History of black seed oil
Over many centuries mankind has been mining the bounties of nature and discovering substances that have been used for the treatment of many human diseases; many such remedies are useful even today as modern day medicine. Pharmaceutical industries are equally active for synthesizing small molecule compounds as novel therapeutics. Although evidence continues to show that the search goes on into harnessing active compounds from nature in combating human illnesses and widening the current knowledge in old remedies.
One such remedy well documented for its uses in history is Black cumin seed (Nigella sativa) oil extracts. Used for many centuries by the Mesopotamiams to the ancient Egyptians for the treatment of many human illnesses. It was found in the tomb of Tutankhamun and well documented to have been used by Cleopatra as a beauty supplement for the skin and hair. It was also widely used for both its health and cooking benefits by the Greeks, Romans, Phoenicians and Assyrians. Black Seed can be found documented not only in the Old Testament but said by the Prophet Mohammad (pbuh) that “blackseed to be a cure for everything but death”.
Such wide use in history has led modern medicine to look at this “miracle seed” in a new light. So more recently the active compound found in black seed oil, thymoquinone (TQ) has been tested for its efficacy against several diseases including cancer.
It has been the subject of at least four recent metastudies that highlight its potential for use in production of new drugs for a variety of conditions. The active ingredient that led one researcher to call black seed a “miracle herb” is thymoquinone, which has hepatoprotective (prevents damage to the liver), anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, anticancer, and other properties.
