What’s So Healing About Hemp Seeds and Flax Seeds?

Hemp seeds have a plethora of nutrients necessary to the healing process which makes them one of the most nutritious foods on our planet. When we talk about hemp seeds we mean hulled seeds from the hemp plant. Although in the same genus of plants as Marijuana, Hemp does not possess high enough levels of the medicinal and analgesic (pain relieving) compound Tetrahydrocannabinol, also commonly known by its acronym THC, to be considered the same plant. This article is about the healing medicinal value of hulled hemp seeds with respect to their content of essential amino acids (raw protein) and highly unsaturated essential fatty acids.

Here’s a short excerpt from The Cancer Journal Heal Yourself! which describes the healing benefits of hulled hemp seeds (and flax seeds), with respect to raw protein and essential fatty acids contained in hemp (and flax).

Protein

RAW protein is ESSENTIAL to your body for the manufacture of glutathione. Glutathione is a tripeptide molecule, made of cysteine, glutamic acid and glycine, three amino acids of the twenty-two which comprise the building blocks of all known proteins.

Glutathione is your body’s premier biochemical antioxidant. Present in all cells, it plays a critical role in cell-defense. Your glutathione antioxidant system is the way your cells protect themselves, their own tiny immune system. Glutathione destroys reactive oxygen compounds, those nasty free radicals that bounce around damaging critical DNA structures, and causing mutations. It also plays a key role in defending your body against infections by bacteria, viruses and fungi and protects cells against the damaging effects from foreign chemicals, pollutants and xenobiotics (Somersall & Bounous, 2001).

“As I dissected the animals that morning, I was blown away. The results absolutely stunned me. Livers of the first two groups of mice were spotted with gray, cancerous tumors, but the big surprise was the whey-fed group’s livers. They remained completely unspotted . . . they were pink . . . and obviously normal. Colon tumors were significantly less too.” Dr. Gustavo Bounous

Normal levels of glutathione inside your spleen and immune cells are essential for the continuous multiplication of lymphocytes and the production of antibodies. Glutathione maintains other antioxidants such as Vitamin C and E, to protect your body against disease. Studies show that glutathione levels in the body do not increase when it is taken in oral supplement form (Somersall & Bounous, 2001).

Excellent quality whey proteins are made from raw, organic cow’s milk. Keeping the whey raw preserves all nutrients, including the delicate amino acid cysteine, which your body uses to make protective glutathione. The humoral (mediated by B cells, a bodily defense reaction that recognizes virus, fungi, or bacteria and produces specific antibodies against them) immune response in mice fed raw whey protein was almost 500% higher than mice fed a casein diet, even when the casein diet was enriched with cysteine. The raw whey protein was the key. Some cases improved the life span of mice by thirty percent. (Somersall & Bounous, 2001).

“It was demonstrated that this immune enhancing activity of the whey protein concentrate was related to greater production of splenic glutathione during oxygen-requiring, antigen-driven clonal expansion of the lymphocyte pool. In addition, mice fed the whey protein concentrate exhibited higher levels of tissue glutathione which was believed to account for observed anti-tumor effects and even favorable effects on natural aging.” Dr. Gustavo Bounous

Dr. Bounous’ discovery sounds very similar to Johanna Budwig’s cottage cheese protocol, minus the immune boosting flax oil. Both therapies use high quality protein in its most active form that is not denatured by the pasteurization process, to provide the body with amino acids, the precursor raw materials for the production of glutathione and other active components of the immune system.

Highly Unsaturated Fats

Organic, raw, nuts, seeds and avocados are a rich source of nutrients, including immune boosting fats. They feed every cell in your body and are an integral part of your brain, joints, glands, and sensory organs. Omega 3 fat or linolenic acid boosts immunity, improves your metabolism, fortifies cell integrity, expands your brain power and heightens your sense of wellbeing.

Flax seeds and wild fish liver oils are rich in Omega 3 fats and cofactor nutrients that feed your immune system and stabilize your blood sugar levels. Flax seeds are a valuable source of lignans, or phytoestrogens, important plant hormones which balance your glandular and reproductive systems, keeping you calm, happy and healthy (Erasmus, 1993).

Johanna Budwig 

Until her death in 2003, at the age of ninety-five, Johanna Budwig, a German born scientist and biochemist, was considered the world’s leading expert on dietary fats and oils. In 1952, she was the central government’s senior expert both for fats and pharmaceutical drugs.

