds being useful ingredients for further processing in the food and cosmetic industries. Over 25,000 different products can be made from hemp, making it one of the most useful plants in the world.
The hemp plant has played a crucial role throughout human history. Archaeological evidence suggests that we’ve been using hemp since as early as 8,000 B.C., making it the first plant ever cultivated.
The mass cultivation of certain natural ingredients has had damaging effects on ecosystems and species throughout the years. What does this mean? Businesses have affected the environment on a much larger scale than individuals – hence they must take the lead towards sustainable development.
HEMPE Helps is among the entities that have always strived to run a business that is as eco-friendly and as green as possible. All our HEMPE products are packaged in recyclable materials such as tin, glass or reusable plastics.
In this month’s edition, we explore this mysterious plant–hemp, and how it has benefited your life and the entire planet.
What is a Hemp Plant?
Hemp, or industrial hemp, is a plant in the botanical class of Cannabis sativa cultivars grown specifically for industrial and consumable use. It can be used to make a wide range of products. Along with bamboo, hemp is among the fastest-growing plants on the planet.
It was also one of the first plants to be spun into usable fibre about 50,000 years ago. It can be refined into a variety of commercial items, including beauty and skincare products, cannabidiol (CBD), paper, rope, textiles, clothing, biodegradable plastics, paint, insulation, biofuel, food, and animal feed.
Let’s begin by exploring some of these hemp benefits.
How Hemp Can Benefit Your Life and Our Planet
Hemp has a wide range of benefits ranging from health to environmental. Let’s unfold them together.
1. Hemp Health Benefits
The health benefits of hemp seed entail a wide variety of vitamins, minerals and nutrients. For example, hemp oil is rich in vitamin E, which is useful for helping keep your immune system functioning.
Some of these hemp health benefits include:
- Reduced Risk of Heart Disease
Getting enough healthy fats in your diet is important for keeping your heart and cardiovascular system healthy. Hemp seed oil is particularly rich in these healthy fats, including omega-6 and omega-3 fatty acids.
Both of these fats are known for improving heart health by reducing cholesterol, blood pressure, and triglycerides. Adding hemp oil to your diet may reduce your risk of heart attack and many other health conditions.
- Improved Digestion
For a healthy digestive system, fibre is critical. Hemp seeds are a rich source of both soluble and insoluble fibres. Insoluble fibre helps add bulk to your stool and may be linked to health claims of a lower risk of bowel cancer. Soluble fibre, on the other hand, acts as a prebiotic and feeds the “good” bacteria that live in your intestines.
In combination, soluble and insoluble fibre from hemp seeds helps keep your digestive system running smoothly and prevents some common conditions such as constipation, ulcers, and haemorrhoids. They are a complete source of protein providing all the essential amino acids.
While there may be potential health benefits of consuming hemp seeds, avoid eating excessive amounts. We advise you to always review supplement labels with your healthcare provider to discuss potential interactions with foods, other supplements, and medications.
- May Help Reduce Eczema
Hemp seed oil combines omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids to help relieve symptoms of eczema. It appears the oil in hemp seeds helps balance the lipids in your blood, reducing itchy skin and dryness.
The restorative natural ingredients contained within this topical SOS Skin Balm product help moisturise, hydrate and relieve your skin while leaving it soft and supple. HEMPE SOS Balm is a proven natural skincare solution for severe dry, inflamed or irritated skin conditions.
"I had a Basal Cell Carcinoma removed from below my right eye... decided to use Hempe CBD SOS balm to assist with the healing process...I am delighted with the results as at 71 years old I feared that the scar from surgery would be more prominent."
— HEMPE (@hempehelps) January 15, 2024
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Relief from chronic pain is by far the most common condition cited by patients for the medical use of cannabis. While more studies need to be done, substituting hemp seed oil for other types of oil in your diet could be a safe and easy way to reduce itchy skin conditions.
Limited evidence suggests hemp may benefit the heart, skin, and digestive tract.
- Antioxidative and Anti-inflammatory Properties
Inflammation is designed to supply more blood flow to the affected area, and the pain signals that there's something wrong, and you should protect the damaged area.
On the other hand, when the inflammatory response over-reacts or lingers for far too long, the body starts to believe it's under attack and keeps fighting off or protecting itself indefinitely.
There's a generalised idea that CBD hemp extract has anti-inflammatory properties to suppress the immune system - and some studies found that they may help increase immune function in some conditions.
A review of other studies suggests that natural herbs rich in GLA are effective in relieving symptoms of inflammatory conditions, such as irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), rheumatoid arthritis (RA), and multiple sclerosis (MS).
HEMPE CBD Hot Muscle and Joint Gel encourages blood circulation and gives pain relief. It also penetrates through the limbs and joints as a strong natural anti-inflammatory reducing muscle soreness.
2. Sustainable Hemp Building Materials
Hemp materials have revolutionised the construction sector–we can now talk about green buildings. Such buildings are constructed with a frame and then the walls are filled with hemp hurd, which is the woody inner layer of the hemp stalk.
