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Hemp: Uses and Cures (Ghee and Herbal Extract Recipes Included!)

Hemp, Cannabis sativa, is one of the world’s oldest sources of food and medicine, with a history that dates back at least ten thousand years. It relieves glaucoma, epilepsy, migraines, insomnia, asthma, the nausea associated with AIDS and chemotherapy, and a host of other conditions. It was once a staple in every American medicine cabinet, but because hemp is the plant from which marijuana is derived, it has been made unavailable to consumers until recently. Now products made from imported hemp-seed are sold by stores and mail-order companies across the United States to satisfy a growing demand.

Why Hemp?

Let’s start out with the irrefutable qualities of hemp, and how resourceful and versatile this God-given plant is. Firstly, Hemp seed is not psychoactive and cannot be used as a drug. As a food, Hemp Seed is far more nutritious than soybean, contains more essential fatty acids than any other source, is second only to soybeans in complete protein (but is more digestible by humans), is high in B-vitamins, and is 35% dietary fiber. For our health, hemp has been proven to create miraculous results. Hemp can also be used to create textiles, building materials and hygiene products. The list goes on…..

A recommended read on the subject is“Hemp for Health: The Medicinal and Nutritional Uses of Cannabis Sativa“. Hemp for Health reveals the developments that have returned this ancient plant to the forefront of health and nutrition and that have doctors calling for its legalization.

The author provides everything from recipes using hemp-seed, and an analysis of cannabis’s therapeutic effect on the nervous system, to current information on bills that are currently moving through several state legislatures to legalize domestic hemp production.

There are Differences Between Cannabis and Hemp…

To break the stigma associated with marijuana, it is important to actually understand the difference between the two plants.

The two are related through the same genus of plant. While industrial-grade hemp is a rather helpful resource in the world, it lacks the stimulating power of the substance known as delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol, or for short, THC. It is this active chemical of THC that brings about the “high” associated with marijuana.

Hemp contains 1.5% of this substance, while marijuana possesses between 4 % and 20%. In Canada, the legal amount of THC used to create products cannot exceed 0.3%. Overall, the plants are rather close in details, but supply very different functions for many dissimilar reasons, which especially shows through in the physical makeup of the two plants.

Hemp is much stronger than the marijuana variety, meaning it holds the possibility to create a wealth of raw materials. Marijuana is actually quite delicate, eliminating it as a contender regarding serving a purpose to benefit mankind in a manner acceptable by law (with the exception of medicinal uses).

Farming practices also dictate the amount of THC produced by the plant. The unfertilized female species of cannabis sativa L contains the highest amount of THC, thus the male species is removed to prevent pollination, increasing it’s psychoactive properties dramatically. Reference

How to Make Tinctures And Herbal Extracts:

Herbs: Either fresh or dried finely chopped herbs can be used. Use of one pint of menstruum to two ounces of dried herbs, or about two handfuls of fresh.

Menstruums: There are three basic menstruums, or solvents used to extract the chemical compounds of herbs in tinctures, alcohol, glycerin, and vinegar. Alcohol is the most used because it can extract fats, resins, waxes,most alkaloids, and some of the volatile oils, as well as many other plant compounds. Water is also necessary to extract the water soluble plant chemicals. Using an 80 to 100 proof alcohol such as vodka, brandy and gin provides the alcohol-water ratio you need without having to add anything. If pure grain alcohol (190 proof) is used, water will have to be added. Don’t use city tap water that contains chlorine, use either distilled or pure spring water.

The important thing is to completely cover the herbs, leaving a couple of extra inches of liquid about the herbs to allow for swelling as the herbs absorb the liquid. Leave some headroom in the jar. If using vinegar, warm first before pouring it over the herbs.

Procedure for making an easy tincture:

Chop herbs finely
Place in a glass jar, labeled with the current date and name of the herb
Add sufficient liquid menstruum to completely cover the herb
Cap with a tight fitting lid, put the jar in a dark place at room temperature, and shake at least once daily.
After 2 to 3 weeks, strain the contents through several layers of cheesecloth.
Allow to settle overnight in a clean jar
Restrain through a filter paper
Store in a labeled, amber glass bottle away from light and heat.

