Is Black Seed Oil (Nigella sativa) a miracle herb?
Black seed (also known as nigella seeds) is a member of the buttercup family and its seeds are dark, thin, and crescent shaped with approximately 100 nutritional chemical constituents present (new nutritional compounds are still being identified). One of the constituents that has been studied by modern science as a major player in this food is thymoquinone. Some of the other identified constituents are beta sitosterol, myristic acid, palmitic acid, palmitoleic acid, stearic acid, oleic acid, linoleic acid, linolenic acid, arachidonic acid, protein, vitamin B1, vitamin B2, vitamin B3, folic acid, calcium, iron, copper, zinc, and phosphorous. Since 1959, black seed oil has been the subject of more than 200 different studies at universities and laboratories.
Black Seed is Packed with Nutrients
The compounds in black cumin seed oil are a unique mixture that may have multiple supportive effects. Antioxidants which may support the body’s ability to reduce oxidation, support antioxidant systems on a cellular level and possibly prevent damage caused by free radicals. Compounds present in this food may support the body’s ability to have a healthy inflammation response. It may do this in 3 possible ways. First, by possibly aiding in the suppression of NF-KappaB which is a master regulator of inflammation by preventing inflammation pathways from becoming over stimulated.
Next, it may possibly support the inhibition of a variety of enzymatic systems that produce leukotrienes and prostaglandins like 5-LOX and COX1. Finally it may possibly support the reduction of a precursor of molecular inflammation called 5-HETE. Black seed oil may have a possible direct effect on the body’s ability to have a healthy immune response by inciting an acute inflammatory response to infection.
Black Seed has a rich historical and religious bac