HEMP VS SHEA BUTTER

Shea Butter

Shea butter, also known as karite butter, is a cream-colored fatty substance made from the nuts of karite nut trees (also called Mangifolia trees) that grow in the savannah regions of West and Central Africa. Karite trees, or shea trees, are not cultivated. They grow only in the wild, and can take up to 50 years to mature (they live up to 300 years!). In most parts of West Africa, destruction of the shea tree is prohibited because this little nut provides a valuable source of food, medicine, and income for the population. In fact, shea butter is sometimes of shea butter referred to as “women’s gold” in Africa, because so many women are employed in the production .

Why is shea butter in such demand? Western countries are just beginning to recognize the considerable health and beauty benefits of shea butter, something Africans have known for thousands of years. Shea butter has been used to help heal burns, sores, scars, dermatitis, psoriasis, dandruff, and stretch marks. It may also help diminish wrinkles by moisturizing the skin, promoting cell renewal, and increasing circulation. Shea butter also contains cinnamic acid, a substance that helps protect the skin from harmful UV rays.

Shea butter is a particularly effective moisturizer because contains so many fatty acids, which are needed to retain skin moisture and elasticity. The high fatty acid content of shea butter also makes it an excellent additive to soap, shampoos, anti-aging creams, cosmetics, lotions, and massage oils—its soft, butter-like texture melts readily into the skin.

Shea butter protects the skin from both environmental and free-radical damage. It contains vitamins A and E, and has demonstrated both antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory properties.

Shea butter is already added to many cosmetic products, but you can also purchase 100 percent pure shea butter at most health food stores and from online distributors. Unrefined shea butter is superior in that it retains all its natural vitamins, especially vitamin A and vitamin E. However, the natural smell of shea can be a bit off-putting (stinky), though the aroma does disappear after it has been applied to your skin within minutes. You can also buy ultra-refined and refined shea butter. Both of these types are have a more pleasing scent, color, and consistency, although the refining process may diminish the vitamin potency.

Many online distributors sell shea butter in various sizes, containers, prices, and types, but make sure to do your research before buying them—not all shea butter products are created equal, and some products contain a significant amount of potentially irritating additives and very little real shea butter. That said, one hundred percent natural shea butter is a handy thing to have around the house. It can be used as an all-natural hair conditioner, moisturizer, and makeup remover, or as a treatment for burns, cuts, scrapes, sunburns, and diaper rash. Shea butter may also help treat skin problems such as eczema and psoriasis; however, keep in mind that you should always consult a physician or dermatologist about serious or persistent skin problems. Shea butter is not recommended for people with nut or latex allergies.

Hemp Oil

 hemp oil is now widely available from supermarkets and health food stores

Hemp seed and oil has been called "Nature’s Perfect Food for Humanity" - a wealth of health for everyone.

The oil can be used as part of a nutritional programme to maintain and improve good health.   With a pleasant nutty flavour, Hemp Seed Oil is ideal for use in salad dressings, mayonnaise, dips etc. It is not suitable for frying as this reduces the benefits.

Hemp has had a long-standing relationship with humanity; modern science reveals that it contains all the essential amino acids and essential fatty acids necessary for human life, as well as a rare protein known as globule edestins that is very similar to the globulin found in human blood plasma.

Four years after the Marijuana Tax Act passed in the US, a researcher writing for a 1941 edition of Science lamented the loss of access to the hemp seed's rare and important globule edistins; "Passage of the Marijuana Law of 1937 has placed restrictions upon trade in hempseed that, in effect, amount to prohibition....”

Hemp seeds contain the most balanced and richest natural single source of essential oils for human consumption. The E.F.A.'s not only help to restore wasting bodies, but also improve damaged immune systems, so it is not so surprising that modern researchers have studied them in relationship to the modern immune attacking AIDS virus. (Eidlman, M.D., Hamilton, ED.D, Ph.D 1992).

Hemp oil is natures most balanced oil for human nutrition (3:1 LA to LNA ratio) and is easily digestible; in fact this oil could provide all of our Essential Fatty Acid (EFA) requirements for life, due to the balanced 80% EFA content of the oil.

Research has shown that this nutritional oil was once a part of worldwide dietary intake, as it was one of the first cultivated crops. All natural foods contain some substances, which are essential to life. Oils for example, found in nuts and seeds, contain significantly higher amounts of essential fatty acids than other foods.