On November 2, 1959, Johanna delivered a lecture, which was later printed in a book, and became an international bestseller, Flax Oil As A True Aid For Arthritis, Heart Infarction, Cancer and Other Diseases. The front cover of her book states that she was nominated for the Nobel prize seven times for her scientific work with highly unsaturated fats and the human body. She claimed thousands of patients, some at the brink of death, were cured by her Flax Oil and Cottage Cheese protocol  (Budwig, 1994).

Dr. Budwig suggests that improper fat metabolism is at the crux of all chronic illness, and when processed, solidified or heat-treated oils are removed from the diet, glandular secretion improves dramatically and quickly, as do all functions of the body.

Saturated, hydrogenated and damaged fats no longer have their field of electrons, necessary for recharging the cells of your body, brain and nerves. When we ingest heated, solidified, otherwise damaged fats and do not eat the essential, highly unsaturated fats, like flax and hemp oil, our cells do not function properly and we become congested and diseased (Budwig, 1994).

Essential highly unsaturated fats in unprocessed, raw, liquid plant and fish oils contain highly reactive electrons, as they are alive. They are also essential for oxygen metabolism, tissue repair and rebuilding (Budwig, 1994).

Mixing cottage cheese, rich in amino acids (protein building blocks) with highly unsaturated vegetable and seed oils, such as flax oil, facilitates the water solubility of fats, enabling them to combine with protein, thus raising the level of vital functioning throughout every one of your body’s trillions of cells (Budwig, 1994).

“The oil and protein intake which I advise consists of mainly the most active fat I know – flax seed oil – in easily digestible form accompanied by cottage cheese . . . This simple food revises the stagnated growth processes thereby naturally causing the tumour or tumours present to dissolve and the whole range of symptoms which indicate a “dead battery” are cured. In a short time the patient feels well again. It is preferable however, not to wait until three or four doctors have pronounced a tumour as incurable – but rather your principle task is to recover your health completely by optimal nutrition.” Budwig, 1994.

Flax Oil as a True Aid Against Arthritis, Heart Infarction, Cancer, and Other Diseases

Flax Oil As A True Aid Against Arthritis, Heart Infarction, Cancer and Other Diseases (3rd Edition), Johanna Budwig

The Budwig Cancer & Coronary Heart Disease Prevention Diet: The Revolutionary Diet from Dr. Johanna Budwig, the Woman Who Discovered Omega 3s

The Oil Protein Diet Cookbook by Dr Johanna Budwig

Flax Seed Oil & Cottage Cheese Protocol

Buy fresh flax seed oil, from the refrigerator section of your Health Food Store. Check the date to be sure it is current. (If it smells distasteful, it is not fresh – Your nose knows). Johanna’s protocol mixed two tablespoons of quark or cottage cheese to one tablespoon of oil. The mixture was stirred until smooth and well combined. She recommended taking two to three times per day, depending on the severity of condition.

Tip: Quark does not keep long, but you can freeze tiny cubes of it. Try to get Quark or Cottage Cheese made from raw unpasteurized milk products. It is difficult to source but the undamaged cysteine (protein) is of the highest quality and very beneficial in manufacturing glutathione, the ‘master’ antioxidant responsible for cell defense.

Udo Erasmus 

Fats That Heal Fats That Kill by Udo Erasmus

From Fats That Heal Fats That Kill by Udo Erasmus: Some important points about fat from the guru of fats, Udo Erasmus, and his unequalled and exhaustive resource and best-selling book.

All fats are made of a backbone of glycerol. Our body can join two glycerol molecules to form glucose, or our body can split a glucose molecule into two glycerol molecules to make fat. Saturated fats form a part of all membranes but are mostly used by the body as fuel. In order for fats to be burnt as fuel inside the mitochondria of your muscle cells, it must be carried into the cell first by a molecule of carnitine. Carnitine is an amino acid manufactured by your body from precursor amino acids, lysine and methionine, both readily available in meat, dairy and plant proteins.

Butter and coconut burn quicker and easier because they are mostly short chain fatty acids, unlike beef and pork which are mostly comprised of long chain fatty acids, which take longer to burn (Erasmus, 1993).

