Hemp seed is about 25% protein. It is a high-quality, nutritionally-complete food eaten in many cultures for thousands of years. In the Orient, it was often eaten like oatmeal. It is more digestible than soy protein and provides essential fatty acids, fiber and a complete protein all in one food. Hemp seed cakes make excellent food for fish, birds and livestock.<pHemp seed oil is a superb cooking oil, lubricating oil and fuel oil. It can be used in shampoo, hair and skin cream, soap, cosmetics, massage oil and moisturizers. The oil also makes excellent paint, varnishes, lacquer and sealants. When hemp cultivation was banned in 1937, hemp seed oil was exempted, as it was so important for paints, varnishes and lubricating oil.

Hemp seed oil has the highest total concentration of the essential fatty acids of any oil (about 80%). Flaxseed oil is higher in linolenic acid, but hemp seed is highest in total omega-6 (linoleic) and omega-3 (linolenic) essential fatty acids. These fatty acids have been shown helpful to combat cancer and AIDS, among many other diseases. UCLA researchers R. Lee Hamilton, PhD and William Eidelman, MD stated, “essential fatty acids are responsible for our immune response. In the (European) old country, the peasants ate hemp butter. They were more resistant to disease than the nobility.”

Hemp is a very ancient source of medicine. It is mentioned by the famous physician Galen. Several chemicals have been isolated from the hemp leaf and seeds. Medicinal effects include stimulating the appetite, reducing nausea, lowering pressure in the eyes, stimulating the immune system and reduces pain, especially migraine headache pain. It is an antibacterial, antiviral, anti-convulsant, bronchodilator and expectorant. It reduces spasticity and ataxia in multiple sclerosis, stops menstrual bleeding and helps PMS and the pain of childbirth. Hemp extracts were widely used in medicines in America until it was banned.