Monthly Herbal: Hemp Reading

I grabbed Living Organic at the library and wasn't too surprised to see a few sections mentioning hemp.


In the Natural Beauty chapter: Hemp oil - a centuries old beauty secret is revived in soaps, shampoos and conditioners, lotions, and lip balms. Its essential fatty acids are incorporated for its moisturizing properties. It helps heal minor skin problems, including acne, and adds body and shine to hair.

In the Organic Clothing chapter: Organic clothes haven't caught on too well in the fashion world due to their subdued colors. Hemp, however, could be the product that turns the natural fashion world around, according to textile designer Louisa Wood. Wood is aiming to transform hemp's frumpy image, saying that hemp dyes well "since its so absorbent, so you don't need so many chemicals as cotton to dye it."
Wood won a scholarship to travel China, a major hemp producer, to learn how hemp fabric is made. She plans to experiment with vegetable dyes.

speaking of hemp clothing...

Super Foods Are For Real!

Shazzie is simply adorable and I love watching her videos. Here is #2 in a 4 part series that talk about superfoods and what they do, including Hemp Seeds!
Both of the recipes in the series following this video include hemp, both the seeds and the dried leaf. 

Monthly Herbal: Hemp Recipes

Angela Stokes-Monarch's Raw Hemp Drink

Ani Phyo's Hemp Smoothie

Find more Hemp Recipes at...

www.hemp-guide.com

Like these Hemp Truffles (Raw Vegan)
Ingredients:
1/2 cup Manitoba Hemp Seed Butter
1/2 cup organic raw tahini (no salt)
1/4 cup roasted carob powder
3 Tbsp almond milk
2 Tbsp agave
2 tsp or droppers of Stevia
1 tsp organic vanilla
1 tsp cinnamon
2 Tbsp goji berries
2 Tbsp raw cacao nibs
2 tsp powdered maca
1/2 cup hemp hearts (shelled hemp seeds) (to roll balls in)


In Vita Mix or coffee grinder

, blend whole berries and cacao nibs until a course powder and set aside. Next, in small bowl, combine tahini and hemp seed butter with agave, vanilla, and almond milk until it makes a batter. Next sprinkle in cinnamon, Stevia, and maca. With the back of a plastic spatula, press batter in a circular motion against the side of the bowl. The mixture should still be wet and sticky. Proceed by adding the carob a bit at a time and work into the batter in the same motion until fully blended. The batter now should have a shiny consistency and be non-stick to the touch. Next, fold in the ground goji berries and raw cacao nibs. Form into a ball and roll in shelled hemp seeds. Feel the mojo of a hump of a hemp ball.
Makes: 2 dozen Prep Time: 20 min

Hemp For Victory

Hemp for Victory was a video created by the US government in the 1940s that promoted hemp as a crop that would aid our country in the war.
This video was put into "hiding" after hemp was demonized by the government, an act paid for by the big oil companies that saw hemp as a threat to big business. Jack Herer, the "Emperor of Hemp," brought the video back into the public eye after some investigating in the Library of Congress record.

Here is a compressed Hemp for Victory video found on YouTube. Enjoy.



Jack Herer also wrote the book The Emperor Wears No Clothes that explains hemp's amazing qualities and its many uses.

The Living Longer Argument

An argument against natural medicine, natural living, raw living, and other lifestyles that gravitate from the normal, conventional and allopathic that I hear frequently is that "humans are living longer now."
I question the validity of this argument. Yes, the average human lives longer, into their 70's and 80's, today rather than the average lifespan ending at 45 like it did not so long ago. However, are these 70 and 80 year old happy being that old?

I hear from people my own age (early twenties) about aches and pains and how they dread getting older for these aches and pains will only get worse. I see people dread their doctors visits, knowing that the doctor will see yet another problem, prescribe yet another pill. I have family members hitting the twilight years with doctor visits every other week!
Are you really happy putting yourself through all this misery because you felt modern lifestyles and modern medicine was good for you?

So why are people living longer if we are putting all this gunk in our bodies? 
My theory is the technology of communication and transportation. It is easier than ever for people to find out about medicine, superfoods, lifestyles, etc. There are blogs like mine all over the net, websites, videos, newsletters, and more. With the rise and transportation technology, superfoods can be shipped all over the world making broccoli, kale and cacao just as accessible for people in the UK as it is for people in Ecuador.
This unique ability to access in our time is what might be the cause for longer lifespans.
Another reason is affluence. People in modern, westernized countries tend to have more money and therefore more means to experiment with health, doctors, lifestyles, etc.

My other argument against the "humans are living longer now" statement is simply, are they?
Some people might argue that the people in biblical times lived to be hundreds and thousands of years old. Some were nomadic. Some, like Adam and Eve, lived off the fruit of the land, some were agrarian, yet they had huge lifespans living a natural life.

Then there are the people that live to be well over 100 in other countries, third world countries where there are few or no allopathic doctors at all. Some studies say its the superfoods like acai or goji berries that they eat that causes such a long, active, healthy lifespan. Others say its the combination of natural foods, natural medicine and living in an area where they don't have to deal with the physical, mental, spiritual, and emotional stresses that the modern and post-modern world bring.

I am sorry if this sounds a little like a rant.
I simply feel like the people who propose this as an argument to me do it in defense of the doctors who kill people every day with misdiagnosing illnesses or giving them "medicines" with side effects that make the patient worse. Or in defense of food companies that load "food" with MSG and other excitotoxins that literally make us addicted to their food even as they raise the prices of real food and outlaw healing herbs like hemp.
It is simply sad.

on a happier note...
The Monthly Herbal for October is...(drum roll here)
HEMP!
Look forward to strange, new and exciting information about this misunderstood herb including videos, recipes, and perhaps an interview?!?!?!