{"id":588987,"date":"2025-11-23T15:25:21","date_gmt":"2025-11-23T15:25:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/588987\/"},"modified":"2025-11-23T15:25:21","modified_gmt":"2025-11-23T15:25:21","slug":"a-daily-sprinkle-of-cumin-seeds-can-help-lower-cholestrol-study-finds-sciencealert","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/588987\/","title":{"rendered":"A Daily Sprinkle of Cumin Seeds Can Help Lower Cholestrol, Study Finds : ScienceAlert"},"content":{"rendered":"

A black seed, long used in cooking and traditional medicine, has shown promise in lowering cholesterol levels in a new clinical trial<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Researchers think it might even inhibit the formation of mature fat cells, based on lab-grown cell experiments.<\/p>\n

Black cumin (Nigella sativa<\/a>) is a flowering plant native to western Asia and eastern Europe, whose seeds are commonly used as a spice in curries and on vegetables.<\/p>\n

Humans have cultivated cumin for thousands of years<\/a>, according to archaeological evidence, and it is often used in folk medicine as an oil, paste, powder, or extract.<\/p>\n

Western science has only recently taken notice of cumin and put it to the test. While evidence is sparse, initial results<\/a> mostly from cell and animal studies suggest there may be overlooked health benefits to this common spice, with possible antioxidant and anti-inflammatory perks.<\/p>\n

In a recent clinical trial led by scientists at Osaka Metropolitan University in Japan, 22 participants who consumed 5 grams of black cumin seed powder each day showed a decrease in bad cholesterol<\/a> and an increase in good cholesterol<\/a> after just eight weeks. The 20 people in the control group showed no such changes.<\/p>\n

These improvements from roughly a spoonful of cumin powder a day could ultimately boost cardiovascular health, lowering the risk of future heart problems, the authors suggest.<\/p>\n

Related: Ancient Chinese Medicine Ingredient Restored Healthy Fat Metabolism in Diabetic Mice<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

“This study strongly suggests that black cumin seeds are useful as a functional food for preventing obesity and lifestyle-related diseases,” says<\/a> food scientist Akiko Kojima-Yuasa.<\/p>\n

“It was so gratifying to see black cumin comprehensively demonstrate actual, demonstrable blood lipid-lowering effects in a human trial.”<\/p>\n

The findings join several other small, preliminary trials<\/a> on cumin, which suggest it may help with weight loss and cholesterol levels<\/a>.<\/p>\n

But not all the results agree, and some of the evidence is controversial<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"NThe N. sativa plant. (AndreHolz\/Wikimedia Commons\/CC BY-SA 4.0<\/a>)<\/p>\n

In 2015, for instance, one notable trial<\/a> found that taking cumin capsules daily can have the same outcomes as cholesterol-lowering medication, like orlistat. The scientific journal, however, later flagged these results with an ‘expression of concern<\/a>‘, which is often issued when misconduct or unreliable findings are suspected. It’s not clear which is the case in this particular scenario.<\/p>\n

In the years since, several other clinical trials<\/a> have found<\/a> cholesterol-lowering benefits to cumin, albeit to a lesser extent.<\/p>\n

The newest study from Kojima-Yuasa and colleagues suggests that black cumin may inhibit fat formation by impacting key genetic regulators of the metabolic process. But more research is needed.<\/p>\n

\"Subscribe<\/a><\/p>\n

“We hope to perform longer-term and larger-scale clinical trials to investigate the effects of black cumin on metabolism,” says<\/a> Kojima-Yuasa.<\/p>\n

“We are particularly interested in investigating its effects on insulin resistance in diabetes<\/a> and inflammatory markers.”<\/p>\n

The study was published in Food Science & Nutrition<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A black seed, long used in cooking and traditional medicine, has shown promise in lowering cholesterol levels in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":588988,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[105,120,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-588987","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-health","8":"tag-health","9":"tag-msft-content","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115599713468970186","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/588987","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=588987"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/588987\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/588988"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=588987"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=588987"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=588987"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}