Benefits of Hemp Oil – Nutrition, Disease Prevention, and Skin Care

Benefits of Hemp Oil - Nutrition, Disease Prevention, and Skin Care | Third Monk image 3

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Research has shown that a diet with a proper balance of Omega-6 to Omega-3 fatty acids – such as those found in hemp seed oil – may delay or reduce the neurological effect of some diseases and improve quality of life.

Hemp oil is nature’s most balanced oil for human nutrition (3:1 LA to LNA ratio) and is easily digestible; in fact this oil could provide all of our Essential Fatty Acid (EFA) requirements for life, due to the balanced 80% EFA content of the oil.

Hemp Oil – Nature’s Perfectly Balanced Oil

Hemp seed oil has all the necessary essential fatty acids, proteins, vitamins and minerals our bodies need for optimum health and restoration. It is an excellent choice for skin and hair care as it protects against free radicals, sun damage and skin conditions.

Hemp Oil – Benefits for Pets

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Hemp protein powder and hemp seed oil are not only super-foods for people, but can also do wonders for your pets. Hemp is filled with important and crucial nutrition, making it an excellent addition to your pet’s meal plan.

The benefits of hemp for your pet’s health include:
– Strengthens the immune system
– Supports a healthy weight
– Increases energy
– Improves condition of skin and fur

The Raw Project has a great recipe for hemp seed dog treats.

Hemp Oil – Nutritional Facts and Uses (Infographic)

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Stoner Intelligence? Cannabis Found to Boost Growth of Brain Cells (Study)

Stoner Intelligence? Cannabis Found to Boost Growth of Brain Cells (Study) | Third Monk image 2

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A new report offered by the Neurochemistry International Journal (Aug 2013) has discovered that cannabis’ CBC cannabinoid helps promote brain cell growth.

This study aimed at elucidating the effect of major non-THC phytocannabinoids on the fate of adult neural stem progenitor cells (NSPCs), which is an essential component of brain function in health as well as in pathology.

We tested three compounds: cannabidiol, cannabigerol, and cannabichromene (CBC), and found that CBC has positive effect on the cell viability of mouse NSPCs during differentiation in vitro.  

We measured ATP levels as an equilibrium marker of adenosine and found higher ATP levels during differentiation of NSPCs in the presence of CBC. Taken together, our results suggest that CBC raises the viability of NSPCs while inhibiting their differentiation into astroglia, possibly through up-regulation of ATP and adenosine signalling.

– Endocannabinoid Research Group, Institute of Biomolecular Chemistry, Italy

Brain cell growth boosted by CBC is one of many studies that are exploring the relationship between cannabis and the brain. Scientists like Carl Sagan and Richard Feynman are known as some of the smartest stoners who admitted to smoking weed.

Cannabis Cannabinoids and Brain Function

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Cannabinoid Profile – Cannabichromene (CBC)

> New Research: CBC Cannabinoid Sparks Brain Cell Growth | Marijuana Research

Magic Mushrooms Stimulate Growth of New Brain Cells (Study)

Magic Mushrooms Stimulate Growth of New Brain Cells (Study) | Third Monk image 2

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Psilocybin Drawing by Sara K. Glazier

New studies from The University of South Florida indicate that psilocybin found in “shrooms”, triggers new brain cell growth, and erases frightening memories from mice.

The studies showed that mice treated with low doses of psilocybin had significant growth of new brain cells, because the mushroom binds to a brain receptor that stimulates new brain cell growth, and short term memory formation.

This interesting discovery has given more plausibility to the Stoned Ape Theory, Terence Mckenna’s suggestion that human evolution was initiated by the mind expanding benefits of psychedelic experiences.

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Researchers are eager to look into the idea of using magic mushrooms to cure mental problems like PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) and chronic depression but the legal status of shrooms restricts freedom in experiments.

Mice trained to fear electric shock when hearing a noise associated with the shock, stopped reacting in fear to the noise when given a small dose of psilocybin, much more quickly, in contrast to mice given no psilocybin.

The science behind psilocybin treating depression is, depressed individuals typically have over active medial prefrontal cortex regions of the brain, and psilocybin eases this, and makes the brain function normally here.

Despite its harmlessness, amazing medical potential, and ability to produce phenomenal spiritual/mystical experiences, the governments across the world have nearly all banned Psilocybin Mushrooms. Dangerous pharmaceutical pills can’t compete with the toxic cell purging benefits of cannabis and the positive mental state that shrooming promotes. 

Evidence of Psilocybin “Magic Mushrooms” Growing New Brain Cells

Juan R. Sanchez-Ramos, Professor of Neurology at USF presents the effects of psilocybin mushrooms on neurogenesis (birth of new neuron cells).

