Organic Black Cumin Seed Oil (Nigella sativa) ~ CO2 Extract

Beautifully rich textually, broadly therapeutic ~ Black Seed Oil AKA Black Cumin Seed Oil is “the medicine for everything except death” according to an ancient Arabic proverb.

• Antinflammatory/antiallergenic (Entok 2014, Natural Standard: Black Seed)
• Antimicrobial
• Antifungal
• Antiulcer (Eyad 2010)
• Anticarcinogenic (Lang 2013, Sakalar 2013)
• Antihyperlipidemic (Sultan 2014, Ahmad 2013)
• Antihyperglycemic (Sultan 2014)
• Antihypertensive (Dekhordi 2008)
• Analgesic (Hajhashemi 2004)

Dr. Nick Notes

Black cumin seed oil or black seed oil has been used in traditional medicine systems for thousands of uses for a wide variety of ailments and scientific exploration is beginning elucidate mechanisms and clinical effects of this wonderfully diverse medicine.

Black seed oil can make both cold pressed and essential oils. Cold pressed black seed oils tend to be high in fatty acid ethyl esters such as omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids which may confer increased cholesterol and lipid modulating activity. On the other hand, essential oils are higher in antioxidant content, which may confer greater anti-inflammatory properties (Sultan 2014, Ahmad 2013).

The primary terpene constituents of black cumin essential oil are thymoquinone (TQ) and p-cymene, which have been implicated as being responsible for the majority of black cumin seed's oil medicinal effects. Thymoquinone (TQ), in addition to uses mentioned above, has shown some promising preliminary results in protection of hippocampal neurons against α-synuclein aggregate neurotoxicity, which are a pathophysiologic hallmark of Parkinson’s disease (Alhebshi 2013). TQ has also displayed colon polyp reducing activity, which is a risk factor for colorectal cancer, albeit concentrations used were rather high (Lang 2013).

Black Seed Oil (Black Cumin) enjoys Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS) status by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

How to Use

- Food Preparation! Place 1-2 drops in any dish you’d normally use black cumin in. Try 1 drop black pepper, 1 drop black cumin, 1 drop ginger and 1 drop turmeric essential oils in a tbsp (15ml) of oil or mixed into an avocado for an anti-inflammatory superfood creation that’s perfect to mix into rice, potato, salad or curry dishes. Consider experimenting with coriander or cardamom too!
- Dietary supplement. 1-2 drops in a capsule filled with an edible carrier oil to promote decreases in inflammation, healthy blood pressure and blood sugar, or regulation of digestion
- Topically black cumin can be used as an analgesic and massaged into aching or inflamed areas. This oil has been used neat (undiluted) although please exercise caution as essential oils are very strong. Dilution 2-5 drops per tsp (5ml) of carrier oil or lotion is recommended.

Origin: India
Cultivation: Organic
Extraction Method: CO2 Select Extract
Part(s) of Plant Used: Seeds

Constituents (Singh 2014):

thymoquninone (major)
p-cymene (major)
α-thujene
thymohydroquinone
dithymoquinone
carvacrol
trans-anethole
4-terpineol
longifolene

~ Be Blessed ~

References

Ahmad S, Beg ZH. Elucidation of mechanisms of actions of thymoquinone-enriched methanolic and volatileoil extracts from Nigella sativa against cardiovascular risk parameters in experimental hyperlipidemia. Lipids Health Dis. 2013 Jun 13;12:86. doi: 10.1186/1476-511X-12-86.

Alhebshi AH, Odawara A, Gotoh M, Suzuki I. Thymoquinone protects cultured hippocampal and human induced pluripotent stem cells-derived neurons against α-synuclein-induced synapse damage. Neurosci Lett. 2013 Sep 27. pii: S0304-3940(13)00873-2. doi: 10.1016/j.neulet.2013.09.049.

Dehkordi FR, Kamkhah AF. Antihypertensive effect of Nigella sativa seed extract in patients with mild hypertension. Fundam Clin Pharmacol. 2008 Aug;22(4):447-52. doi: 10.1111/j.1472-8206.2008.00607.x.
Entok E, Ustuner MC, Ozbayer C, Tekin N, Akyuz F, Yangi B, Kurt H, Degirmenci I, Gunes HV. Anti-inflammatuar and anti-oxidative effects of Nigella sativa L.: 18FDG-PET imaging of inflammation. Mol Biol Rep. 2014 Jan 29. [Epub ahead of print]

Eyad M. Salem, Talay Yar, Abdullah O. Bamosa, Abdulaziz Al-Quorain, Mohamed I. Yasawy, Raed M. Alsulaiman,and Muhammad A. Randhawa. Comparative Study of Nigella sativa and Triple Therapy in Eradication of Helicobacter pylori in Patients with Non-Ulcer Dyspepsia. Saudi J Gastroenterol. Jul 2010; 16(3): 207–214. doi: 10.4103/1319-3767.65201 PMCID: PMC3003218

Hajhashemi V, Ghannadi A, Jafarabadi H. Black cumin seed essential oil, as a potent analgesic and antiinflammatory drug. Phytother Res. 2004 Mar;18(3):195-9.

Lang M, Borgmann M, Oberhuber G, Evstatiev R, Jimenez K, Dammann KW, Jambrich M, Khare V, Campregher C, Ristl R, Gasche C. Thymoquinone attenuates tumor growth in ApcMin mice by interference with Wnt-signaling. Mol Cancer. 2013 May 13;12(1):41. doi: 10.1186/1476-4598-12-41.

Natural Standard Database. Black seed (Nigella sativa). Accessed 4/22/14

Sakalar C, Yuruk M, Kaya T, Aytekin M, Kuk S, Canatan H. Pronounced transcriptional regulation of apoptotic and TNF-NF-kappa-B signaling genes during the course of thymoquinone mediated apoptosis in HeLa cells. Mol Cell Biochem. 2013 Nov;383(1-2):243-51. doi: 10.1007/s11010-013-1772-x. Epub 2013 Aug 14.

Singh S, Das SS, Singh G, Schuff C, de Lampasona MP, Catalán CA. Composition, In Vitro Antioxidant and Antimicrobial Activities of Essential Oil and Oleoresins Obtained from Black Cumin Seeds (Nigella sativa L.). Biomed Res Int. 2014;2014:918209. doi: 10.1155/2014/918209. Epub 2014 Feb 6.

Sultan MT, Butt MS, Karim R, Zia-Ul-Haq M, Batool R, Ahmad S, Aliberti L, De Feo V. Nigella sativa Fixed and Essential Oil Supplementation Modulates Hyperglycemia and Allied Complications in Streptozotocin-Induced Diabetes Mellitus. Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2014;2014:826380. doi: 10.1155/2014/826380. Epub 2014 Jan 8.

VerVita Essential Oils. Black cumin summary flyer. http://www.vervitaproducts.com/media/files/products/BlackCumin.pdf. Accessed 4/22/14