So Manitoba Harvest is having a special for the month of July where shoppers can get a free 5lbs container of certified organic hemp seeds if they spend $250 or more — a $75 value! Now, I know, $250 seems like a lot, but so is 5lbs of hemp seeds.

As their newsletter explains, all you have to do is use the coupon code Free5seed11 at checkout:

These tiny hemp seeds pack a powerful punch of protein, omegas and fiber. Not only are hemp seeds easy to incorporate into any meal they, taste delicious too! Did you know Dr. Oz even refers to hemp seed as ‘Brain Food’?

Our hemp seeds are a raw, vegan-friendly, whole food that contains no additives or preservatives! Manitoba Harvest only sources seed that has not been genetically modified.

How It Works:
When you add $250 worth of any Manitoba Harvest products to your cart and enter the code Free5seed11 we’ll automatically add the free 5lb container to your cart.

Hemp seeds are not only a great source of protein, but of iron, but omega fatty acids as well. They also contain all 10 essential amino acids. They also have a nutty flavor that’s a great compliment to just about any salad, shake, or any other kind of recipe you think of. For some ideas on what you can do with hemp seeds, just check out our recipe section, and then visit Manitoba Harvest and use the coupon code Free5seed11 to get your free 5lbs container of organic hemp seed today.

A problem that vegetarians face when it comes to getting enough protein, is getting a complete protein. While meat contains complete protein, many vegetarian alternatives need to be combined with other things to get a complete protein — such as lentils with brown rice.

But hemp seeds offer a great source of complete protein, and in a particularly high concentration, as well. As columnist Rhonda Beckham for the Tahoe Daily Tribune points out:

It turns out that hemp — which has many uses including fuel, building supplies, textiles for clothing and housewares — is a complete protein in itself. And no, you won’t get the giggles or munchies after ingesting the seeds grown for food.
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Here is what Rocky Mountain Grain Products of Alberta, Canada, has to say about “nature’s power food:” “If you eat the contents of this bag (2 ounces) for breakfast with whole fruit or raw vegetables, you can expect abundant energy and no hunger for many hours, sometimes all day. You can save the cost of hemp hearts many times in reduced grocery bills and supplements, more productivity and less health care.”
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Two ounces of hemp hearts contains 314 calories, 25.9 grams of fat (87 percent omega, more than fish), no cholesterol, 6 grams of carbohydrates, 20 grams of protein, and 36 percent of your daily need for iron.

So hemp seeds are not only a great source of protein, but of iron, but omega fatty acids as well. They also contain all 10 essential amino acids.

Hemp seeds have a nutty flavor, are similar to sesame seeds in texture, and great in shakes/smoothies, over salads, or mixed into any other dish or desert.

If you want to give them a try, but are having trouble finding them at your local grocer, you can order them online from Manitoba Harvest. All their hemp products are organic, and their selection is quite vast.

There is more to the benefits of hemp seeds than just your health. They are also great for those who have trouble digesting soy. As the VegEater points out:

For the soy-sensitive vegan (it aggravates my eczema), Hemp is the holy grail. I don’t know what I would do without it. Drink yucky rice-milk? — bleh! Hempmilk is nutty and creamy and goes great in coffee and smoothies, and even bakes well. Hemp protein powder also works great in my morning smoothie, to give me an extra boost of 13g of protein per serving, and 8 g of fiber, as well as omega-3′s to boot! Hemp oil makes great salad dressing, and hemp seeds make great topping. And it has all 10 necessary amino acids, a complete protein!

As great of a foodstuff as soy is, it has it’s drawbacks. For instance, the manner in which it is farmed often leaves it full of synthetic hormones that can seriously disrupt your endocrine system over time. Hemp, on the other hand, rarely requires pesticides or fertilizers, leaving you with a much safer way to enhance your health. And as WH Foods points out, the nutritional content of hemp seeds abounds:

Hemp seeds and hemp oil are found in an increasing variety of food products and have also been fairly well studied in terms of their nutritional content. Seeds from this group of plants- like most plant seeds-are a good source of essential fatty acids. Linoleic acid, the omega-6 essential fatty acid, accounts for about two-thirds of the essential fatty acids found in hemp seeds. The other third comes from alpha-linolenic acid (ALA), the omega-3 fatty acid that forms the starting point for production of all other omega-3s in the body. There are also amino acids found in the protein portion of hemp seeds that can make important contributions to daily protein requirements.

In fact, the health benefits of hemp seeds are so substantial that you can even apply it topically. Hemp seed personal care products are available to help you improve the look of both your skin and your hair. It really is a shame that hemp foodstuffs aren’t more widely available on the market, and more affordable where they are.

The local LA ABC channel, KABC, recently compared some mil alternatives, and one of those featured alternative was Hemp Bliss hemp milk. Being a televised segment, it was hosted by Lori Corbin, “The Food Coach.” You can also watch the video coverage here. Of interest, however, are a couple notes from the show notes:

Finally, those looking for a new non-dairy beverage might get a kick out of hemp milk. Hemp is similar to flax in that it contains omega-3 and other unsaturated fats. It has a slightly nutty taste, but does not have any psychotropic compounds. So, the only “high” you might experience is the taste itself.
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Manitoba Harvest Hemp Bliss
Calories: 110
Fat: 7 g
Sugar: 6 g
Iron: 10 percent

For those of you interested in benefiting from the high amount of essential fatty acids in hemp milk and other products, you can buy hemp foods from Manitoba Harvest. Based in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, Manitoba Harvest™ owns and operates a 20,000 Sq Ft. state of the art, kosher certified and organic certified facility. They’ve been in business since 1998, so they’re no bunch fly-by-night snake-oil salesmen trying to get in on a hemp health craze.

Of all of Hemp’s uses, it stands out quite a bit as a Health Foods. It’s not only loaded with nutrients, but is rather versatile in terms of what it can be used for. But you don’t have to take my word for it. Check out this article from Suite101:

Hemp is extremely versatile. For starters, it contains all the essential amino acids in a balanced ratio, making it a high-quality source of protein, better than that found in other seeds, nuts, dairy products, meat, fish, or poultry. Hemp-based foods also have a high concentration of the antioxidants alpha-, beta-, gamma- and delta-tocopherol and alpha-tocotrienol. Both the seeds and oils are excellent sources of omega-3 and omega-6 essential fatty acids in a beneficial ratio of 3:1, along with two special EFAs: gamma linolenic acid (GLA) and stearidonic acid (SDA), which is rarely found in plant oils.

If you want to learn more about some different ways in which you can actually reap these benefits, check out the original article, which is title Hemp Health. It goes on with examples how hemp products can be used for:

• skin and hair
• heart support
• cancer prevention
• joint care
• mental health

Hemp seeds have a number of nutritional advantages over other so-called wholistic foods, such as plenty of Omega 3 and 6 fatty acids, as well as all 10 essential amino acids. Well, Eating Clean Works has an overview of the benefits of hemp seed butter:

When ground into butter, the hemp seed is an excellent source of protein and Omega-3’s. Hemp seeds contain the highest percentage of Essential Fatty Acids in the entire plant kingdom. They also have a high fiber content and contain vitamins E and C. Hemp oil is known to help relieve symptoms of eczema and arthritis.

As far as taste goes, I’ve read that it is equivalent to pine nuts and cashews. Sounds like it will taste good with most health foods. You could probably try spreading it on your toast or mixing it in with yogurt.

Of course, the original post has more details, so you should probably check it out if you’re interested in learning more about hemp seed butter.