Black Seed Could Provide Cardiovascular Benefits to Diabetic and Overweight People.

If you are diabetic or overweight, black seed could help you to prevent cardiovascular disease.

Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in the world. Type 2 diabetes and obesity provide pathways to cardiovascular disease.

Nigella sativa, or black seed, is, among other powers, antioxidant, anti-diabetic and anti-inflammatory. So, could it help people who are at risk to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease?

This meta-analysis of 31 controlled studies included 2,145 people who have type 2 diabetes or who are overweight.

Black seed did not help everything. But it helped a lot!

It did not help waist circumference, insulin or insulin resistance. But it helped everything else.

When it came to helping obesity, black seed significantly reduced weight and body mass index.

When it came to diabetes, it significantly decreased fasting blood sugar and HbA1c. That black seed can help HbA1c is of special importance because HbA1c is the most important marker of long term blood sugar and diabetes control. Every 1% drop in HbA1c reduces the risk of the cardiovascular complications of diabetes by 37%.

When it came to blood pressure, black seed significantly reduced both systolic and diastolic blood pressure.

These results show that black seed modestly, but significantly, improves a variety of risk factors for cardiovascular disease in people who are at higher risk because they are diabetic or overweight, including weight, BMI, blood sugar, long-term glucose control and blood pressure. So, black seed could be an important addition to an overall lifestyle and supplement program for preventing cardiovascular disease.

Endocrinol Diabetes Metab. 2026 Mar 20;9(2):e70207. 

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