5 Things You Should Know About Hemp

If you’re on this page, you might already know a thing or two about hemp. Buzzwords like hemp extract oil, CBD, and phytocannabinoids are being talked about a lot. Our Charlotte’s Web hemp extract — containing cannabidiol and other beneficial phytocompounds which is made into hemp oil and hemp oil capsules — is all about hemp, literally. But today we’re getting to the root (pun!) of the topic, sharing some facts about hemp are just truly astounding.

Here are five cool things you might not but definitely should know about our favorite green thing, hemp.

1. Hemp cleans soil and air

Like a superhero fit for its own mega movie franchise, The Mighty Hemp comes to the rescue for soil that has been exposed to toxins. Through phytoremediation, the powerful plant pulls toxins up through its roots where it stores or transforms the pollutants.

Most famously known for cleaning radioactive materials from the soil around the infamous nuclear reactor, Chernobyl, clearly the Mighty Hemp can clean up even the hottest (radioactive) mess.

This is a key reason that hemp is awe-inspiring, but it’s an even bigger reason that anyone consuming hemp products should ask: Where does my hemp come from? You need to know that your hemp is grown in clean, tested, and cared-for soil. Just like ours. We know where hemp comes from because we grow it ourselves and oversee its production every step of the way.

2. Hemp can build buildings

Back to the superhero analogy. Hemp is a building material used widely in Europe. But that’s enough to give us some deep appreciation for the strength of this plant. Hemp is low density and resistant to cracks- ideal for earthquake-prone areas.

3. Nearly no limit to the uses for hemp

Soil cleaning – check. Structural support – check. Fabric, plastics, ropes, paper – check, check, check, and check. The quality of any hemp product produced is high — in the example of hemp fabric, it’s comparable to cotton and linen — but less expensive because hemp crops use less water and fewer land resources than cotton, trees, or other raw materials that we’ve come to depend on.

4. People have used hemp for a lot of things for a long, long time

Hemp was the OG material throughout human history. In fact, the word canvas (most of which were made from hemp) originates from a certain familiar Latin word, cannabis.

5. Hemp knows how to help our bodies maintain a healthy balance

How? All mammals have an Endocannabinoid System, made up of a vast network of receptors. The purpose of this system is to keep the body functioning in a healthy way. We, humans, produce endocannabinoids- compounds that fit into this network of receptors like a key fits into a lock. Hemp also supplies us with cannabinoids as well. To differentiate, we call these phytocannabinoids- “Phyto” meaning “plant.” You’ve probably heard of at least two phytocannabinoids— THC and CBD — but there are actually more than 80 of these beneficial phytocompounds in hemp. That’s a lot of keys to our system of locks.