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Black Seed · Nigella sativa
Photo: (c) Conrad Altmann, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · via iNaturalist
Seeds & Nuts
Black Seed
Nigella sativa
It is not cumin, and it is not onion seed, though it is sold as both. Nigella is its own plant, a relative of the love-in-a-mist in gardens, and the seed is the part used.
Benefits
The fasting reading falls on the ground seed, and the long-term measure falls with it.
What It Is Known For
The most quoted line about any plant, and the reason black seed carries more expectation than any finding could meet.
A large business built on the oil rather than the seed, and a different question from the one this page answers.
It is not related to cumin at all. The names traveled together and the plants never did.
Key Active Compounds
Whole or ground. The part with the findings behind it.
The compound a supplement label counts.
Traditionally Used
Half a teaspoon of seed stirred into a spoon of honey and taken in the morning, which is how it is most often given.
How to Take It / Use It
Take two grams of ground seed a day, and give it three months before judging it.
Cautions
Black seed pulls the same way, and two things pulling together can overshoot.
Nothing is known about what passes into breastmilk or what it does to an infant, and unknown is not the same as safe.
Black seed oil can bring on an allergic rash, which is worth knowing before it goes anywhere large.
Where It Comes From
Nigella sativa grows across the eastern Mediterranean and into south Asia, and the seeds have been found in Tutankhamun's tomb. It has been a kitchen spice and a household remedy over that whole range for as long as there are records.
How We Choose It
We check every product so you don't have to. A black seed only makes our list if:
- Nigella sativa on the label. Black cumin, black caraway and onion seed are all names it gets sold under, and two of them belong to other plants.
- Seed, not oil. The oil is a separate product with its own story, and this page is about the seed.
- Whole seed if you can, ground fresh. Ground seed loses its edge quickly, and the smell is the first thing to go.
- One ingredient. Black seed and nothing else — no blend, no capsule with three other things in it.
If no product meets these standards, we don't list one. No exceptions for affiliates.
See our picks
Sources3
- Review on clinical trials of black seed (Nigella sativa) and its active constituent, thymoquinone. Journal of Pharmacopuncture, 2017. Review, trial by trial, with the form used in each
- Nigella sativa improves glucose homeostasis and serum lipids in type 2 diabetes: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Meta-analysis
- Black Seed — Drugs and Lactation Database (LactMed). Record of what is and is not known about breastfeeding, and the contact rash