Is your diet supplying you with enough calcium?

Ward off brittle-bone disease.

Dr. Michael Tierra L.AC., O.M.D.

Nigella
(NIGELLA SATIVA L.)   Black Cumin, Fitch (Biblical), Love in the Mist, Fitches
"...For the fitches are not thrashed with a threshing instrument. ..but the fitches are beaten out with a staff..." Isaiah 28

• Parts Used: seeds
• Energy and Flavors: Hot energy, spicy flavor
• Systems Affected: Lungs, Stomach, spleen
• Biochemical Constituents: Alanine, arginine, ascorbic-acid, asparagine, campesterol, carvone, cymene, cystine, dehydroascorbic-acid, eicosadienoic-acid, glucose, glutamic-acid, glycine, iron, isoleucine, leucine, d-limonene, linoleic-acid, linolenic-acid, lipase, lysine, methionine, myristic-acid, nigellin, nigellone, oleic-acid, palmitic-acid, phenylalanine, phytosterols, potassium, beta-sitosterol, alpha-spinasterol, stearic-acid, stigmasterol, tannin, threonine, thymohydroquinone, thymoquinone, tryptophan, tyrosine
• Properties: Stimulant, aromatic, carminative, digestive, diuretic, emmenagogue, excitant, galactatagogue, purgative, resolvent, stimulant, stomachic, sudorific, tonic, and vermifuge

Uses: For me the common name "love in the mist" aptly describes the poetry of this exquisite plant. In the garden, one easily imagines etheric spirits flitting about amongst its evanescent bluish-white blossoms. Even the seedpods, which are so often used in dried flower arrangements, suggest an otherworldly sense of exotic enchantment. Is it possible that such a delicately beautiful herb, with such potent medicinal properties would be so hardy as to easily reseed itself in our gardens year after year?

With an exalted position of use throughout the Middle East and to a somewhat lesser extent in India and other Eastern lands, the information about Nigella I owe to herbalist, plant-scientist extraordinaire, Jim Duke as presented in his book Medicinal Plants of the Bible. In it he describes Black Cumin as a Muslim Miracle Herb which, according to an Arab Proverb it is said that, 'in the black seed is the medicine for every disease except death.'

I have spoken with a Turkish colleague who reports that it the seeds are widely cultivated and traded in ton lots within his country throughout the Middle East, Northern Africa and India. The seeds are used both as a condiment in bread and cakes and various confections and like pepper or combined with pepper such as cayenne in sauces. The Ethiopians add along with other spices to flavor local alcoholic beverages. Still another use is to sprinkle them with woolen garments as a moth repellant.

The major uses I have employed it for are upper respiratory conditions, allergies, coughs, colds, bronchitis, fevers, flu, asthma and emphysema for which it is effective. Simply collect the abundance of seeds from the pods and grind them to a paste and mix with melted honey to a 'hahlava' (a Middle Eastern confection usually made with toasted sesame seeds and honey). Jim Duke confirms its folk use for these and a wide variety of other diseases and conditions including bilious ailments, calluses, cancer, colic, corns, eruptions, headache, jaundice, myrmecia, orchitis, puerperal fever, sclerosis, skin, snakebite, stomachache, swellings, tumors of the abdomen and eyes, and warts. In Algeria, the roasted seeds are combined with butter for cough and honey and taken for colic.

For upper respiratory conditions, at least a few of its constituents have shown an antihistamine-like action, which explains is positive effects for upper respiratory diseases including asthma, bronchitis, and cough. The oils of the seed increase milk flow which explains its folk use as a galactagogue. In large quantities, however, the seeds have also been used to abortion.

It is unusual for a hot spicy herb to have a positive effect on liver diseases as it is used by the Lebanese. Of course, one of its most obvious uses is for diarrhea and dysentery, combined with astringents. Externally the seeds can be ground to a powder, mixed with a little flour as a binder and applied directly to abscesses, on the forehead for headache, nasal ulcers, orchitis, and rheumatism. The seeds also are a rich source of sterols, especially beta-sitosterol, which is known to have anticarcinogenic activity. This substantiates its folk use for indurations and/or tumors of the abdomen, eyes and liver.

In India, Nigella seeds are combined with various purgatives to allay gripping and colic and also help kill and expel parasites. Middle Eastern Unani medicine affirms its abortifacient properties and also use it as a diuretic to relieve ascites, for coughs, eye-sores, hydrophobia, jaundice, paralysis, piles and tertian fever.

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http://www-ang.kfunigraz.ac.at/~katzer/engl/generic_frame.html?Nige_sat.html

Lots of pictures and information

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http://www.theepicentre.com/Spices/nigella.html

Nigella
Nigella sativa
Fam: Ranunculaceae

Nigella has been used since antiquity by Asian herbalists and pharmacists and was used for culinary purposes by the Romans. The seeds are known to repel certain insects and can be used like moth balls. The name nigella derives from the Latin nigellus, or niger, meaning black.

Spice Description
Nigella seeds are small, matte-black grains with a rough surface and an oily white interior. They are roughly triangulate, 1 1/2 - 3 mm (1/16 to 1/8 in ) long. They are similar to onion seeds.
Bouquet: The seeds have little bouquet, though when they are rubbed they give off an aroma reminiscent of oregano.
Flavour: Slightly bitter and peppery with a crunchy texture.
Hotness Scale: 3

Preparation and Storage
The seeds may be used whole or ground and are usually fried or roasted before use The are easily crushed in a mortar and pestle.

Culinary Uses
Nigella is used in India and the Middle East as a spice and condiment and occasionally in Europe as both a pepper substitute and a spice. It is widely used in Indian cuisines, particularly in mildly braised lamb dishes such as korma. It is also added to vegetable and dhal dishes as well as in chutneys. The seeds are sprinkled on to naan bread before baking. Nigella is an ingredient of some garam masalas and is one of the five spices in panch phoran. In the Middle East nigella is added to bread dough.

Attributed Medicinal Properties
Nigella is used in Indian medicine as a carminative and stimulant and is used against indigestion and bowel complaints. In India it is used to induce post-natal uterine contraction and promote lactation. The seed yields a volatile oil containing melanthin, nigilline, damascene and tannin. Melanthin is toxic in large dosages and Niugelline is paralytic, so this spice must be used in moderation.

Plant Description and Cultivation
An herbaceous annual of the buttercup family, about 60 cm (2 ft) high. The gray--green leaves are wispy and threadlike. Flowers are have five petals bout 2.5 cm wide (1 in), white with blue veins and appearing between June and September. They yield a seed capsule with five compartments each topped by a spike. The compartments open when dried to disperse the seeds. Nigella is native to western Asia where it grows both wild and cultivated. India, Egypt and the Middle East also cultivate it.

Other Names
Black Caraway, Black Cumin, Damascena, Devil in-the-bush, Fennel flower, Melanthion, Nutmeg Flower, Roman Coriander, Wild Onion Seed
French: cheveux de Venus, nigell, poivrette
German: Scharzkummel (black caraway)
Italian: nigella
Spanish: neguilla
Indian: kala zeera (lit, ‘black cumin’), kalonji, krishnajiraka

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