Psilocybin Mushrooms Promote Growth of New Brain Cells, Can Even Cure PTSD And Depression | Banoosh

How Does Writing Affect Your Brain? (Infographic)

How Does Writing Affect Your Brain? (Infographic) | Third Monk image 2

Similar to meditation, writing allows you to get “into the zone”, where new insights and original thoughts can be uncovered. Other ways writing affects the brain can be gleaned from the following infographic.

Every engaging story must…ignite the brain’s hardwired desire to learn what happens next. When writers tap into the evolutionary purpose of story and electrify our curiosity, it triggers a delicious dopamine rush that tells us to pay attention. Without it, even the most perfect prose won’t hold anyone’s interest. Lisa Cron from Wired for Story

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> Hardwired for Story | No Film School

David Lynch – Consciousness, Creativity and the Brain, Transcendental Meditation (Video)

David Lynch - Consciousness, Creativity and the Brain, Transcendental Meditation (Video) | Third Monk

David Lynch (Mulholland Drive, The Elephant Man) explains his understanding about consciousness, creativity and the brain. Transcendental Meditation played a crucial role in developing his consciousness and boosting his creativity.

One lady in the audience says: I teach film, I make films. I would like to know what does meditation or how does meditation connect to your creative process or to how it might help the creativity of my students.

If you have a golf ball sized consciousness, when you read a book you’ll have a golf ball sized understanding, when you look out a golf ball sized awareness and when you wake up in the morning a golf ball sized wakefulness.

But if you could expand that consciousness then you would read the book with more understanding and when you look out more awareness and when you wake up more wakefulness – it’s consciousness. – David Lynch, Film Director

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David Lynch Foundation for Consciousness Based Education
Introduction to Transcendental Meditation

How Exercise Helps us Think Better (Infographic)

How Exercise Helps us Think Better (Infographic) | Third Monk image 2

Exercise offers a wide range of benefits for our well-being. They are well-known and heavily supported with studies and scientific data. However, new findings are continually being unearthed that help us better understand what exercise is doing to our bodies and our brains.

After being cooped up inside all day, your afternoon stroll may leave you feeling clearheaded. This sensation is not just in your mind. A growing body of evidence suggests we think and learn better when we walk or do another form of exercise. – Justin Roberts, Associate Professor of Psychology at the University of Illinois

Blood Flow

Blood Flow

So, exercise boosts your cognitive functioning and improves your memory, but how exactly does it do that? One of the ways is through improved blood flow. Rhodes writes:

Research shows that when we exercise, blood pressure and blood flow increase everywhere in the body, including the brain. More blood means more energy and oxygen, which makes our brain perform better.

Hippocampus Stimulation

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The hippocampus is a brain structure that is important for memory function, but what relation does it have to exercise? Rhodes responds:

Another explanation for why working up a sweat enhances our mental capacity is that the hippocampus, a part of the brain critical for learning and memory, is highly active during exercise. When the neurons in this structure rev up, research shows that our cognitive function improves. For instance, studies in mice have revealed that running enhances spatial learning. Other recent work indicates that aerobic exercise can actually reverse hippocampal shrinkage, which occurs naturally with age, and consequently boost memory in older adults. Yet another study found that students who exercise perform better on tests than their less athletic peers.

Exercise Infographic:

Fitter Body, Fitter Brain - Exercise Infographic

Why do you think better after a walk? | Scientific American

Running Enhances Neurogenesis, Learning, and Long-term Potentiation in Mice | Salk Institute for Biological Studies

Cannabis Prevents Brain Disease By Removing Damaged Cells (Study)

Cannabis Prevents Brain Disease By Removing Damaged Cells (Study) | Third Monk

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A recent cannabis study conducted in Germany is suggesting that marijuana triggers the release of antioxidants, which act as a cleansing mechanism. This process is known to remove damaged cells and improve the efficiency of mitochondria, which is the energy source that powers cells.

These discoveries shed new insight on how natural marijuana cannabinoids hold the capacity to literally kill the brain inflammation responsible for causing cognitive decline, neural failure, and brain degeneration.

By supplying these receptor sites with cannabinoids, patients may be able to overcome brain conditions like Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, Huntington’s disease, and more, not to mention premature brain aging. The human brain has an extensive network of special receptor sites that modulate nervous system function only when activated by the appropriate cannabinoid compounds, which are found in the marijuana plant.

