Hemp Hearts & Weight Loss

I read that many people who start their day out with a nutritious and balanced meal and a hefty helping of hemp hearts – usually in a salad or on raw oatmeal, in yogurt or in fruit, notice a significant difference in their health and energy. They experience diminished appetites and ample energy to get them through the day. They also notice reduced cravings for sweets and snacks and find it easier to avoid starchy foods, probably because of the high protein content in hemp hearts. In the long run, they can expect improved health in terms of arthritis, diabetes, obesity, energy, blood pressure, and so on.

It is also possible to lose up to one pound per day by eating a large raw breakfast with hemp hearts, then substituting a pot of tea for lunch, and for dinner, a large vegetable salad without dressing. Eating like this is only necessary if you want to lose substantial weight because of the daily calorie deficiency. It is reported that people have lost up to 50 pounds in 50 days following this method.

If you’re not trying to lose weight, you can eat a lot more and not gain weight, BUT you would have to avoid consuming processed “stuff” as well as food containing sugar, flour, potatoes, rice and pasta. Hemp hearts are an excellent source of balanced proteins and essential fats, so it shouldn’t be too difficult to avoid carbs and starches.

Comparing Hemp Hearts to Other Foods

Hemp hearts are a superior vegetarian source of protein that is considered easily digestible, and they contain more required amino acids, thus proteins, than milk, meat or eggs. I don’t drink milk or eat meat, but I do enjoy an egg on occasion, so by adding hemp hearts to my diet, I am supplying the mythical “deficiency of protein in a vegan diet.”

Hemp hearts are much more balanced and digestible than Soy products. I wouldn’t eat Soy if you paid me, so I’m happy to hear this! (Side note: I read that over 90% of soy products and 70% of corn is grown from genetically modified seeds. Plus, soy is practically grown in pesticides. No thanks!)

Nature's highest botanical source of essential fatty acid, with more essential fatty acid than flax or any other nut or seed oil. I like the idea of eating hemp hearts over taking a Tablespoon of flaxseed oil every night! Hemp hearts are MUCH tastier!! And there are so many ways you can incorporate them into your diet.

The more I read about Hemp hearts, the more amazed I am. The benefits are astounding. Since I want to achieve substantial health, I decided to put hemp hearts to the test. Okay, so it’s only been one day but this is what happened today.

DISCLAIMER: THIS GETS A LITTLE PERSONAL, SO CONSIDER YOURSELF FOREWARNED.

I made a nice big salad this morning of romaine, carrots, broccoli, snow peas, bean sprouts, red cabbage, cucumbers, red bell pepper, 3 TBSP of hemp hearts and dressing of flaxseed oil and fresh squeezed lemon juice. I wasn’t even ¾ of the way through my salad and I had to use the bathroom … TWICE before I left for work! Dang, that’s fast!! I also started to cough up mucus.

I made a liter of organic lemonade to bring to work in place of lunch. While at work, I had to empty my bladder four times plus had another bm.

When I got home, I had some raw “spaghetti” made with zucchini, raw marinara and another two TBSP of hemp hearts. I’ve had to empty my bladder four more times since I've been home. I can certainly see how you would lose weight consuming hemp hearts! Including hemp hearts in my diet for one day seems to have triggered a pretty good detox! And I can concur with the diminished appetite and sustained energy.

This post has kinda gone into the toilet, hasn’t it?!!

Phenomenal Benefits of Hemp Hearts

Does the word "hemp" produce visions of pot plants and pot heads dancing around in your mind? They are not the same and there is an unfortunate misconception regarding the two. Marijuana and hemp are different varieties of the same species of plant, Cannabis sativa L. There are different varieties of Cannabis, just as there are different varieties of citrus. If you want to read more about it, check out Dr. David P. West's paper Hemp & Marijuana: Myths & Realities.

