healing power of black seed/black cumin
Peace and blessings to all,
Have you ever thought of this...
http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?pid=S0100-879X2006005000108&script=sci_arttext
http://www.answers.com/topic/black-cumin-seed-extract?cat=health
http://www.care2.com/c2c/groups/disc.html?gpp=331&pst=1017678&archival=&posts=4
Black Cumin has been used
for thousands of years by various cultures and civilizations around the world as
a natural healing aid and as a supplement to help maintain good health and
well-being.
Black cumin
(nigella sativa) was discovered in Tutankhamen's tomb, implying that it
played an important role in ancient Egyptian practices.
The exact role
of black cumin in Egyptian culture is not known, however, items entombed
with a king were of importance as they were carefully selected to assist
him in the afterlife. It is said that
Cleopatra used black cumin for it's health and beauty giving qualities.
The extraordinary
healing powers of black seed or black cumin have been known for centuries in the
Middle East and Africa.
Its botanical name is Nigella Sativa. There are several common
names attributed to Nigella sativa. These names differ between different
regions and countries. In Europe it is called black caraway, fennel-flower,
nutmeg flower or sometimes "Love in the Mist."
In
America it is called black cumin or black seed. Its name in Egypt is Habaat el
Baraka and in the rest of the Arabic world it is called Habaa Sawdaa.
The earliest written reference to
Blackseed is found in the book of Isiah in the Old Testament.
It is most famous for the saying of
the holy prophet Muhammad P.B.U H. 'Hold on to use of the Blackseed, for it has
a remedy for every illness except death.' The wording 'hold onto' indicates a
long term use.
The Ancient civilizations also took notice of the importance of
the black seed as a medicine.
These civilizations included the Roman empire, in which
Nigella Sativa was named with the Latin word "Panacea" meaning cure all; and for
centuries in the Arabian peninsula where this healing plant has been used as a
nutritional
plant.
The Greek physician Dioskorides used Blackseed to
treat headaches, nasal congestion, toothache and intestinal parasites.
Black seeds were also used, he reported, as a diuretic to promote menstruation
and increase milk production.
The Muslim scholar Al-biruni (973-1048), who composed a treatise on the early
origins of Indian and Chinese drugs, mentions that the black seed is a kind of
grain called alwanak in the sigzi dialect. Later, this was confirmed by suhar
bakht who explained it to be habb-i-sajzi (viz. sigzi grains). This reference to
black seed as grains points to the seed's possible nutritional use. During the
tenth and eleventh centuries, Hypocrates, the
grandfather of today’s scientific medicine regarded Nigella Sativa as a valuable
remedy in hepatic and digestive disorders.
Ibn Sina, the
author of the Canon of Medicine, one of the most famous books in the history of
medicine recommended Blackseed as it stimulates the metabolism and to recover
from dispiritedness and lethargy.
Black seed is also included in the list of natural drugs of al-Tibb al-n abawi,
and, according to tradition, "hold onto the use of the black seed for in it is
healing for all illnesses except death" (Sahih Bukhari vol 7 bk 71 #592). This
prophetic reference in describing black seed as having a healing for all
illnesses is not exaggerated as it at first appears. the many uses of black seed
has earned for this ancient herb the Arabic approbation habbatul barakah,
meaning the seed of blessing.