Hemp Seed
Oil Species/Cannabis
sativa - Family/Cannabaceae
Hemp is
an annual herbaceous plant, often referred to as industrial hemp. In general the hemp plant appearance is
as described however there are slight variances with each cultivar, these
differences are addressed under their cannabis strain section. The stems are slightly branching with
grayish green hairs, ranging up to ¾ inches in diameter, and being slender and
erect in appearance, growing from three to fifteen feet or more in height. The leaves are palmate, with serrated
edges and five to nine leaflets.
The upper leaves are dark green having a smooth texture and the under
leaf surface is light green in color with a downy texture. The small flowers are unisexual with
the female producing the small oval nut-like fruit. The hull of the fruit is brownish grey with a smooth texture
that contains the seed (fruit).
The hull consists mainly of fiber and small amounts of chlorophyll. Hemp seeds mature in late summer and
are slightly larger than a sesame seed.
The hemp
plant has a strong taproot that penetrates deep into the soil. Although hemp is very adaptable to most
soil and climate conditions it thrives on richly fertile, silt or clay loams
and well-drained soils of ph of six or greater with subsoil moisture retentive
properties. Hemp grows rapidly,
requires little cultivation, little to no pesticides, no herbicides, helps to
control erosion of topsoil, requires some weeding in early stages of growth
however soon crowds out weed growth. Although hemp may tend to exhaust the soil
of nutrients, most nutrients rapidly regenerate after the harvest. Hemp may be grown in succession however
makes a great rotation crop as well as companion crop for brassica plants (the
mustard family: vegetables like cabbage, kale, mustard, broccoli, cauliflower,
turnip and more) due to the volatile essence emitted from the root systems
which inhibits pathogenic micro organisms in the soil and repels the cabbage
white butterfly.
Hemp is
the common name for the family of cannabis although more often referring to
strains cultivated for industrial use and not for medicinal or recreational
use. Since Cannabis is such a
wealthy plant of huge merit, all cultivars will be addressed with their
abundant offerings for a green society to therapeutic values. Hemp can be manufactured into more than
25,000 environmentally friendly products ranking high on ensuring a green
future for our planet, not to mention the enormous impact it could have on our
own country’s present financial dilemma at this time. Financial is only one small fragment of the total equation
hemp delivers. Hemp has many
variable uses such as: paper, textiles, biodegradable plastics, health food,
body care products, hemp seed oil, hemp oil, seed, fuel, building materials,
and to produce nontoxic paints and cleaners. The major producers of industrial hemp are Canada, France
and China. Also, cultivated in
Australia, Austria, England, Russia and Spain. Industrial Hemp contains only minute amounts of THC 0.3% or
less.
Hemp
fiber imprints have been found in pottery shards in China and Taiwan that date
back to more than 10, 000 years ago.
Medical marijuana is confirmed in surviving text in ancient Egypt,
Greece and India; cannabis has been used for medicinal purposes for
approximately 4,000 years. In the
Napoleonic era hemp was used for the production of military uniforms, due to
the durability of the fabric and no doubt to the swiftness of crop production
time line to produce the textiles desired. Christopher Columbus’ ships were decorated with hemp
textiles from the canvas, sails, sacks, and ropes; hemp seeds were also aboard
the ship as an additional food source and in the event of shipwreck, for crop
planting to produce raw material.
In 1645, the puritans were the first to cultivate hemp in New
England. In the 1800's the gulf
and Carolina states had very large hemp industries, second only to cotton. George Washington and Thomas Jefferson
cultivated hemp on their farms. George
Washington said “Make the most of hemp seed and sow it everywhere.” Benjamin
Franklin started the first American hemp paper mill. Betsy Ross sewed the first American flag from hemp. Thomas Jefferson drafted the
declaration of independence on hemp paper. In War war II uniforms, canvas,
ropes and hemp were grown in the Midwest and Kentucky.
In the
United States Hemp “ALL cannabis strains” have been banned/illegal since
1937. In 1942 the ban was lifted
for the war effort, “Hemp for Victory” being the slogan however was terminated
in 1957 and has been banned and/or illegal on a federal level since this
date. In the United States,
medical marijuana is legalized in 16 states and the District of Columbia of
which California (California became the first state to legalize medicinal
marijuana November 5, 1996) and Rhode Island utilize the most progressive
dispensaries to sell medicinal cannabis.
Most all states require a medical marijuana registry identification card
or caregiver prescription and the rules and regulations vary state to state. Some of the approved medical conditions
for medical marijuana are: Cachexia, cancer, chronic pain, epilepsy, seizures,
glaucoma, HIV or AIDS, Hepatitis C, severe nausea or vomiting, persistent
muscle spasms including multiple sclerosis (MS), Crohn’s disease, agitated
Alzheimer’s disease, migraine, nail patella syndrome, Lou Gehrig’s disease,
Post-Traumatic Stress disorder, hospice patients and other debilitating and
chronic medical conditions.
