Hempseed Oil Has Healthy Potential

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Hempseed Oil Has Healthy Potential


Hempseed oil has a very interesting polyunsaturated fatty acid composition, Fernández-Arche told Reuters Health in an email, because it has an optimal omega-6 to omega-3 ratio of about 3 to 1.  

With an ideal ratio of omega-6 and -3 fatty acids and some plant chemicals thought to lower high blood pressure, hempseed oil has potential as part of a heart-healthy diet, according to Spanish researchers.
They analyzed the makeup of oil extracted from Cannabis sativa, often called industrial hemp, which is a cousin of marijuana but with very low levels of the chemical in pot that provides a high.
“This is an interesting study that gives new information on the bioactive compounds found in hempseed that may potentially lower blood cholesterol levels and have an anti-atherogenic action,” says Grant Pierce, executive director of research at St. Boniface Hospital in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. He was not involved in the new study.
“C. sativa L., an annual herbaceous plant, is known by its long, thin flowers and spiky leaves. The plant is considered to be native of western and central Asia and has also been cultivated commercially in Europe and in parts of China, Japan, Canada, and the United States,” write Maria Angeles Fernández-Arche, a pharmacology researcher at the University of Seville, and her colleagues.
In addition to a 3,000-year track record in the manufacture of cloth and paper, hemp has long history as a food and folk medicine, they point out in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry.
Hempseed is known to have high levels of vitamins A, C and E, minerals and fiber, the researchers say. But they wanted to analyze hempseed oil to better understand its potential for modern food and medicine.
The researchers examined the fatty acid profile of hempseed oil and found that polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) made up about 75 percent of the oil. PUFAs include omega-6 and omega-3, the fatty acids found in some meats as well as flax and fish oils.
The high amounts of one omega-3 fatty acid, alpha linolenic acid, “may have favorable nutritional implications and beneficial physiological effects on the prevention of coronary heart disease and cancer,” the authors write.

Saturated fats and monounsaturated fatty acids each amounted to about 12 percent of the oil.

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