A diet of highly processed foods has been demonstrated to cause a range of deadly degenerative diseases that afflict contemporary society and the importance of eating properly to stay healthy is constantly emphasised these days. While it's scientifically unproven that nutritional deficiency is a major factor in the onset of multiple sclerosis, it is widely believed that a carefully composed diet holds significant benefits for those who are living with the disease. According to a summary of Nutritional Factors and Multiple Sclerosis by Ashton Embry, the key to using nutrition for controlling MS is to avoid 'junk foods', to eliminate gluten (i.e.: wheat products) and casein (i.e.: milk and cheese) and to increase the intake of nutrients which help the body suppress autoimmune reactions.

The two nutrients that are most effective in suppressing the immune system in the central nervous system are vitamin D and omega-3 essential fatty acids (EFAs). Vitamin D is naturally produced by the body when exposed to sunshine and, as Britain is not renowned for its sunny climate, MS patients are well advised to take a daily supplement in pill or capsule form. The two varieties of essential fatty acid, known as omega-6 and omega-3, are so-called because the body cannot produce them, so they have to be taken in with the foods we eat. However, when foods are processed, their EFAs are denatured in such a way that they lose their nutritional value and even become toxic. (Incidentally, this is a major cause of obesity, as people obsessively consume fatty foods through a subconscious need for EFAs).

The best source in nature of EFAs are the oils of such plants as flax, linseed and cannabis/hemp. Although the American FDA, in its War on Drugs, has decreed hemp seed to have no nutritional value, in fact hemp oil has the most remarkable fatty acid profile, containing more than fifty percent linoleic (LA, or omega-6) and around 19% linolenic (LNA, or omega-3) acids, in the three-to-one ratio that matches our nutritional needs. However, because these oils are so unsaturated, they immediately start to absorb hydrogen from the air when extracted. (This is why flax, linseed and hemp oils were used, industrially, as quick-drying agents in paints and varnishes.) Hemp oil is available commercially, cold-pressed and in capsule form, but it is prone to rancidity unless extracted and stored with scrupulous care and it is not readily absorbed into the body in this form.

Consequently, the following recipe for hemp milk has been devised to obtain the maximum nutritional benefit from hemp seed and to make the valuable EFAs available in their most assimilable form (i.e: most available to the body). The process may seem like a chore at first, but will quickly become routine if you get into the practise of making the milk on a daily basis and as soon as you begin to feel the health benefits. First thing in the morning is the best time to make and consume hemp milk, on an empty stomach, so that it is rapidly absorbed.

• 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 may have been irradiated or sterilised, or improperly stored, so that it's liable to be rancid. Rather, look for organic hemp seed in your local health store or ask them to order it from suppliers such as Suma or (Danish company) Biona. Alternatively, or anyway, contact Tony Taylor at Tony's Hemp Corner in Kings Cross, London (telephone: 020 7837 5223, or e-mail: [email protected]) for a supply. So far as I know, no hemp seed is being domestically produced for eating in Britain, but if you know different, please let me know. 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.
  
  
• 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 into a fine powder 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 (although, as an MS patient, you may want to avoid farinaceous foods). These grounds also make a very good exfoliant, for cleansing and nourishing the skin, but will go 'off' quite quickly and 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 varieties, is especially delicious when mixed with hemp milk.
  
  
• The 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. I like to drink mine from a silver tankard in order to enhance the ritual. 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 promote and efficient elimination from your bowels, so don't be surprised by the sudden urge to go to the lavatory!

Finally, I must point out that I am a writer and campaigner who has read widely on health issues, but I have no scientific education, or medical knowledge. I have no proof that hemp milk will benefit MS patients, but I would be interested to find out. Certainly, hemp milk will do you no harm and will promote general all-round health, help to clear up any skin problems, and give you a glowing complexion. If you should decide to try it, please buy at least a kilo of seed and make the milk on a daily basis until it is all used up before deciding if you think it's worth continuing. If you do experiment with hemp milk, please let me know the results and I will undertake to collate any replies and update this page as more information is received.

Russell Cronin, Spring 2002

PS: Hemp seed has no psychoactive properties but, hardly surprisingly, hemp oil is the best fat to promote efficient assimilation of THC and other beneficial cannabinoids. If, for any reason, you should be baking hash cookies, try replacing some of the flour in the recipe with finely ground hemp seed and you may find that the high comes up a lot more quickly and is more intense. Alternatively, grind up a bud of dried cannabis in a blender with the milk to make a kind of bhang, or what's also known as 'whole hemp milk'. Enjoy!