Hemp Milk

[ninorc]

I wrote out this explanation of how to make hemp milk with a 'why' specifically intended for MS sufferers which you can read on www.thc4ms.org.uk (under 'Recipes') but we can all benefit from hemp nutrition by doing this on a regular basis:

First, you will have to obtain a supply of hemp seed. Don't use the seed that is sold as bird food or fish bait, because it's liable to be sterilsed, or rancid. Look for organic hemp seed in your local health store, or ask them to order it, or contact Tony Taylor at Tony's Hemp Corner in Kings Cross, London (telephone: 020 7837 5223, or e-mail: hempcorner@hotmail.com) for a supply. Try to buy at least a kilo of hemp seed at a time as this represents a daily supply that should last about three weeks, long enough to appreciate the benefits. Expect to pay five to six quid.

Take a generous handful of seeds (2oz/50g), and put them into a cup or small bowl. Wash the seeds by covering with water, then straining through a sieve. Return to the container and soak them in water for 24-36 hours, out of direct sunlight, until the seeds begin to germinate. This process can be accelerated it you use tepid water (and arrested by putting the container in the 'fridge). I like to start soaking my seeds in the evening for consumption two mornings later.

While soaking, you may notice that the water becomes cloudy and may start fizzing, so that it must be changed every six to eight hours (depending on the atmospheric temperature) to prevent fermentation. The seeds will become saturated, darken in colour, and sink to the bottom of the container. Remove any seed husks that refuse to sink. After 24-36 hours, the seeds will split and begin to germinate, showing tiny white shoots. This is the point at which their nutritional potential is at its peak.

Strain the germinated seeds and put them in a blender with about half a pint/300ml fresh water. Alternatively, you can grind the seed using a pestle and mortar, adding the water later, but this is arduous work and takes some time!

Strain the resulting liquid through muslin, a double thickness of cheesecloth, or a clean tea towel. I find a wide measuring jug the best vessel to strain the hemp milk into. Set aside the ground residue, which you can eat by mixing into porridge, or by incorporating into the mixture for bread and cakes. These grounds also make a very good exfoliant, for cleansing and nourishing the skin, but start to smell sour after a few hours, in which case they should be composted or thrown away.

Hemp milk is grayish white in colour and tastes of nothing much. It has a slightly creamy texture and nutty flavour, reminiscent of soya milk. To make it more palatable, you can add freshly-extracted fruit or vegetable juices (providing you have a centrifugal juice extractor), or rinse the residue from the blender, return the hemp milk, add banana and whizz them together to make a smoothie. Any fresh juice will do, but if you are using packaged juice, avoid citrus, which will curdle the milk. Carrot juice, even the packaged variety, is especially delicious when mixed with hemp milk.

Hemp milk has no shelf life, so drink it immediately. However, resist the urge to gulp it or you're liable to feel bloated. Rather, sip it slowly and contemplatively. Being full of (the right kind of) fat, it's quite filling and you may find that you have no desire to eat anything for several hours afterwards. This is all to the good, as it will enable your body to absorb the hemp nutrients without being distracted by the hard work of digestion. Drinking hemp milk and fresh juice first thing in the morning will cleanse your colon and promote efficient elimination from your bowels, so don't be surprised by the sudden urge to go to the loo!

Hemp milk has no psychoactive properties but, not surprisingly, hemp oil is the fat that promotes most efficient assimilation of THC and other beneficial cannabinoids. Try blending crumbled dry herb into your milk to make a bhang-type drink or, if you're bakng hash cookies, replace some of the flour in your recipe with ground hemp seed. Enjoy!

[Arnold Layne]

Well groovy post there ninorc! Thanks.

Must give it a go - I have Organic Hempseed on the shelf all the time as I use it in my bread. Its great just cracked and added into the recipe. I also take Hempseed oil every day - keeps the arteries clean, and is said to be anti-inflammatory.

[ninorc]

Right on, My Layne, that's maybe why you have such a straynge body!

Take care with your hemp oil and keep it in the 'fridge as it's so unsaturated that it will immediately react to air and light and quickly go rancid, negating it's nutritional value. That's why hemp/flax/linseed oil was traditionally used as a quick-drying agent in paints and varnishes. The main point of making hemp milk is to extract it's beneficial fats (both EFA's, in the correct ratio for humans) in their most assimilable form, as hydrolipids.

[Arnold Layne]

No worries there M8, it comes straight from cold store at the deli to my fridge. I notice it is usually the case that it was pressed around one month before I get it. Organic cold first pressed, of course!! Yum!

[April]

Facinating info. Have sent the link to a freind who has health probs. Might try it out myself so have printed off the instructions for future use. Thanx

April