Cannabis, the Most Efficient Cancer Fighting Substance

Cannabinoid system activity is neuroprotective, and increasing it could be a promising strategy for slowing down the progression of brain aging and for alleviating the systems of neurodegenerative disorders  – Andras Biokei, Institute of Molecular Psychiatry at the University of Bonn in Germany

I’ve been trying to find a drug that will reduce brain inflammation and restore cognitive function in rats for over 25 years; cannabinoids are the first and only class of drugs that have ever been effective. I think that the perception about this drug is changing and in the future people will be less fearful. – Gerry Wenk, Professor of neuroscience at Ohio State University

Biokei and his collegues said that the greatest hurdle for moving forward with their research are the social and political challenges. This isn’t something new, our world seems to be dominated by belief systems instead of obvious fact.

It’s quite clear that the powers that be do not want to legalize marijuana, and we know that they do not have our best interest at hand. 

Cannabis Brain Damage Study Sources:

http://rstb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/367/1607/3326.abstract?sid=20cf2c23-e4fd-49e3-9398-ec8be2e00226

http://healthland.time.com/2012/10/29/how-cannabinoids-may-slow-brain-aging/

http://www.drugscience.org/Petition/C3D.html

http://www.naturalnews.com/040456_marijuana_cannabinoids_dementia.html

http://edrv.endojournals.org/content/27/1/73.fullhttp://cannabisclinicians.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/OS-2011-Terpenes+Minor-CBs.pdf

New Study Shows Cannabinoids Improve Efficiency Of Mitochondria And Remove Damaged Brain Cells | Collective Evolution

Magic Mushrooms Reduce Selfish and Depressive Brain Activity (Study)

Magic Mushrooms Reduce Selfish and Depressive Brain Activity (Study) | Third Monk image 1

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More than half a century ago, author Aldous Huxley titled his book on his experience with hallucinogens The Doors of Perception, borrowing a phrase from a 1790 William Blake poem (which also lent Jim Morrison’s band its moniker).

If the doors of perception were cleansed, everything would appear to man as it is, infinite. For man has closed himself up, till he sees all things through narrow chinks of his cavern.

Based on this idea, Huxley proposed that ordinary consciousness represents only a fraction of what the mind can take in. In order to keep us focused on survival, Huxley claimed, the brain must act as a “reducing valve” on the flood of potentially overwhelming sights, sounds and sensations. What remains, Huxley wrote, is a “measly trickle of the kind of consciousness” necessary to “help us to stay alive.”

New research bolsters the idea of “psychedelic” as an accurate label for these drugs. The word was originally coined by Huxley, from the Greek “psyche” for mind or soul and “delos” for manifestA growing body of literature suggests that these drugs can indeed help scientists understand the workings of the mind and brain, by revealing some of the underpinnings of consciousness.

The Science Behind Magic Mushrooms’ Effect on the Brain

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A new study on psilocybin by British researchers supports Huxley’s theory. It shows for the first time how psilocybin — the drug contained in magic mushrooms — affects the connectivity of the brain. Researchers found that the psychedelic chemical, which is known to trigger feelings of oneness with the universe does not work by ramping up the brain’s activity as they’d expected. Instead, it reduces it.

Under the influence of mushrooms, overall brain activity drops, particularly in certain regions that are densely connected to sensory areas of the brain. When functioning normally, these connective “hubs” appear to help constrain the way we see, hear and experience the world, grounding us in reality. They are also the key nodes of a brain network linked to self-consciousness and depression. Psilocybin cuts activity in these nodes and severs their connection to other brain areas, allowing the senses to run free.

Two regions that showed the greatest decline in activity were the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) and the posterior cingulate cortex (PCC).

The mPFC is an area that, when dysfunctional, is linked with rumination and obsessive thinking. “Probably the most reliable finding in depression is that the mPFC is overactive,” says Carhart-Harris. “That’s a strong indication of the potential of psilocybin as a treatment for depression.”

The PCC is thought to play a key role in consciousness and self-identity. “The most intriguing aspect was that the decreases in activity were in specific regions that belong to a network in the brain known as the default network,” notes Carhart-Harris. “There’s a lot of evidence that it’s associated with our sense of self — our ego or personality, who we are.”

“What’s often said about psychedelic experience is that people experience a temporary dissolution of their ego or sense of being an independent agent with a particular personality,” he says. “Something seems to happen where the sense of self dissolves, and that overlaps with ideas in Eastern philosophy and Buddhism.” This sense of being at one with the universe, losing one’s “selfish” sense and vantage point, and feeling the connectedness of all beings often brings profound peace.

Carhart-Harris and his colleagues did find support for claims made by sufferers of painful cluster headaches that psilocybin reduces the frequency of their attacks. These headaches are known to involve overactivity of a brain area called the hypothalamus, and psilocybin calmed this region.

Magic Mushrooms Expand the Mind By Dampening Brain Activity | Time Magazine