Fiber cultivar cannabis strain
These
cultivars grow tall and thicker girth stems with little branching. Better fiber is produced when grown in
more northerly latitudes; fiber is commonly called bast. The fiber is obtained from the
stem. Male plants produce the best
fibers. Hemp fiber is harvested
approximately 70 to 90 days after planting, in the autumn after the last pollen
has shed and the plants begin to turn brown. Bast may be produced into paper, textiles, ropes,
biodegradable plastics, and building materials.
Tree
paper uses bleaches, toxic chemicals, and contributes to deforestation. Plastics are petroleum based and
therefore do not decompose as easily.
The cotton industry uses more than 50% of the toxic chemicals produced
each year.
Hemp
paper uses hydrogen peroxide to whiten paper and requires no toxic chemicals
to produce paper, never yellow, more durable than tree paper, cultivation
requires only a season to produce, does not contribute to deforestation, and
far surpasses the production level of tree paper. Hemp textiles produce a more durable, stronger
fabric, do not require the use of toxic chemicals to produce, becomes softer
with more wear, and naturally resistant to mold and ultraviolet rays; produces
250% more fiber than cotton and 600% more fiber than flax using the same
acreage of land.
Medicinal/recreational cultivar cannabis strain
Medicinal
and/recreational Sativa subsp. Indica strains are short in height, much
branching with smaller dark-green leaves.
Medicinal marijuana strains grow better and produce more in warmer more
tropical climates. While the before mentioned cannabis strains cultivated for
seed, seed oil and fiber grow better in more subtropical and temperate
regions.
The
cannabis plant is the only plant that contains significant amounts of
phyto-cannabinoids or natural/herbal Cannabinoids; within the genetic makeup of
the cannabis plant approximately 85 Cannabinoids have been isolated. Cannabinoids are naturally occurring
within the human body’s nervous and immune system as well as other animals,
known as the endocannabinoid system.
Isolated cannabinoids may be naturally derived by whole herbal plant or
synthetically derived via endocannabinoid or herbal chemical structure. There are various cannabinoid profiles
within each species of cannabis.
The cannabinoid Tetrahdrocannabinol
(THC) is preferred in higher concentrations for recreational marijuana and the
cannabinoid Cannabidiol (CBD) is
preferred in higher concentration ratio for medicinal marijuana use.
Medicinal
marijuana may contain anywhere from 7 to more than 20% delta-9-tetrahdrocannabinol (THC): the psychoactive ingredient with
narcotic properties. The leaves
and resin on the buds contain the most active ingredient of THC. Within the
chemical makeup of Cannabinoids: Cannabidiol (CBD): is non-psychoactive
and non-toxic with a multitude of therapeutic properties.
Cannabinoids
are analgesic, anti-oxidant, neuroprotectant, anti-inflammatory,
anti-psychotic, anti-glutamatergic, anxiolytic, anti-convulsive, anti-anxiety
and anti-cancer abilities thereby aiding relief of oxidation associated
diseases like ischemic (head injuries, heart disease, stoke, vascular
dementia), age related disorders, inflammatory, dysfunction/disease of the
nervous system and autoimmune diseases.
Assisting Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson disease, HIV, dementia,
anxiety, temporal lobe epilepsy, schizophrenia, Bipolar disorders, depression,
rheumatoid arthritis, type 1 diabetes, acute myocardial infarction, Glioma,
inflammation, multiple sclerosis, and inhibits cancer cell growth.
Cannabigerol
(CBG): is a non-psychtomimetic Cannabinoid, found in higher concentrations in
hemp rather than the THC-centered varieties of cannabis. Cannabigerol assist relieving
intraocular pressure that may benefit glaucoma and high blood pressure
concerns.
Cannabis
essential oil contains approximately 12-35% b-caryophyllene, which
reduces tissue inflammation and higher concentrations of CBD and less than 1%
THC.
Medical
marijuana may be ingested by means of vaporizing, smoking, drinking, eating,
juicing, suppository, transdermal patch, sublingual absorption, or
capsules. Medical marijuana is
antibacterial and analgesic. The
leaves of the plant may be used as a poultice to affect healing of corns,
sores, varicose veins, gout and rheumatism.
Medicinal
marijuana helps with conditions such as alcohol withdrawal, cystitis, asthma,
depression, Tourette syndrome, delirium, epilepsy, fever, inflammation,
insomnia, jaundice, lockjaw, malaria, migraine, morphine withdrawal, neuralgia,
palsy, rheumatism, toothache, whooping cough, and nausea. Medical marijuana is
very soothing to central nervous system disorders, useful as a pain killer and
reducing symptoms of many diseases such as glaucoma (using the essential oil of
cannabis around the outer-ocular area of the eye would be a wonderful approach
to treating glaucoma) and the unpleasant side effects suffered by people
undergoing chemotherapy for cancer as it helps increase the appetite, acts as a
pain killer, and relieves nausea.