Much information about Hemp has been systematically removed from written texts since the 1930's and is now difficult to find. Many of the myths about hemp, perpetuated by governments to this day relating to hemp being a drug crop are incorrect and simply propaganda created to make way for synthetic man made products.

Alpha Linolenic acid (LNA) Deficiency Symptoms - Omega 3

The symptoms of LNA deficiency include: Growth retardation, weakness, impairment of vision and learning ability, motor incoordination, tingling in arms and legs, behavioural changes.

Adding LNA back into the diet from which it is missing can reverse these symptoms. Other symptoms that can result from LNA (or w3) deficiency include; High triglycerides, high blood pressure, sticky platelets, tissue inflammation, edema, dry skin, mental deterioration, low metabolic rate, some kinds of immune dysfunction 

Linoleic acid (LA) Deficiency Symptoms - Omega 6

The symptoms of LA deficiency include: Eczema-like skin eruptions, loss of hair, liver degeneration, behavioural disturbances, kidney degeneration, excessive water loss through the skin accompanied by thirst, drying up of glands, susceptibility to infections, failure of wound healing, sterility in males, miscarriage in females, arthritis-like conditions, heart and circulatory problems, growth retardation.  Prolonged absence of LA from the diet is fatal. Adding LA back into the diet from which it is missing can reverse all of the deficiency symptoms.

In 1955 the Czechoslovakian Tubercular Nutrition Study concluded that hemp seed was the "Only food that can successfully treat the consumptive disease tuberculosis, in which the nutritive processes are impaired and the body wastes away"(Robinson 1996).

Dr Johana Budwig – A pioneer of Essential Fatty Acid Research

The seven-time Nobel Prize nominee, Dr. Johana Budwig, a pioneer of E.F.A research, reported success in treating heart infraction, arthritis, cancer and other common diseases with massive doses of E.F.A.'s.   Budwig's research indicates that many of these killer and crippling diseases may be caused in part by our diet of saturated fat and trans-fat, which are present in much of the food we eat. According to this healing Doctor, saturated fat and trans-fat befuddle the electronic charge of the unsaturated oils, which are present in cell membranes.

‘This decreases the cells ability to receive and store electrons from the sun, which according to Budwig is a key factor in human health.’

Alternatively, a balanced diet of E.F.A’s keeps the charge of the unsaturated fats in the cells membranes working properly and electron rich. As Budwig herself explains:

"The sun's rays are very much in harmony with humans. It is no coincidence that we love the sun. The resonance in our biological tissue is so strongly tuned to the absorption of solar energy that physicists who occupy themselves with this scientific phenomenon, the quantum biologists say that there is nothing on earth that has a higher concentration of solar energy photons than humans. This enrichment with solar energy depends strongly on the like energy aspects, a wavelength that is compatible with humans, and this is supported when we eat foods that have electromagnetic waves of solar rays--the photon. An abundance of these electrons, which are tuned to the solar energy frequency, exist, for example, in   many seed oils. Scientifically these oils have even been designated as electron-rich, essential, highly unsaturated fats. (Budwig 1992)

Budwig states that when we began to homogenize vegetable oils so that they would store better, we unknowingly changed their E.F.A. content into saturated fats in the ensuing heating process. These E.F.A. robbed, thus electron poor   "promote the emergence of cancer.... They behave like tar, as insulators relative to the transport of electrons in living tissue." Alternatively, "electron-rich highly unsaturated oils... increase the absorption, storage and utilization of the sun's energy".

Budwig relates that after her ailing patients have been treated with an E.F.A. rich diet and then "lie in the sun, they notice they feel much better-rejuvenated"; (Budwig 1992)   "On the other hand, nowadays we frequently observe that the heart fails on sunny beaches, and not infrequently heart attacks occur. We can observe some individuals in our time experiencing stress from exposure to the sun’s energy, whereas others respond with dynamic improvement in all vital functions. The stimulating effect that sunshine has on the secretions of the liver, gall bladder, pancreas, bladder, and salivary glands is easy to observe. These organs only dry out upon exposure to sunshine when the substance that stimulates secretions is missing. The decisive factor in all these observations is   whether the surface-active, electron-rich, highly unsaturated fats are present as a resonating system for solar energy, or, if they are missing. The doctor tells cancer patients to avoid the sun; that they can't tolerate the sun. As soon as these patients--also cancer patients--were placed on my oil-Protein   diet for just 2-3 days, i.e. a diet that   contains an abundant supply of essential fats, they were able to tolerate the sun very well. Yes, they emphasize how well they suddenly feel in the sun, how the life forces are stimulated and that   they feel dynamically energized."(Budwig 1992)