When you eat too much sugar or too many carbohydrates, there will be too many glucose molecules floating in your blood. To get the sugar out of your blood and safely stored away, your body will quickly separate these glucose molecules and transform them into saturated fat, storing them away in blatantly obvious places, like your abdomen, thighs and upper arms . . .

Humans lack the ability to process saturated fats into alpha-linolenic acid and linoleic acid, the omega 3 and 6 fats, so they must be taken in directly from foods, and this is why they are referred to as essential fatty acids. They are essential to our diets because we cannot produce them ourselves.

Essential Fatty Acids, or EFA’s stimulate your metabolism and speed up the rate at which your body burns fat and glucose. Udo Erasmus suggests using upwards of three tablespoons per day to burn off excess fats, and help your body retain an optimal weight. Monounsaturated fats, like those found in olive oil, are used in cell membranes, and as fuel for your body  (Erasmus, 1993).

Vitamins and minerals are cofactors for fat metabolism. Your body needs them to burn fat for energy. If you are deficient in any of these additional nutrients, certain functions cannot be performed and many organs and systems in your body will suffer, leading to illness and disease.

“Cancer, the enigma of our time, eludes every attempt to pinpoint a single cause. It often involves fatty degeneration, something gone haywire with the way cells handle fats and energy production  . . . There may be changes in the fat composition of cell membranes, there may be fat droplets within cells, there may be fats surrounding tumors.” Udo Erasmus, 1993.

Trans fats are produced in the processing of fats and oils, which causes a twist in the molecule into an unnatural shape, or trans-configuration. Udo Erasmus says, “now the molecule has its head on backwards, which causes significant effects on the properties and functions of these trans fatty molecules.” The twisted shape can only partially fit into enzyme and cell membrane structures, blocking out natural fats, while not performing the important work needed by the fat molecules.

Trans fats are more sticky than natural fats, they cause permeability problems in cell membranes, they burn slower in heart muscle which normally burns EFA’s, cause electrical short-circuits because of damaged electron fields, impair your energy flow and effect all functions of your body including your heartbeat, brain and nerve communication, your senses and mental ability and the vitality of your body (Erasmus, 1993).

Trans fatty acids are a hideous and secret killer, sucking the life out of you and every cell in your body. Where do they come from? Udo reports 95% of our trans fatty acid intake in Canada and the U.S. comes from partially hydrogenated vegetable oil products (Erasmus, 1993).

Partially hydrogenated vegetable oil is used in margarine, shortening and partially or fully hydrogenated oils. In short, it is used in most packaged and processed foods like crackers, cookies, pastries, cakes and fast foods.

Check labels for names such as shortening, hydrogenated canola oil, partially hydrogenated soybean oil, modified palm oil, etc.

Use healthy fats every day, but stir them in after your dish is cooked, to avoid damaging the delicate fat molecules with heat. If you have to fry foods, add water or vegetables to the pan first to keep the temperature down, and protect the fats from extensive damage.

Cook with coconut fat, or a combination of olive with stock, broth or water or organic butter or ghee, or clarified butter.

Other healthy fats include avocado, unrefined flax, sesame, hemp, sunflower, walnut and pumpkin seed oils, and these delicate fats should never be heated.

Increase your essential fatty acid intake by making yourself fresh ‘Seed and Nut Milks’ and store in a sealed glass jar in the refrigerator for one or two days. Add delicious, creamy nut milk to raw oatmeal, use in coffee or tea, or add to cream soups or smoothies. Here: Hemp Milk and other Easy Seed and Nut Milks

Make yourself a sumptuous mocha with fresh coffee or grain coffee, fresh raw nut milk of your choice, one teaspoon of raw cocoa powder, and a tiny squirt of raw unpasteurized honey. Then sit back, relax and visualize yourself healthy!

Another simple way to add essential fats to your diet is to make your own nutritious and delicious salad dressings. Once you realize how quick and simple it is to make your own dressings, you will never go back to store bought! Here are some basic ideas and staple recipes . . .   Salad Strategies. Here: Salad Strategies

REFERENCES

Budwig, Johanna. (1994) Flax Oil As A True Aid Against Arthritis, Heart Infarction, Cancer And Other Diseases. British Columbia: Apple Publishing Company Ltd.

Erasmus, Udo. (1993) Fats That Heal, Fats That Kill. British Columbia: Alive Books.

Manitoba Harvest. Retrieved from http://manitobaharvest.com/about_hemp/3774/Hemp-101.html, December 27, 2012.