Hemp hurd is extracted using a hemp processing line, incorporating what is commonly known as a decorticator.
Did you know that hemp is the world’s strongest plant fibre?
The environmental impact of these buildings is significant. Hemp production helps to clean up the environment, so the production of hemp building materials is environmentally friendly. Hemp also won’t release harmful toxins, which means a safe and healthy living environment for the occupants.
The same fibres that can be used to produce plastic can also produce a variety of eco-friendly alternatives that will help preserve the world’s natural resources:
- Hempcrete is a natural material made using hemp shivs and lime that can replace concrete, drywall, and insulation. It is 7 times lighter so it’s easier to work with.
- Hemp can be used to produce a steel alternative that is 10 times stronger than steel and 6 times more efficient at mending and bending than steel. The use of hemp steel will also reduce the negative impacts of steel production such as harmful emissions into the air and water, waste, and energy usage.
- The fibres in hemp can be used to replace wood in most applications and can produce products such as flooring, roofing, insulation, and many other building materials.
3. Green Alternative to Plastic
Plastic does not decompose - it’s non-biodegradable. Around the year 2050, there will be about twelve billion tons of plastic in landfills and the environment, as this study indicates.
More plastic is being thrown away than we can clean up, even though we are doing our best. The only way to reduce and prevent plastic pollution is to produce sustainable products like those extracted from hemp plants.
Hemp is the greatest cellulose producer on earth, and it’s biodegradable. Hemp can form part of a biocomposite plastic whereby it’s either part of an organic mix or is mixed with a synthetic polymer. Studies have found hemp-based plastics to be 2.5 times stronger and five times stiffer than traditional plastic that is made from polypropylene.
Some of the products made of hemp plastic include cars, sunglasses, dog toys, and plastic bags.
4. The Hemp Plant - A Wonder Textile
Hemp plants are armed against climate change. Researchers have discovered these plants are six times more efficient than cotton when it comes to water usage
In addition, just 1 acre of hemp will produce cellulose fibre pulp that is equal to 4 acres of trees, which means that hemp could quite easily and efficiently replace the majority of items that are made of wood.
Using hemp helps to prevent deforestation, promote sustainability, and save the lives of animals, and humans. The use of hemp helps us to save natural resources, ensuring that we leave something behind for future generations.
While it takes only around four months for hemp to be ready for commercial harvest, it takes trees between 20 to 50 years. This would minimise the challenges of deforestation hence making hemp fire a sustainable raw material for the textile industry.
5. Eco-Friendly & Sustainable Fuel Alternatives
Not only can hemp help preserve our planet and improve our manufacturing, but it can also help fuel us forward and decrease our dependence on fossil fuels.
Although some of the hemp plants may not be made into medicine or food, these plants can be safely distilled to become ethanol and used as biofuel.
By using hemp in creating biofuels such as ethanol, scientists believe that they will be able to take advantage of the hemp’s ability to remove contaminants from the soil. When growing hemp, the contaminants are removed from the soil and are trapped in the plants. Once the crop cycle is completed, the contaminants are entirely removed from the soil.
With the increasing problems surrounding traditional fossil fuels and oils, the need for a natural and sustainable alternative is stronger than ever.
Hemp is the only alternative fuel that can run in any unmodified diesel engine and provides a solution that is more efficient, more affordable, and most importantly, more sustainable than traditional fuel.
6. Hemp Beverages - A Tasty Thirst Quencher
Swiss researchers have created a beer that replaces three-quarters of the hops, normally used for brewing beer. Hemp may have been used in ancient times in beer brewing but very little evidence suggests that it was ever widely used for this purpose.
In recent years hemp leaves have been used in Western countries as a substitute for aroma-hopping in a limited number of speciality beers. Hemp is a hardy plant that needs few pesticides and little fertiliser to thrive and doesn’t seem to care about the heat and erratic weather conditions climate change is generating worldwide. There are no taste disadvantages to making beer from hemp, a blind taste test showed.
Some online stores also offer hemp products, such as hemp milk, which is fortified with extra nutrients, and hemp protein powder- a plant-based alternative to protein powder.
HEMPE Helps - The Ideal Sustainable Hemp Products
Industrial hemp products provide several nutritional and environmental benefits as explained in the article. One of the challenges that most consumers encounter is where to source natural hemp products. Right?
The strength of our 100% organic HEMPE products comes directly from the hemp plant and from other natural ingredients that are derived from plants.
HEMPE Helps is committed to using fewer resources and creating less waste. We strive to always weigh up the environmental consequences of our actions with the ultimate goal of reducing our carbon footprint.
This is portrayed right from the very beginning of the company’s formation. We have always strived to run a business that is as eco-friendly and green as possible, even down to running electric cars for company vehicles.
Hemp cultivation is becoming increasingly popular. Due to its versatility, how you use it will depend on your individual needs and health concerns. Are you ready to enjoy the benefits of the hemp plant?
Our friendly team of dedicated Customer Care Professionals are ready to give as much information as needed and get you onboard with our ethos and start showing you today, how hemp really helps in your everyday life.