Medicinal marijuana has helped to increase the appetite of Aids patients
and those who suffer from anorexia.
It would
be safe to say that cannabis encompasses a multitude of wondrous healing
properties! Furthermore it would
appear obvious that a deficient or imbalance within the human endocannabinoid
system that it would be greatly enhanced and strengthened through
natural/herbal cannabinoids that are provided by Mother Nature’s
apothecary.
Seed cultivar cannabis strain
These
cultivars have shorter stalks, larger seed heads, and numerous branches. Seed cultivars are harvested when 60%
of the seeds have ripened. Seeds
are best-harvested early morning when conditions are still damp. The stems are cut and the seeds are
shaken out over canvas sheets or beaten with sticks to extract the seeds. The seed contains 30-35% oil by weight
and dry on exposure to air.
Hemp seed
is used nutritionally in numerous food and/or health food products
ranging from waffles, tofu, butter, flour, protein powder, non-dairy seed milk,
ice cream, may be prepared as a tea and as a source of birdfeed. When purchasing
hemp seeds it is best to check for non-sterilized seeds to ensure nutrients are
in tact.
Hemp meal
is a by-product of making hemp oil and can be used as a plant fertilizer
and to enrich feed for animals, due to high protein and essential fatty acid content.
Hemp seed oil
Hemp
seed oil is used as a nutritional supplement; in the making of natural
cosmetics, hair and body care products.
Hemp seed oil is typically cold-pressed, unrefined, light green in color
with a nutty and/or grassy flavor.
Cannabinoids are present in all cannabis strains to a lesser or greater
degree. Cannabinoids have
antioxidant and neuro-protectant properties. Hemp seed oil is 80% by volume essential fatty acid content
with a balanced Omega 3 to 6 ratio (3:1 ratio). Both the seed and seed oil contains up to 20% source of
complete protein, all 8-essential amino-acids, and essential fatty acids of
linoleic, alpha-linolenic, oleic, palmitic, stearic, gamma-linolenic, and
eicosaenoic acids. Hemp seed and
seed oil contain vitamins A, B-1, B-2, B-6, C, E, carotenes, inositol, enzymes,
phospholipids, phytosterols, calcium, iron, fiber, and sodium. Hemp seed and seed oil promote cellular
growth, healthy skin, hair and eyes, wound healing, hormonal balance, and
weight control. Hemp seed and seed
oil contain both anti-inflammatory and anti-microbial properties; assists in
immune and cognitive functions, tissue inflammation, hypertension, dry skin,
liver and kidney regeneration, skin eruptions, edema, hair loss and is a muscle
relaxant. Hemp seed oil has a
light to medium sunscreen protection factor.
© 2011-2016 Robin Michaels, Cosmic Essential oils, All rights reserved
With Gratitude and Love
Robin Michaels
Healing Salve, 2oz jar
Healing Salve (Burn Salve), 2oz jar Healing Salve "Hand, Foot and Lip" All organic ingredients: Beeswax. Butters of: Mango, Shea, and cocoa. Infused olive oils of: St. Johns Wort, Roman Chamomile, and Calendula. Lanolin and Jojoba, Castor, Hemp, Avocado and vitamin E oils. Essential oils of: Myrrh, Niaouli, Lavandin (+) more. . . . This salve is wonderful for cracked lip, hands and feet, cold sores, HEALING BURNS (Hair dressers love this!), wound healing and fungal concerns. Anti-fungal, anti-bacterial, anti-viral and anti-septic. (Super Wonderful, enjoy) This is offered while supplies last, as I made for a client and of course I made extra, people love this yummy salve!) 2oz jar Made: 1st New Moon of the Year, 8 February 2016. w/Love, Cosmic Essential oils, Robin
Robin Michaels is an Aromatherapist, LMT, and a certified instructor for continuing education courses in Aromatherapy NCBTMB approved provider since 2006. Robin has over twenty-two years of experience in Bodywork and Thirty-three years within the Holistic Health realm. Robin has worked as the Spa Coordinator/Manager at the Adobe Grand Bed and Breakfast since 2006 as well as an independent practice specializing in Holistic Aromatherapy Massage. Robin graduated from the Harold J. Reilly School of Massage Therapy at the Edgar Cayce Foundation in 1994 in Virginia Beach, Virginia.
Robin is the owner and founder of Cosmic Essential oils, LLC, wholesaling Cosmic Essential oil products and assisting Spa and Holistic businesses with signature products suited to their unique businesses since 2004. Cosmic Essential oils was inspired as a desire to assist her son Ayran who suffered from Migraines, both mom and son were amazed at the results and the rest well divine creations with a compassionately passionate heart.