Hemp is actually a superfood that is a well-kept secret in the United States, probably because of its exceptional health benefits. It seems our government just doesn't want anyone to know how to be healthy without depending on pharmaceuticals. Coincidentally, drugs never helped me get healthy throughout my childhood. They just kept me depend on more drugs.

Hemp Hearts are shelled hemp seed which is nature's perfect food - a super food - with a nutritional composition that is exceptional! They are loaded with essential fats, proteins, most vitamins as well as enzymes and amino acids. Hemp protein contains all 20 known amino acids including the nine essential amino acids that our bodies cannot produce. Proteins are considered complete when they contain all nine essential amino acids in a sufficient quantity and ratio, and hemp seeds meet the body's nutritional requirement for a well balanced diet. Approximately 65% of the protein found only in hemp seeds is globulin edistin that works in the body to create antibodies, promoting a strong immune system! Edistin also aids digestion and is considered the backbone of the cell's DNA.

Some Benefits from Consuming Hemp Seed
Excellent source of essential fatty acids including Omega 3, 6 and GLA
Lower blood LDL cholesterol levels
Lower blood pressure
Improve cardiovascular circulation & function
Improve organ function
Improve immunity levels
Increased energy levels & metabolic rate
Reduce symptoms of PMS & menstrual cramps
Reduce inflammation and the symptoms of arthritis
Improve recovery of muscles after exercise
Reduce & treat dry skin and hair conditions
Reduction of many degenerative diseases through preventative measures

Hemp products have a wonderful nutty flavor that can easily be incorporated into your diet while providing a powerful daily supplement. I add them to my salads, smoothies and to my Buckwheat Goji Bars. They can be added to most anything. I even eat them straight as they are mild and quite yummy.

It is recommended that 4-5 Tablespoons in a large salad at breakfast is ideal. If you prefer, you can add it to fruit, raw oatmeal or yogurt, but eating a large salad at breakfast time and then a light dinner of raw veggies will achieve the most substantial benefits. Avoid starches, processed foods and dairy.


How I added hemp to my diet today. I whipped up some muesli for brunch and it was so good I decided to share the recipe.