In times of worry about increased exposure to the sun's rays the E.F.A. rich oils provided by hemp may offer us hope. In her writings about the sun's effect on the cell membrane's electrons, Budwig referred to the work of the quantum physicist Dessauer, "If it were possible to increase the concentration of solar electrons tenfold in this biological electron rich molecule, man would live to be 10,000 years old."

Benefits of Cold Pressing

Oils should be pressed with a minimum of heat because the higher the temperature of the oil the faster it is destroyed by light, oxygen and other chemical reactions. The shape and properties of Fatty-acid molecules can change lowering their nutritional and biological value.

In the UK we do not have restrictions on pressing oil from live seed unlike America where the seed has to be killed by high temperatures to allow it to be imported. With this seed is it is not possible to press fresh living oil that remains stable with a longer shelf life. Hemp oil is legal in the UK.

How to use

With a pleasant nutty flavour, Hemp Seed Oil is ideal for use in salad dressings, mayonnaise, dips etc. Not suitable for frying as this reduces the benefits. May be taken as a nutritional supplement for general health and well being.

OUR SKIN:
THE BENEFITS OF HEMP

 Hemp yields three raw materials; bast fiber, hurds & seeds. Using these three ingredients in different ways, thousands of products can be made, all of which are biodegradable, including a strong plastic. Hemp is a valuable, sustainable eco-friendly resource, and is loved due to all its many uses, for purposes of this article I will be focusing on the seed's oil and how it benefits the skin. As consumers I believe the more you understand how ingredients work, the more prepared you will be to effectively use them and make healthy purchases.

Skin is our largest and arguably most important organ. Our skin has numerous responsibilities such as temperature control, sensory collection, protection and moisture regulation. Let me give a brief overview of how our skin regulates moisture so you can appreciate the value of utilizing Hemp seed oil.

Moisture regulation is carried out through a "barrier" produced by our skin; it is on the surface called the epidermis. The epidermis has a layer, the stratum corneum, which is comprised of skin cells, held together by lipids. Our skin cells are continuously dieing, shedding and being replaced by new ones. This cycle is controlled by the health of the "barrier". The key to the integrity of this barrier is moisture, specifically keeping water inside the skin. In order to do this you need apply a humectant (something that attracts or holds water). Hemp seed oil replenishes our (EFA'S), which helps our skin hold moisture, making it a natural humectant. The effectiveness of our barrier function is what determines the moisture level of our skin, thus the health, softness and smoothness. Essential Fatty Acids (EFA'S) specifically Omega 6, Omega 3 and Omega 9 preserve this barrier.

Hemp seed oil is made up of 80% essential fatty acid, the highest amount of any other plant. Hemp seed oil prevents moisture loss on a physiological level; it does just not merely "coat" the skin as do other oils. It contains the ideal ratio of Omega 6 to Omega 3 based on our cells needs. Hemp so closely matches our own skins lipids it is able to penetrate inside our cells and lubricate the surface between them, thus bringing the EFA's within our body. For this reason EFA's have been proven to play a preventative role in skin aging and a healthy moisture balance.

Not only does Hemp seed oil contribute greatly to the barrier function and appearance it also has other skin benefits such as offering relief to acne, minor abrasions, psoriasis and eczema. Hemp is also the only plant oil containing Vitamin D, which is necessary for Calcium absorption, especially useful to vegans. Using Hemp seed oil is a great way to achieve soft, smooth and hydrated skin.

Hopefully the more people understand the value of hemp, not only for our skin but for its abundant possibilities, a stronger concern for the legalization of industrial hemp can arise. At this time there are many organizations fighting the battle that need your support. So please begin or continue to purchase hemp products, and if able, join in the cause. Legalizing industrial Hemp to be grown here in America will lower the cost to consumers and provide a bounty of eco-friendly products that will help keep this world a beautiful, healthy place.

Written by: Kathy Davis