An impressive 33 percent of the hemp nut is high-quality protein, providing all essential amino acids in a reasonable balance, making it an attractive component of a meat-free diet. Hemp also contains significant amounts of the vitamin E complex and trace minerals such as magnesium, iron, and manganese.

But hemp seeds are valued primarily for the exceptional fatty acid composition of their oil, which makes up 30 percent of the whole seed and 44 percent of the nut. Studies link many common ailments to an imbalance anddeficiency of essential fatty acids (EFAs) in the typical Western diet: too much omega-6 and not enough omega-3. Consuming sufficient omega-3 in the right EFA ratio has impressive benefits, including: reducing cholesterol, reducing the risk of atherosclerosis and sudden cardiac death, reducing the need for insulin among diabetics, decreasing the symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis, promoting mood improvement in bipolar disorders, and optimizing development in infants.

Hemp oil contains the most EFAs of any nut or seed oil, with the omega-3 and omega-6 EFAs occurring in the nutritionally optimal 1:3 ratio. As a bonus it offers the higher-potency omega derivatives GLA and SDA. Fish and fish oils are recommended because they provide the omega-3 derivatives SDA, DHA, and EPA. But concern over the contamination of fish by mercury and other environmental toxins has led the FDA to warn pregnant women and nursing mothers to restrict their fish intake. Hemp's omega profile means that using hemp nutand oil as a staple food is a good alternative to fish: One tablespoon of hemp oil in a shake, salad, soup, or sauce provides 3 grams of omega-3, more than the 2 grams per day recommended by the U.S. National Institutes of Health.

Virtually all common vegetable oils, such as soy, corn, sunflower, safflower and olive oil offer a much less desirable omega balance, i.e., not enough omega-3. Even walnuts, touted in recent media due to the FDA's qualified endorsement of their omega-3 health benefits, contain significantly less omega-3 and in a lower ratio to omega-6 than hemp seed. Of the commodity vegetable oils, only flax seed contains more omega-3, but flax does not have hemp's optimal EFA balance. Because it is more easily digestible with a longer shelf life and a nutty natural flavor, hemp nut also offers a greater range of culinary options than flax seeds.