The Chinese macerate herbs for months sometimes even years. For stronger tinctures a suggested time can be 4 to 6 weeks. The duration depends on the mixture and on your patience, in time you will develop your own style. I use a kitchen cupboard that I open on a regular basis, so I don’t forget the shake the bottle. Tinctures will keep for 6 months. The standard dose is one tablespoon in a wineglass of water once or twice a day.

Liniments are made exactly the same as herbal tinctures, except they are meant for external use. Make sure and label your liniments “FOR EXTERNAL USE ONLY” , when using a solvent that is inedible such as rubbing alcohol.

Using vinegar to tincture herbs. Alcohol has mostly displaced vinegar as a menstruum for making liquid herbal extracts, as it is far more efficient in extracting and preserving the medicinal properties of herbs. Vinegar is however passable solvent and useful in cases where you wish to avoid alcohol. When used in conjunction with alcohol, vinegar can sometimes assist in the extraction of alkaloid (base) substances from herbs. Such an extract containing both vinegar and alcohol is known as an acetous tincture.

How to Make Cannabis Ghee

Description:

Ghee is clarified butter. It contains mostly butter fat and trace amounts of water and milk solids.

Ingredients for Ghee:

2lb unsalted butter

Making the Ghee:

1. Melt the butter in a pan or a double boiler at a low to medium temperature so that the butter is hot enough to boil.

2. A froth will form on the surface of the butter.

3. Remove the froth with a spoon.

4. Continue until no more froth appears.

5. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

Ingredients for Cannabis Ghee:

1lb Ghee

1oz/28g of finely ground cannabis*

*The finer the powdered cannabis, the better this method will work.

Making the Cannabis Ghee:

1. The ghee is melted in a pan or double boiler and allowed to simmer.

2. Add the cannabis slowly, and stir often.

3. Allow to simmer for an hour.

4. Strain with cheese cloth or a fine mesh strainer, and allow to cool.

5. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

“Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food.” ~ Hippocrates ca. 400 BC

A note from WuW: The possession and cultivation of hemp is still prohibited by law in many countries. Wake Up World does not advocate breaking the law, Wake Up World advocates changing the law.

About the author:

Yolanda Bertaud, MSOM, HHP, CH. is an Holistic Health Practitioner, Chinese Herbalist and researcher with a Masters of Science and Oriental Medicine. She is also an advocate for natural organic foods, gardening and farming methods, humane treatment of animals, and sustainable treatment of our environment.

As a health practitioner, Yolands is available for personalized on-line consultations to support your health, wellbeing and diet. To schedule a private online (Skype) consultation, please contact Yolands via email: ybertaud@yahoo.com.com. For more information, please visit Yolanda’s website, Facebook page and Twitter profile.

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Sadie Higuera: A Little Girl with a Second Chance

Little Sadie Higuera is a model for what it means to fight for one’s life. She’s a testament for what hope and bravery can accomplish in a moment of utmost desperation and she’s living proof of the efficacy of a little green plant we know as cannabis. She’s a gorgeous child with a beautiful heart and we’d like to share her story with you.

Last year Sadie’s parents, Brian and Damaris, sat before their daughter’s neurologist, heads spinning… Did she really just say that? Is this it? Are we going to lose our little girl? Since the day she was born, doctors and family members knew that Sadie’s life was a fragile one and 3 months after that day, she experienced her first grand mal seizure, but that was just the beginning of a turn for the worse. Soon, she was experiencing upwards of 300 seizures a day, many of which were uncontrollable to the point of her having to be resuscitated. She came under the supervision of 13 specialists, a grocery bag full of trial medications, and yet nothing was working.

Soon, she was experiencing upwards of 300 seizures a day, many of which were uncontrollable to the point of resuscitation.

“It was like she was always sleeping. All the doctors were doing were sedating her – That’s all they could do for her,” Brian said. They tried everything. Beyond the seizures, Sadie’s body was being overtaken by numerous tumors, her health was quickly slipping between her doctor’s fingertips, and her quality of life was dwindling. She’d been diagnosed with an extremely rare congenital neurodegenerative disease called Schinzel-Giedion Syndrome, and they had come to a point in which they had had thought they had exhausted all means of treatment.

As Brian sat before us recalling the moment that he and his wife heard those words uttered from their doctor’s lips that there were no more options for their daughter, it was a darkness that silence could not come close to paralleling, but it was a moment that lasted only a quick second because Brian was not done telling Sadie’s story and Sadie is still here with us today. How?