I Muesli
~~~~~~~~~

1/2 cup whole uncooked oats
1/4 cup of sprouted buckwheat
2 TBSP of hemp hearts 
handful of chopped almonds
handful of raisins
handful of sunflower seeds
juice of one apple

Stir together and enjoy!

Today's smoothie: 10 oz. Coconut Water, 2 frozen ripe bananas, 1 TBSP raw cacao powder, 2 TBSP hemp hearts, 1 tsp. Maca. Blend and enjoy. If the bananas weren't frozen, I would have added a cup of ice before blending.

TIP: I buy several bunches of bananas at at time. As they start to turn brown, I peel them, break them in half, toss them into a Ziploc bag and the throw the bag in the freezer. You could also slice them if you wanted to but I'd rather just break them in half. By doing this, you don't waste bananas when they get too ripe and have to be thrown out, PLUS you can use the frozen bananas in your smoothies.

What Happens When We Cheat on our Diet

While I have been maintaining - for the most part - 90-95% raw, I do have days where I cheat and will eat, of all things, a slice or two or pizza!! UGH! That has GOT TO STOP!! I'm only hurting myself when I make these poor choices. Several years ago, I came across an excellent article written by a raw guru, Frederick Patenaude, about what happens when we cheat on our diet. It was very helpful to me and I knew I would need to revert back to it again. I should have pulled it out sooner!! Here it is... 

Cheating & The Psychology of Dietary Change 

When we try to follow a healthy diet, it’s perfectly normal at first to have desires or cravings for unhealthy foods and to feel tempted by these foods. Sometimes, for one reason or another, we may decide to say, “What the hell!” and indulge. First, it should be said that what matters most is what we do on a daily basis and not what we do rarely or occasionally. So small diet derogations once in a while are not as harmful as if they were habitual. The other side of the coin is that these small but repeated cheats can sabotage all the benefits we are expecting to have with our diet. When we eat a diet composed mostly of fruits and vegetables without spices or salt, and when we eat those foods with genuine hunger, we eventually purify our body and become ultra-sensitive to any poor food choice. The body reacts violently to any unhealthy food, much like a child does. The worst thing is the surprise of finding out that the old foods we used to love — those that seem so innocent still — can have such a dramatic effect on us. We’d like to be able to eat them occasionally and be fine... oh, we’d like so much to be able to! Let me use my own experience as an example. In most people’s minds, a cooked vegan meal is a rather healthy meal. Most folks would eat that and feel fine. That might even be the healthiest thing they ate all week! But for someone whose system has been cleansed out by a pure diet of fruits and vegetables, things aren’t the same. If I ate such a meal, let’s say, composed of split pea soup, a vegan pizza and soy ice cream, it will definitely affect me in the most negative way. I might have a hard time falling asleep and my sleep could be disturbed by weird dreams. I’ll become dehydrated from all the salt contained in those “healthy” vegan foods. But the worst thing is that I’ll have such a hard time getting back on track again. For a week I might feel kind of ill, but not really — just a sort of slight sore throat and aching in the muscles. A slight depression could even set in and I’ll have the hardest time to feel like myself again. What a setback for just a little dietary indiscretion! I know from experience what happens when I decide to eat something I normally don’t, for having been there more than a few times. But I also know that this experience is common to all those that have experienced living on a natural diet of fruits and vegetables. Studying the Law of Vital Adaptation will help us understand why this happens. Here is the law as stated by Herbert Shelton: "The response of the vital organism to external stimuli is an instinctive one, based upon a self-preservative instinct which adapts itself to whatever influence it cannot destroy or control." What it means is that over time, the body can become accustomed to all sorts of harmful substances. It will adapt itself to it in order to protect itself. This is done at the expense of many vital processes. Shelton again: “There was the ancient king who, in order to protect himself against poisoning by his foes, accustomed his body to various poisons by a gradual increase in the amount taken, until, when a time finally arrived when he desired to take his own life, by poisoning, he failed in the attempt. The first effort of the living organism, in relation to adverse and inimical influences, is to overcome and destroy them. Failing in this, it attempts to accommodate itself to such conditions and influences. For what it cannot overcome, it must learn to endure or perish.” When we start a pure diet of fruits and vegetables, the process described by Shelton is done in reverse. The body rejects accumulated toxins and reverts to a more pure state that has little tolerance for poisons. That is why we can react so strongly to the foods we used to eat without a second thought.

