Hemp has been a part of human history for over 10 000 years. Hemp provided us with ropes, yarn, paper, textiles, sails and ship rigging. As early as 8000 BC hemp was grown in Central Asia. It has been part of many cultures and religions. The Germans, Francs and Vikings were all using hemp fibre. The seed used to be a secondary product of fibre production, used only in a few cultures of Eastern Europe and Russia.


In recent centuries, hemp seeds were an ingredient in traditional recipes in rural Central and Eastern Europe. Examples include a ‘hemp soup’ described in a German recipe and a hemp butter used traditionally in Baltic countries. Roasted hemp seeds are still used in traditional snacks in China and Turkey. In modern age the hemp is used in textiles, papermaking, building materials, plastics, etc. Consumers in countries around the world where legislation allows hemp as food benefit adding tasty and nutritional hemp food to their diet.

Hemp seed represents a complete and balanced source of amino acids as the 20 amino acids, including the 9 essential amino acids, are all present. Hemp fatty acid spectrum is unique, it has ideal balance of omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids. Hemp oil contains the two essential fatty acids (EFAs), linoleic acid and alpha linolenic acid, the origins of the omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acid families, in a desirable ratio of about 3:1. EFAs cannot be produced by our body and, like vitamins, they or their metabolites must be consumed in the diet.


Balanced dietary omega-3 & omega-6 intake reduces the risk of atherosclerosis, sudden cardiac death and some forms of cancer, alleviates of the symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis, improves mood in bipolar disorders and optimizes development in infants. In addition, the omega-3 fatty acid, DHA, is abundant in brain tissue and required for brain development and special neural functions. Finally, hemp oil contains relatively high concentrations of phytosterols, compounds known to reduce total and LDL cholesterol. Hemp oil has high levels of gammatocopherol, a strong antioxidant, which according to recent studies has anticarcinogenic properties.


Wide use of hemp in soaps, scrubs, massage and moisturizing oils is dictated by hemp outstanding ability to soothe, moisturize and clean even the most sensitive and irritated skin suffering from eczema, dermatitis or psoriasis.

This plan has an amazing ability to protect the environment. Most notable is its role as a carbon sink, heavy metal trap and sewage digester. Hemp has the potential to make an important contribution to the protection of the environment. Hemp straw produced by 1 ha of land can stock approximately 3.06 t of carbon thus contributing to the reduction of greenhouse effect. Hemp protects environment needing significantly less pesticides than other crops. It won’t let weeds grow hence no herbicides needed. Resistant to draughts it often does not need to be irrigated. Requiring only very little input of diesel, fertilizer, pesticides, etc. hemp is in other words very friendly to ground, water, living organisms and ecosystems.