…it was a darkness that silence could not even parallel, but it was a moment that lasted only a quick second because Brian was not done telling Sadie’s story and Sadie is still here with us today.

That day, Sadie’s neurologist had offered her parents a ‘final’ option – a medication that would improve her quality of life and alleviate some of her suffering, but would likely kill her in only two short months. She told Brian he’d be a hero for Sadie, but on the way home from the hospital that day, Brian made a decision that would save his daughter’s life. He had his own idea of how to be a hero for Sadie. Brian Higuera decided to look into medical marijuana.

He called numerous clinics, contacted doctors, and reached out to anyone with resources about using cannabis medicinally to treat Sadie’s condition. Being that she was still only an infant, many turned down his request for help, but due to his relentless search he finally met a doctor at a local San Diego-based clinic who took on the challenge of helping the Higueras named Dr. Mark Rabe.
Brian returned home that day with a tube of hemp-derived CBD oil from another local San Diego-based company called HempMeds and went to his daughter’s side. Damaris had left the house, anxious about the results the medicine would have on her child. “I gave her a dose of the oil and after only 20 minutes, her eyes stopped twitching. 20 minutes later, I gave her another dose and her body stopped twitching. I couldn’t believe it,” said Sadie’s father. Damaris soon returned home, silently darting her eyes across her husband’s face searching for signs about how the trial had gone for their little one.

She walked into the room, took one look at Sadie and grasped her close to heart. “I have my little girl back!” Imagine that for a moment. Imagine being told that there were no other options for your child, except being a ‘hero’ and letting her go and imagine the wash of relief they felt when they experienced that first glimmer of hope. That is what cannabis means to many. That feeling is something that has become unparalleled to anything in the world today. Cannabis had given little Sadie a second chance at living life in the arms of her family.

She walked into the room, took one look at Sadie and grasped her close to heart. “I have my little girl back!” Imagine that for a moment.

As her treatment evolved with medical marijuana and her parents began making oil that was three parts CBD and one part THC, Sadie’s days became less and less interrupted by seizures. Now, she is down to about 2-5 seizures a week, an amazing improvement from the 2,000+ she had been experiencing before. Not only that, but the tumors in her body have completely disappeared. A couple months after the Higueras had started using the CBD oil, they had gone in for their routine check-up with Sadie’s radiologist. If Brian remembered correctly, the doctor said “I don’t want to freak you out or anything, but Sadie’s tumors are gone. What are you giving her?” Brian just smiled. “CBD.”

Sadie’s grandmother, who has been a part of Sadie’s treatment and supervision since she was born, said she tells everyone her story. She’s proud of her granddaughter and believes she’s here for a reason. Sadie’s family comes from a conservative background, but when the family decided to branch out and try medical marijuana, they received overwhelming support from their entire community. “Do whatever it takes!” In Sadie’s most recent check-up her scans are also showing the scoliosis in her spine is improving. She’s now trying to communicate and even eligible for physical and speech therapy.

Now, she is down to about 2-5 seizures a week, an amazing improvement from the 2,000+ she had been experiencing before. Not only that, but the tumors in her body have completely disappeared.

After spending a majority of her life with her eyes swollen shut from steroids, her little fists clenched with anxiety, and two older sisters by her side sad because she was “always sleeping,” Sadie is now making up time and living out this new quality of life cannabis has availed to her. You wouldn’t be able to get over that beautiful smile of hers that nests in her cheeks – It’s amazing… and is a smile we would never have been blessed with had it not been for Sadie’s fight for her life and her family’s decision to try cannabis.

“It’s all been such a positive experience, especially once we got her off of all the other medications she was on. You can call her terminal, you can call her what you want, but she’s not going anywhere today and we’ll take tomorrow when it comes.”

This is Sadie’s story. When Sadie’s family went back to their neurologist, she was astounded by the little girl’s progress. When they told her they had started Sadie on CBD, she nodded her head and said another patient of hers was also on that treatment. So… why did she not tell the Higueras that they did in fact have another option? Why did she offer them a medication that would end their daughter’s life if she knew of one that could possibly save it?

She didn’t offer that to the Higueras because she would have lost her medical license.

Please share Sadie’s story. If our doctors don’t have the power to tell us all our options, we have to share that option with each other. We do have a choice and little Sadie is only one of the millions that have found hope with medical cannabis…

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