To have healthy japanese sweets and eat your protein too, try Adzuki Hemp Truffles Weight Loss Recipe – protein–rich sweet recipe for your weight loss!  Did you know that Adzuki beans and Hemp seeds are healthy japanese ingredients?

A lot of Wagashi (Traditional Japanese Sweets) are based on beans that are cooked with sugar to a paste-like consistency. Red azuki (adzuki) beans are the most popular kind of beans to use in sweets, and sweet azuki bean paste is called an (餡) or azuki-an （小豆あん). First and foremost, you MUST cook adzuki beans before eating them. Why? Because they contain a toxin that can only be destroyed by cooking them thoroughly. So this recipe is not raw, but still very healthy. If you cook adzuki without sugar and use instead a little natural sweetener, you can make healthy japanese sweets. The small beans may play a valuable part in your weight loss plan. Eating azuki beans may satisfy your appetite, help you manage your blood sugar and curb sugar cravings.

Not many people know about hemp in Japan nowadays. Hemp seed is used for people and animal food, and industrial use in Japan for long time ago! 

Since the Neolithic Jomon period, hemp grew in Japan. The term Jomon itself means “pattern of ropes, ” which were certainly made of hemp. Archaeological evidence places hemp seeds as a food source during this Jomon period (10,000 to 300 BC). Hemp was used above all for food, to make rope and baskets, in a hunter-gatherer evolutionary context. Japan was the Land of Imperial Hemp and the Rising Sun until The Cannabis Control Act  (in Japanese, Taima Hirishimari Hô), the first Japanese law to restrict the cultivation and possession of cannabis in 1948, when Japan was occupied by the United States. Nowdays you can find hemp seeds products in Japan again and I am so happy that we are able to buy Lariese Purely Organic hemp products in Japan! (very soon you will find all Lariese products all over Japan!)

The hemp seed, or the shelled version called a hemp heart are extremely high in protein and contain all 20 amino acids including the nine essential amino acids our bodies need for optimum health. Hemp seeds also naturally contain a ratio of Omega-6 to Omega-3 of 3:1. Hemp seeds contain an especially beneficial type of omega-6 fat called GLA that works in the body as an anti-inflammatory massager. GLA can decrease inflammation, helping people suffering from asthma, arthritis and muscle pain. GLA also supports healthy hair, nail and skin health. GLA assists in weight loss by significantly increasing metabolism and encouraging stored fat to effectively be used for energy. When eating Hemp seeds, expect to be hunger free for 2-3 hours.  With less hunger you will less frequently desire starches and carbohydrates. Add hemp seeds to your daily food and have a Healthy Hemp Weightloss! 😉

Adzuki Hemp Truffles Weight Loss Recipe

1/2 cup cooked azduki beans
1/2 cup raw walnuts (soaked overnight)
4 heaped tbsp raw hulled hemp seeds
5 big dates (or 4 tbsp coconut syrup or other sweetener)*
½ tsp vanilla essence
pinch of sea salt

*If you will use dates like me, the first step is setting your dates to soak. This will soften them so that they’re ready to puree. Put the dates in a bowl with warm water and let them sit.

Blend the adzuki beans, walnuts, dates (or other sweetener) and vanilla in a blender or food processor. Place the mixture in a bowl and add raw hulled hemp seeds to form dough that sticks and binds together. If it’s too dry you can add a splash of nut milk but it’s not really necessary. Roll into small truffle sized balls.

Add a coating of your choice – hemp seeds, chocolate chips, desiccated coconut, cocoa powder, sesame seeds or finely chopped dried fruit & nut mixture. Chill in the refrigerator.

See also Chocolate Adzuki Protein Bites recipe.

Bon Appetit!