Buddha diet: Eat only hemp seeds for weeks

According to legend, Buddha fed daily on a hemp seed on his way to enlightenment. Therefore, according to Indian myth, hemp seeds are the only food to have attained perfection. This story was the reason for our founder Fabian to eat only hemp seeds for weeks. The name Buddha Diet was an obvious choice.

Overview:

• Idea and motivations for Buddha diet with hemp
• Implementing the Buddha Diet
• Field report: eating only hemp seeds for more than 3 weeks 
• Conclusion on the Buddha diet

Besides the stories of Buddha's connection with hemp, the high nutritional content of hemp seeds is often the subject of articles and contributions on hemp. It is often even claimed that a healthy person can live exclusively on hemp seeds for weeks.
Fabian's basic idea was therefore to live exclusively on hemp seeds and products made from them for 30 days.

Why a hemp diet works in theory

Hemp contains almost everything the body needs:

• Easy Digestible protein in ideal composition. Protein is the basic building block for cells and muscles.
• Essential fats: Hemp contains abundant omega-3 and omega-6 fats. These are responsible for healthy cells and are the only fats that the body absolutely needs.
• Dietary fibre: For intestinal health and digestion
• Plenty of mineralsmagnesium, iron and zinc, among others
• Vitamins and secondary phytochemicals

What hemp lacks:

• CarbohydratesThus the Buddha diet a "No-Carb Diet"
• Isolated vitamins such as vitamin A, B12 and C. However, a diet for a few weeks would not usually have to lead to a vitamin deficiency.

Goals

Fabian's most important goals were the following:

• To learn about the body's reaction when depriving itself of carbohydrates
• Lose weight without losing muscle mass
• Find out if the Buddha diet is suitable for sustainable weight loss
• Test his stamina and see if and for how long he can follow through with the Buddha diet.

The weeks of the diet were challenging for me for several reasons:

• There was almost the same food every day, because neither salt nor other spices were allowed. There were therefore many limits to creativity. 
• Soon I could hardly stand it at the table with other food and ate alone, so this social aspect of eating was missing.
• Even though I had prepared myself well, the change was not easy for the body itself.

The drinks and food plan

In addition to hemp tea and hemp seeds, the plan also included dishes that are prepared from hemp in 100%. The modest selection looked like this:

DrinksWater, hemp tea, homemade hemp milk - drinking a lot was very important.

Breakfast: Protein shake made from hemp protein high fibre with water, hemp tea or hemp milk.

Lunch or dinner consisted of the following options:

• Salad of hemp sprouts with hemp oil
• Crispbread made from water, hemp flour and hemp puree
• Hemp omelette made from water and hemp flour 
• Hulled hemp seeds roasted/unroasted pure or as topping
• Hemp puree as a spread/addition
• Protein shake made from hemp protein high fibre with water, hemp tea or hemp milk.

In between: Hemp seeds peeled, roasted or hemp crunchies nature

Sport and other activities during the diet

I did enough exercise during the diet: this included light endurance training and short strength training about 5 times a week. The main goal was to prevent muscle loss and to stimulate fat burning. Regular exercise in the morning was part of the preparation in order to get the body used to burning fat. 

The Buddha diet was a challenge in several areas. Below you can read how I felt about it:

The first week - the first mountain

The first two days of the diet were not very challenging.
However, starting with day three, the digestion became noticeable. The lack of sugar in the diet led to a real bowel cleanse. Days four and five were particularly challenging. From the sixth day onwards, I imagined drinking apple juice while drinking the hemp shake. It tasted better that way. After day six, this first hurdle was overcome.

The second week - you get used to it

The second week started relatively well again. I even felt clearer in the head and mentally more capable. Nothing was lacking except variety in food. Towards the end of the week, however, I noticed during a two-hour hike that the energy for longer sessions of endurance sports was lacking. After I had already lost 5 kg, the question also arose whether another 2 weeks was reasonable. 

The third week - drop in performance

From the halfway point of the set goal, a physical and also mental drop in performance slowly became noticeable. This was even measurable in the heart rate. After consulting with my environment, I decided to reduce the original goal to 22 days. From day 17, jogging in the morning was no longer possible, only fast running. Strength training, however, worked without problems until the last day.

The last day - body gives signals

On the 22nd day, I ran a lap in the morning and did a little strength training as usual. However, my body, especially my heart, clearly signalled that they were happy about an early end. The variability of my heartbeat (indicator of physical performance) was at its worst level in recent years on this day.

The 22-day diet was a special experience for me. As is so often the case, a one-sided diet is not optimal and not a solution in the long run, not even with hemp seeds. 
My main findings and insights were:

• I had lost a total of 7 kg, most of which was due to the bowel cleanse and loss of fat. 
• Within a few days I had put on about 4 kg again, the typical yoyo effect kicked in.
• During the first week, the body cleanses itself and neurodermatitis slowly disappears.
• As a severe pollen allergy sufferer, I had almost no symptoms even in the height of summer.

In retrospect, the first week was the hardest, especially because of the one-sided food and the bowel cleanse. But the first 10 days also had something good, because the intestinal cleansing had a positive effect on my immune system. From a health point of view, the third week was no longer beneficial. The body simply lacked the necessary sugar.
I therefore think that a toned-down form of the Buddha diet can be purposeful. This could be, for example, a 10-day diet that includes hemp as the main food, but also allows spices, other seeds, vegetables, salads and soups.
If you have any questions about the diet, please feel free to contact us: contact@hempions.com

Sources:
Buddha: 1 hemp seed on the path to enlightenment, Fo–Sho-Hing-Tsan–King (OxfordClarendon Press, 1882)