An Herb That Could Help Against Covid-19: Black Cumin
by Preston Brady III, Herbscapes.com
On an official website operated by the United States government, namely the National Institute of Health, in the National Library of Medicine you will find a section about Nigella Sativa, also known as black cumin seeds. Many Americans have probably never heard of black cumin seeds but are familiar with brown cumin. This page is dedicated to Herbal medicine use for the management of Covid-19.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8519661/There are other herbs in the review article but the authors state “Based on our review, N. Sativa (black cumin) seed was one of the herbal products with the most published positive evidence. Ethanolic extracts of N. Sativa seeds established antiviral properties by reducing the viral load, alpha-fetoprotein, and enhanced liver function parameters among hepatitis C patients.”
The article goes on to say: “…it has a diverse range of indications including upper respiratory diseases such as asthma by the anti-hypersensitivity and potent anti-inflammatory properties to reduce asthma symptoms.” The seed has been tested on mice and was shown to have anti-corona virus effects.“
In case you want to order seeds and grow your own Nigella Sativa, here’s a popular choice on Amazon:
In the traditional, widely used medicine of Ayurveda in India, black cumin is used for a number of illnesses including asthma, bronchitis, coughing and other inflammatory illnesses.
Before you use any herb for medicinal purposes you could consider direction from a doctor, especially if you are taking other medications prescribed or not.
. Ultimately, it seems with Covid-19 the illness must run its course. Perhaps more research will lead to prevention of the illness, or much less severity if medications are prescribed and taken at the beginning of the illness. N. Sativia is but one herb of many that has demonstrated anti-inflammatory and anti-viral properties. The study of herbal medicine, in the United States is still in the beginning stages. But at least experts are taking herbs more seriously than in past decades. One truth is that if you own a pharmaceutical corporation it’s not in your best interest if your customers and potential customers are out there remedying themselves with herbs they grew or bought. However, we know that a number of prescribed medications contain components of certain herbs. We all have a born right to the natural resources of our planet. Thankfully, over 3,000 years ago doctors and researchers in India began seriously utilizing thousands of herbs in traditional medicine. The result is the primary form of medicine in India today: Ayurveda. On the one hand you might think, can’t they just ship it over to us like a lot of other things? I mean, they’ve done 3,000 years of research so they must have a fairly good idea of how it works. However, apparently it doesn’t work that way, and in the U.S. as well as many other western nations previous research has to be vetted. It will probably be a long time before any other medicinal herb reaches the status of coffee – a legal medicinal herb that gives you a buzz and usually doesn’t cause hallucinations unless you drink far too much.
Image found on the NIH website and credited as adopted from Internet. N. sativa plant, flower, seeds
