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Food as Medicine: Close-Up on Cumin

Food as Medicine: Close-Up on Cumin

??????????????????If “having a pedigree” is an important factor for you when you’re considering the nutritional or medicinal value of food, it’s difficult to find a food with a longer history than cumin. Cumin (also known as comino, cuminum cyminum, cuminum odorum, jeeraka, svetajiraka, and zira) is an herb whose medicinal qualities are mentioned in the Bible (both Old and New Testaments). Cumin was also part of the medical tradition in ancient Egypt, in India (cumin is a staple of Ayurvedic medicine), in the Muslim world, and in ancient Greece.

Although cumin is commonly used in the preparation of foods from each of these areas, it has also been promoted for its medicinal uses—to treat digestive problems, diarrhea, colic, bloating (cumin is a mild diuretic), to reduce inflammation, and even as an aphrodisiac. In terms of modern research, cumin has been found to have strong antioxidant and antimicrobial properties, and a study in the Journal of Ethnopharmacology found that cumin seeds help to regulate blood sugar levels, and thus may be of use not only as an antidiabetic (to prevent diabetes) but to treat those who already have the disease. Similar studies in Nutrition Research found that cumin not only helped to reduce hypoglycemia, but also to reduce body weight.

Cumin is also a known carminative, meaning that it has the ability to reduce the formation of gas and thus improve digestion. This is why it is common in Ayurvedic medicine, where it is both prescribed as a remedy for gas and used in cooking to reduce the flatulence caused by bean-based dishes. Cumin does have some analgesic (pain relieving) qualities, and is used as a tea in some cultures to treat headaches and other minor pains. Some have even recommended the combination of pureed bananas and cumin as a treatment for insomnia.

Today scientists theorize that one of the reasons cumin may have some curative properties is that it contains thymoquinone, a phytochemical also known as TQ that is being studied as a potential treatment for many diseases, including cancer. A 2005 study from India found that black cumin oil was effective in killing 50 out of 54 bacterial strains they tested—despite the fact that these same strains showed evidence of having developed resistance to 20 common antibiotics. In India, black cumin seed has also been proven effective in preventing withdrawal symptoms in patients with opium addiction. Research is currently underway to test the effectiveness of black cumin seed in reducing oxidative stress in the blood, lowering cholesterol, preventing and treating cancers and some forms of seizure, and treating rheumatoid arthritis.

Given all the interest in cumin and its potential health benefits, it’s reasonable to ask whether there might be risks associated with it as well. So far, there doesn’t appear to be a “down side” to adding more cumin to your diet. No serious contraindications have been noted in the medical literature, with one possible exception—you might want to check with your doctor if you are taking certain classes of anti-diabetic medications.

So not only can cumin bring an exotic taste to many of your more common recipes, it may also offer some health benefits along the way!

Cayenne Pepper Stops Bleeding

Cayenne Pepper Stops Bleeding

I wanted to post this article on Cayenne Pepper from the Herbal Legacy Website www.herballegacy.com. Great information can be found on that website! An additional note: Cayenne tincture can also be an effective remedy for cardiovascular events and regulating blood pressure. Sprinkling Cayenne pepper in your shoes can warm up cold feet!

The following article was written by Barbara Parshley, MH :

My favorite herb changes quite frequently. Today it happens to be cayenne. In the Family Herbalist course, a course I highly recommend to all, we learned how it would stop a bloody nose almost immediately. Given my grandchildren are around frequently, I had the opportunity to try this remedy. My granddaughter had a bloody nose for about 10 minutes before she came to share that information with me. I was new to the Family Herbalist course at the time, so I thought I would try putting a little cayenne into water.  She drank the water and the nose that had been profusely bleeding, stopped before the glass of cayenne water was finished.

Today, about two years after this first experiment with cayenne, I was using a rotary cutter to cut the many yards of material I use for quilting. I have done this for years, but today, for the first time, the rotary cutter came close to taking off much of my left index finger. Oh, did it bleed! I immediately ran it under water allowing it to bleed freely to clean the cut. Then it occurred to me – “I have cayenne in my Herbal First Aid Kit!” I wrapped the finger in paper towels in order to go get the kit. The towels were soaked in blood before I made it from the kitchen to the bathroom, one door away. This concerned my granddaughter and she suggested going to a hospital. I thought, “No, I need to get to the cayenne.”

And so I did. I opened up the container of powdered cayenne, wondering if it was going to sting horrendously. (I had previously used too much in a nasal wash, and though it took care of the sinus infection rather quickly, I remembered to dilute it more the following time I used it.)  I sprinkled the cayenne onto the finger and it didn’t sting! Sprinkling cayenne on to this open wound, felt just fine! Of course the bleeding stopped quite quickly. I was thrilled with my new experiment. Then I decided that as long as I had the opportunity, I would proceed with my second experiment. I retrieved some of my powdered BF&C (with the comfrey), added cayenne to it for good measure, and moistened it with X-ceptic. Since the gash was large enough, I put the poultice on only half of the gash on the finger and bandaged the whole finger.

It was amazing! Two days later, the section of the finger where I put the poultice has healed, there isn’t even any bruising! The other section is healing, but is still a separated wound. The BF&C certainly added to the healing of the gash and is now a favorite herbal combination. However, the amazing properties of cayenne that stopped this rather excessive bleeding so quickly and without stinging, made cayenne my favorite herb for the day.

Barbara Parshley lives in Aurora, Colorado, and received her MH in June of 2011 from the School of Natural Healing. She periodically teaches classes in Herbology in Aurora Colorado.