Myriad health benefits of Black Seed, black cumin from the Middle East: uses, side effects, interactions

What is Black Seed?

In fact, Black Seed is a black cumin seed that comes from an annual flowering plant called Nigella sativa from the Ranunculaceae family, a plant native to South Asia and West Asia.

In its home country, black cumin is often used as a seasoning and natural preservative for Indian and Middle Eastern dishes. Cumin has a distinctive bitter-spicy taste and aroma, such as a combination of shallots, black pepper, and oregano.

Various benefits of Black Seed for health

The benefits of Black Seed were first investigated by Ibn Sina, a Persian scientist who is considered one of the most famous thinkers and writers of the Islamic Golden Age, in his medical journal Canon of Medicine. Ibn Sina wrote that these black cumin seeds are useful as a treatment for shortness of breath, either because of asthma symptoms or due to other respiratory problems.

In traditional medicine, Black Seed is used mainly as a stimulant for breast milk production, and worm medicine. Black cumin has also been used as a diuretic and muscle relaxant (for twitches and convulsions), as well as to boost immunity to fight infectious diseases in people with weak immune systems.

In addition, black cumin seeds have been used to treat headaches, toothaches, as well as colds and nasal congestion. Black seed has also been used to treat red eyes (conjunctivitis), hemorrhoids, abscesses, rheumatism, allergic reactions, to digestive problems - such as diarrhea, dysentery, constipation, colic, and flatulence. Black seed oil applied to the skin is also reported to be able to cure allergic skin reactions due to contact dermatitis.

What does the modern medical world say about the benefits of Black Seed?

1. Improve sperm quality

Especially for men who smoke heavily, the content of nicotine and other toxins in cigarettes has long been known to reduce the agility of sperm to swim (motility) and also affect their normal shape. Nicotine also has a negative impact on the structure of the testicular tissue. Abnormalities in sperm and testes are important risk factors for male fertility problems. A study from the University of Malaysia in 2014 in the journal Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine reports that Black Seed Oil improves sperm quality and supports better testicular tissue structure.

2. Overcoming the symptoms of type 1 diabetes

Thymoquinone (TQ) is the main active compound contained in Black Seed Oil. After conducting experiments on lab rats, a 2014 study from Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) Malaysia found that injecting high doses of TQ can completely stop the progression of type 1 diabetes.

One other study from Zagazig University in Egypt reported that when Black Seed extract was mixed with other typical Middle Eastern herbal spices (Myrrh, Gum olybanum, and Gum asafoetida) it was effective at lowering blood sugar levels in lab rats because of the inhibitory effect of glucose metabolism in the liver. Therefore, researchers believe that this herbal extract may be used as a diabetes treatment that does not depend on insulin drugs.

3. Lowering blood pressure

Research from Shahrekord University of Medical Sciences in Iran reports that taking Black Seed extract pills every day for two months can lower blood pressure in people who have mild hypertension. Plus, there were no complications caused by Black Seed to the health of the study participants.

These findings were obtained after conducting trials in three separate groups in which all members had mild hypertension - the first two groups were given 100 mg and 200 mg of Habbatus sauda extract pills, while the third group was given a placebo (empty pill) which was taken regularly twice a day. After eight weeks, the systolic and diastolic blood pressure values of the two groups taking the Black Seed extract were found to be lower than those who took the empty pill. However, the decrease was small, which was only around 1-3 mmHg.

Habbatus sauda extract pills were also found to reduce levels of total cholesterol and "bad" LDL cholesterol, as well as increase levels of good HDL cholesterol in some cases. However, the cholesterol balancing effect of Black Seed only appeared in those who had mild high cholesterol, the same benefit was not found in people who had normal cholesterol levels.

4. Fight cancer

Habbatusauda contains ethanol antioxidant compounds which are known to inhibit cancer cell malignancy and its development over time in lab rats. Ethanol was found to produce about 80 percent of the protective effect against oxidative stress in the body. Too many free radicals in the body can make the body experience oxidative stress, which triggers various cell damage in the body and causes various chronic diseases, including cancer.

Habbatassauda should not be taken carelessly

What needs to be understood is, scientific evidence of a number of benefits of Black Seed above is still limited in strict laboratory tests. Most of it is only done in cell culture, animal experiments, or small experiments on a group of humans. Therefore, further research is still needed to corroborate all these benefit claims directed at humans.

Drinking herbs and herbal medicines as a complementary alternative to chemical drugs (both prescription and non-prescription) is actually okay. Herbal medicine in the form of decoction is relatively safe for consumption because the toxic substances that may be contained have undergone a change in chemical structure. However, herbal supplements should not be taken carelessly because each person's reaction to drugs can be different from one another. Even though you have the same complaints, it is not certain that herbal remedies that turn out to be suitable for you will provide the same properties to your child or neighbor.

So herbal medicines should only be consumed to maintain health, cure disease, or reduce the risk of disease - not to cure it. To cure the disease, prescription drugs and routine health controls are still needed.