A LEARNING PROCESS

It’s a rather interesting experience to see how bad certain foods can make you feel once you've eaten a simple diet of mostly fruits and vegetables for a while. I’ve noticed how certain foods make you drowsy, others just stimulate you and later make you feel depressed, others make you feel irritated, and others make you feel almost drugged. A friend of mine isn’t a habitual coffee drinker. Recently, he had 4 coffees in one evening. Although he felt great initially, because of stimulation, the following day he fell into a sort of depression that lasted a good 2 days! This backsliding is probably necessary to understand where we want to go. But what really hurts in the long terms are the small cheats that end up occurring on a rather regular basis. Let me explain. If you go out one night and have a pizza after having been on a clean diet for a while, you will feel it. I guarantee that you will not feel encouraged to repeat the experience the next day. But if instead you have a muffin here and there, drink some tea once in a while, add some soy sauce to your salads, etc., you might not feel horrible, but all of those little things begin to add up and one day you wonder why you don’t feel so good anymore, without realizing what has actually happened. When we disturb the instinct, we disturb the main natural and physiological alarm that is supposed to protect us from harmful things. Health can only be perfect when our instinct is perfect. Cheating often ends up depraving our instinct and perverting it. It’s better to perfect it, so that it can protect us in life. 

TAKING IT EASY

Life should be fun, and eating healthily shouldn’t be a big struggle. At some point, you have to accept the path that you have chosen and be happy with it. What’s the point of eating healthily if you feel deprived and you’re constantly going back and forth and trying to find your balance again, each time? Trying to eat raw using the force of willpower alone is meant to fail, ultimately. On one side you are trying to make yourself eat in a way that you think is good for you, but on the other side you are fighting it, because on that level you do not want to do it. This inner struggle, in spite of the greatest willpower in the world, is going to make you fail. The key is to come to accept on a deeper level the diet choice we make, rather than understand it on a purely intellectual level. I always tell people that they shouldn’t strive to eat a particular diet, such as a raw food diet, simply because they think it’s the best for their bodies. Instead, they should focus on the reasons they are doing it. The reasons can include: having more energy, improved complexion, waking up feeling energetic, feel more connected to nature, feel more peaceful inside, radiate health, live healthily, etc. 

EVERYTHING IN BALANCE

“A discrepancy between what we eat and who we are in the world generates a kind of tension, which is resolved either when the diet moves back in line with the person’s incarnate role, or when the person’s entire life changes to come in harmony with the new diet. Force, that is, willpower, can hold diet and being apart, but not forever. The tension will build, in the form of intense cravings, aversions, and, eventually, physical illness.” Charles Eisenstein, The Yoga of Eating One thing that took me a long time to understand is that our diet must harmonize with our other behaviors; otherwise it is doomed to fail. There’s a saying that goes, “You cannot change one thing without changing everything.” Let me explain. A diet of animal foods and alcohol is compatible with a number of lifestyles, but incompatible with some others. The same goes for a vegan diet, or a raw-food diet. If you want to be in a death metal band, a raw vegan diet isn’t the most appropriate for that lifestyle choice. On a pure energetic level, eating banana smoothies doesn’t jive with screaming gory lyrics in a death metal band! A raw-based diet, such as the one described in the book The Raw Secrets, is a radical change. It will call for more radical changes in every area of your life. If you are not ready for it and were just looking for a quick fix, you will have to face some major hurdles along the way, because your diet choice won’t harmonize with your other manners of being. A fruit-based diet is a high-energy diet. It isn’t compatible with a sedentary lifestyle. It isn’t compatible with certain low-energy activities, friendships, and even jobs.

So one way to make the diet work, indirectly, is to focus on other areas of our lives. Instead of focusing on the diet, we can focus on becoming more active or inviting new, more positive friendships. By harmonizing those areas of life, it will become easier to make the diet work, almost without any effort.

