# What is hemp oil good for **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 4, 2014, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-hemp-oil-good-for/694760 "2014-08-04T04:10:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![madrabbitwoman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c37758/32.png) [@madrabbitwoman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madrabbitwoman)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2014, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-hemp-oil-good-for/694760/1 "2014-08-04T04:10:18Z")
I have tried researching this but have been bogged down by the “cures cancer!! and everything else” crap. I am after facts and not woo please. Any proven uses will do. Thank you. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2014, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-hemp-oil-good-for/694760/2 "2014-08-04T04:16:27Z")
[Dravet Syndrome.](http://www.dravetfoundation.org/dravet-syndrome/what-is-dravet-syndrome) I don’t believe there’s been any studies but I think there’s enough anecdotal evidence to warrant serious studies. ---
**Author:** ![kferr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/71e660/32.png) [@kferr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kferr)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2014, 10:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-hemp-oil-good-for/694760/3 "2014-08-04T10:11:45Z")
I’ve been using it for cooking recently instead of olive oil. [This](http://www.sainsburys.co.uk/shop/gb/groceries/oils/good-oil-500ml) is what I use. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2014, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-hemp-oil-good-for/694760/4 "2014-08-04T19:53:06Z")
> [@kferr](#): > > I’ve been using it for cooking recently instead of olive oil. Is the price competitive with olive oil? ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2014, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-hemp-oil-good-for/694760/5 "2014-08-04T21:39:19Z")
Squeaky hemp? ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2014, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-hemp-oil-good-for/694760/6 "2014-08-04T21:48:42Z")
It’s good for[soaps.](https://www.drbronner.com/ingredients/fair-trade-around-the-world/hemp-oil/) ---
**Author:** ![kferr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/71e660/32.png) [@kferr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kferr)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2014, 6:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-hemp-oil-good-for/694760/7 "2014-08-05T06:42:28Z")
> [@Ike\_Witt](#): > > Is the price competitive with olive oil? I didn’t look at it too closely when I bought it, but looking at the Sainsbury’s site now it looks to be about twice the price of mid-range extra virgin. The hemp is £1.20/100ml, and the Filippo Berio is £0.60/100ml. The most expensive stuff there is Intense Luxury Organic at £2.20/100ml. ---
**Author:** ![antechinus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/fbc32d/32.png) [@antechinus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/antechinus)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2014, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-hemp-oil-good-for/694760/8 "2014-08-05T12:57:41Z")
Extracting money from hippies wallets. ---
**Author:** ![Enola\_Straight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dec6dc/32.png) [@Enola\_Straight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enola_Straight)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2014, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-hemp-oil-good-for/694760/9 "2014-08-05T13:23:58Z")
A new feedstock for biodiesel. [https://www.google.com/search?q=hemp+oil+biodiesel&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&channel=fflb](https://www.google.com/search?q=hemp+oil+biodiesel&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&channel=fflb) ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2014, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-hemp-oil-good-for/694760/10 "2014-08-05T15:04:49Z")
To generalize the thread, if I may: What unique or significant value do “hemp” products and byproducts have over existing equivalents? Other than those related to ingested THC, what value does hemp have as a crop that makes it worth re-instituting in large scale? Like the OP, I find that nearly all of the hemp mania of the last couple of decades has been driven by covert or not-so-covert marijuana legalization goals. Okay, we’re on the verge of widely legalized or at least decriminalized weed; is there any real remaining value to the “hemp industry” arguments? It’s long since been replaced for its original core need, rope. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2014, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-hemp-oil-good-for/694760/11 "2014-08-05T15:12:59Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > To generalize the thread, if I may: What unique or significant value do “hemp” products and byproducts have over existing equivalents? [Wiki on hemp](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hemp). There’s a large section detailing a number of uses. I have no idea if the products are better than existing non-hemp products. Interesting use: composite panels for automobiles. > [@](#): > > A mixture of fibreglass, hemp fiber, kenaf, and flax has been used since 2002 to make composite panels for automobiles. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2014, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-hemp-oil-good-for/694760/12 "2014-08-05T16:58:45Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > I have no idea if the products are better than existing non-hemp products. There is no question that hemp is a plant with many components that can be used productively. However, like G.W. Carver’s ten thousand uses for peanuts, the vast number seem to fall somewhere between curiosity and not-very-useful. Other than THC, it doesn’t seem to me that hemp’s fiber, oil, leaves, etc. are any better than equivalents from sources developed since the 1930s, and in many cases, it seems like hemp would have fallen out of favor against more modern products and processing. Besides the hemp-as-maryjane-stalking-horse, there seems to be a lot of “ancient Chinese wisdom” sort of thinking - because hemp was a big crop with a number of uses up through the 1920s-30s, it must be equally useful now. Still would like to hear input from someone who can look at that list and point out examples where hemp is irreplaceable, superior to other options and usefully/economically advantageous. To rephrase the question, I am not interested in what hemp can or could be used for - conceded, it’s many dozens of things at least - but what purposes hemp is truly superior for. ---
**Author:** ![Dobbs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Dobbs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dobbs)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2014, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-hemp-oil-good-for/694760/13 "2014-08-05T19:39:45Z")
The Master speaks > **[Is hemp (nonpharmacological marijuana) the answer to our environmental problems?](https://www.straightdope.com/21342268/is-hemp-nonpharmacological-marijuana-the-answer-to-our-environmental-problems)** Short answer - no.