Nigella

Black cumin-based products are becoming increasingly popular, thanks to the many benefits of this plant and its seeds.

What is black cumin seed?

Black cumin is an annual herbaceous plant in the Ranunculaceae family. It grows to around 50 cm tall. You can recognise its seeds by their distinctive smell and taste, their triangular, angular shape (2 to 3 cm long) and their intense black colour. Nigella is also known as black cumin or Nigella Sativa in Latin. In Arab countries, the name differs from country to country. In Egypt and Syria it is called Habbat al Barrak (the seed of blessing), in Arabia it is Habatu sawda (the black seed) as in Muslim tradition.

The composition of black cumin seed

It contains more than a hundred components that give it its miraculous effect. It contains phosphate, iron, phosphorus, calcium, sodium and potassium. It is a rich source of unsaturated fatty acids, containing around 35% lipids, 21% proteins and 38% carbohydrates. The essences that make up most of its potency (Nigellone and thymoquinon) are real antihistamines, antioxidants, anti-infectives and have a bronchial dilating effect.

The benefits of black cumin

According to the article by Hans Wagner, it contains antibiotics that can destroy any virus, microbe or bacterium. It also contains carotene, which has anti-cancer properties, and fertilising and stimulating sex hormones. It contains antacid enzymes, calming agents and elements that stimulate the development of intelligence. (Source: Guérir par la graine de nigelle, Editions Orientica).

How to use black cumin oil or black cumin seed

Everyday aches and pains

- Sore throat: crush black cumin seeds or use black cumin powder directly and heat in honey, lemon and olive oil, then take a spoonful. Preferably taken as soon as the sore throat appears.

- Colds: put some folded black cumin seeds in a jar and smell them regularly. Another way: toast it, then crush it, then mix it with olive oil and administer it via the nose in the form of drops, three or four times a day.

- Toothache: put a little powder from the above mixture in a cloth and bite down on the tooth affected for around ten minutes.

- Chronic headache: mix the black seed with equal quantities of aniseed and cloves, grind finely and swallow, with water, a teaspoon twice a day: one before breakfast and the other before lunch. A second method of use: applyblack cumin oil to the painful area and massage.

Chronic diseases

- Kidney and bladder stones: first prepare a homogeneous mixture made up of two glasses of black seed powder and a pound of bee honey. Then, every morning, dilute one and a half tablespoons of this mixture in half a glass of lukewarm water and drink it on an empty stomach. This mixture should be kept in the fridge and lasts for a fortnight.

- Blood pressure: mix a teaspoon of black cumin seed powder with a tablespoon of bee honey, add a little crushed garlic and eat on an empty stomach. The treatment lasts between ten and twenty days, depending on the patient's condition.

- Diabetes: mix a measure of black cumin powder with a measure of watercress powder, half a measure of myrrh powder and half a measure of crushed pomegranate bark, then take a teaspoonful every morning on an empty stomach, a quarter of an hour before breakfast. This mixture should be kept in a closed jar away from heat.

- For asthma and pollen allergies: put a glass of black cumin seeds in a jar, then pour boiling water over them, stir and leave to infuse. Breathe in the steam for about 15 minutes after covering your head with a cloth.

- Shortness of breath and respiratory insufficiency: regularly take black cumin seeds mixed with water orblack cumin oil.

On the skin

- Dizziness: massage the temples and nape of the neck withblack cumin oil.

- Otitis: put a few drops ofblack cumin oil in the ear.

- Herpes: applyblack cumin oil to the affected area every day. It is advisable to repeat the operation several times a day.

- Eczema: apply black cumin oil to the area affected by eczema.Black cumin oil should preferably be applied at lukewarm temperature.

- Bad complexion: mix a spoonful of black cumin oil and a spoonful of olive oil and massage the mixture into the face, leaving it on for at least an hour. Rinse face with soap and water.

- Warts: mix half a measure of black cumin seed powder in a measure of red apple vinegar, then filter the mixture and recover the vinegar enriched with the essence of black cumin seed. Next, take a rough piece of cloth, moisten it with the vinegar and gently rub the warts about ten times. In principle, the warts will disappear after five days of treatment with two operations of this kind per day.

On the eyes

- Eye irritations: pour a tablespoon of black cumin seed powder into a litre of boiling water, leave to infuse for 10 minutes, then wet two compresses with the liquid and place them on the eyes for about ten minutes.

On the hair

- Hair loss: applyblack cumin oil all over the scalp.

- Skin parasites (lice, fleas, etc.): mix half a glass of powdered black cumin seeds with half a glass of cider vinegar, leave to macerate for 10 minutes, then filter, save the residue, leave to dry to obtain a paste that should be massaged into the hair and left to work for 4 hours. Rinse with fresh water.

Sterility

- Male sterility: first prepare a mixture of one part black cumin seed powder, one part watercress powder and one third part fenugreek powder and store in a jar away from heat and moisture. Then, every morning, mix a teaspoon of this product with a tablespoon of bee honey and an ampoule of royal jelly and swallow the whole thing on an empty stomach, a quarter of an hour before breakfast, with a little water. The patient should then take a bowl of fresh pasteurised milk, to which a tablespoon of honey-sweetened barley drink should be added whenever possible. The treatment should last at least forty days.

Habachiya black cumin oil (from Ethiopia) is reputed to be one of the best due to the quality of its seeds, which originate in Ethiopia.