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I can so relate to this article because I am a living testimony of what Frederic writes. I can go for days consuming nothing but freshly juiced carrots/celery/apples/beets and parsley, green smoothies, and salads, but then, I'll come home and hubby has ordered a pizza. I cave in and eat a slice or two. Within 30 minutes, I can feel the mucous build-up in my sinuses, within an hour I start wheezing. The next day I start sneezing, my eyes itch and my lungs hurt. Wheat and dairy are major "no-no's" for my asthma. So why do I eat it?!!

I cannot even begin to describe how amazing I felt when I was 100% raw. I struggle to understand why I am finding it more difficult this time to maintain this lifestyle. My motivation the first time was to get off my asthma meds, which I did ... until I started eating cooked again.

When I make a decision to cheat, I am not only cheating myself but my Lord and Savior as well. My body is a temple of the Holy Spirit and I should treat it as such. Since I profess Jesus as my Lord and Savior, this area of my life should be surrendered to Him as well. I have decided to make eating an act of worship, thereby honoring Him with my food choices.

With the help of Jesus, I know I will succeed. I am determined to CHOOSE LIFE! Living (raw) foods are Life. Jesus is Life! I can do all thing through Christ who strengthens me!! Hallelujah!

Why Eating a Primarily Raw Vegan Diet Makes You Feel RAWESOME!!!

Happy New Year! Hope your new year will be Simply Rawesome!!

I must share with you the following site: Seeds of Deception

WATCH THE VIDEO!!! It is eye opening, very informative and enlightening. I strongly urge you to check it out.

Jeffrey M. Smith, author of "Seeds of Deception" and "Genetic Roulette: The Documented Health Risks of Genetically Engineered Foods," explains the ramifications of Genetically Modified foods. Scary! Dangerous!

When you watch this video, you will understand why eating a primarily organic, raw vegan diet is safer, wiser and healthier. You will feel like a new person.

The following is a summary of what crops, foods and food ingredients have been genetically modified as of July, 2007:

Currently Commercialized GM Crops in the U.S.:
(Number in parentheses represents the estimated percent that is genetically modified.)

Soy (91%)
Cotton (88%)
Canola (80-85%)
Corn (85%)
Hawaiian papaya (more than 50%)
Alfalfa, zucchini and yellow squash (small amount)
Tobacco (Quest® brand)

Other Sources of GMOs:

Dairy products from cows injected with rbGH.
Food additives, enzymes, flavorings, and processing agents, including the sweetener aspartame (NutraSweet®) and rennet used to make hard cheeses
Meat, eggs, and dairy products from animals that have eaten GM feed
Honey and bee pollen that may have GM sources of pollen
Contamination or pollination caused by GM seeds or pollen
Some of the Ingredients That May Be Genetically Modified:

Vegetable oil, vegetable fat and margarines (made with soy, corn, cottonseed, and/or canola)

Ingredients derived from soybeans: Soy flour, soy protein, soy isolates, soy isoflavones, soy lecithin, vegetable proteins, textured vegetable protein (TVP), tofu, tamari, tempeh, and soy protein supplements.

Ingredients derived from corn: Corn flour, corn gluten, corn masa, corn starch, corn syrup, cornmeal, and High-Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS).

Some Food Additives May Also Be Derived From GM Sources:

The list may change as we encounter new information: ascorbic acid/ascorbate (Vitamin C), cellulose, citric acid, cobalamin (vitamin B12), cyclodextrin, cystein, dextrin, dextrose, diacetyl, fructose (especially crystalline fructose), glucose, glutamate, glutamic acid, gluten, glycerides (mono- and diglycerides), glycerol, glycerol, glycerine, glycine, hemicellulose, , hydrogenated starch hydrolates, hydrolyzed vegetable protein or starch, inositol, invert sugar or inverse syrup, (also may be listed as inversol or colorose), lactic acid, lactoflavin, lecithin, leucine, lysine, maltose, maltitol, maltodextrin, mannitol, methylcellulose, milo starch, modified food starch, monooleate, mono- and diglycerides, monosodium glutamate (MSG), oleic acid, phenylalanine, phytic acid, riboflavin (Vitamin B2) sorbitol, stearic acid, threonine, tocopherol (Vitamin E), trehalose, xanthan gum, and zein.

Some of the Foods That May Contain GM Ingredients:

Infant formula
Salad dressing
Bread
Cereal
Hamburgers and hotdogs
Margarine
Mayonnaise
Crackers
Cookies
Chocolate
Candy
Fried food
Chips
Veggie burgers
Meat substitutes
Ice cream
Frozen yogurt
Tofu
Tamari
Soy sauce
Soy cheese
Tomato sauce
Protein powder
Baking powder (sometimes contains corn starch)
Powdered/Confectioner's sugar (often contains corn starch)
Confectioner's glaze
Alcohol
Vanilla
Powdered sugar
Peanut butter
Enriched flour
Vanilla extract (sometimes contains corn syrup)
Pasta
Malt
White vinegar

Non-Food Items That May Contain GM Ingredients:

Cosmetics
Soaps
Detergents
Shampoo
Bubble bath

** Notice the lack of fresh fruits and veggies on this list!!

The impact of this list is lost without the knowledge gained from watching the video. Do yourself a favor and take the time out to watch it. It's long, but it's life saving!!

Don't die from lack of knowledge. Educate yourself.