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You are here: Home / Autoimmunity / Black Cumin – A New Herbal Treatment for Hypothyroidism and Thyroid Autoimmunity

Black Cumin – A New Herbal Treatment for Hypothyroidism and Thyroid Autoimmunity

Dr. Ruscio 9 Comments Category: Autoimmunity, Thyroid Disorders

Let’s review an interesting study regarding the ability of black cumin, a medicinal spice, to improve hypothyroidism and thyroid autoimmunity.

Dr. R’s Fast Facts

The effects of Nigella sativa on thyroid function, serum Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor (VEGF) – 1, Nesfatin-1 and anthropometric features in patients with Hashimoto’s thyroiditis: a randomized controlled trial.

  • 49 patients were given Nigella sativa or placebo daily for 8 weeks
  • Dose: 2 grams per day as powder
  • Nigella sativa – also known as
    • Black cumin
    • Black caraway
    • Black sesame
    • Onion seed
    • Roman coriander
  • Results
    • 2.8 pounds of weight loss
    • Reduction in TSH* (meaningful)
    • Reduction in antibodies (non-meaningful and non-significant)
  • What does this mean?
    • Interesting findings, but there are other therapies that may work better for body composition
      • One study showed a low carb, low-grain diet led to a higher reduction in weight loss and a greater reduction in thyroid autoimmunity antibodies
      • Other compounds, like selenium, vitamin D, CoQ10, and magnesium, have shown to have a significant effect on antibodies
  • Get help with hypothyroidism or thyroid autoimmunity.
  • Get your personalized plan for optimizing your gut health with my new book.
  • Healthcare providers looking to sharpen their clinical skills, check out the Future of Functional Medicine Review Clinical Newsletter.

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Black Cumin – A New Herbal Treatment for Hypothyroidism and Thyroid Autoimmunity

Dr. Michael Ruscio: Hi, this is Dr. Ruscio, and let’s discuss an interesting new plant medicine that may help with hypothyroidism and with thyroid autoimmunity.

A study was recently published looking at a compound known a black cumin. And I’ll put this study up here on the screen. The study was entitled—I’ll shorten it up for you—but essentially “The effects of Nigella sativa on thyroid function.”

Nigella sativa has many a.k.a.’s, and I’ll read a few for you here: black cumin, black caraway, black sesame, onion seed, and roman coriander. But essentially, in this study, they took 49 patients and they gave them either 2 grams per day as a powder or a placebo for eight weeks. And they tracked different markers, like body composition and weight, and also thyroid markers, and compared the placebo group to the control group.

Now, what they found was interesting. They did find a reduction in body weight. But 2.8 pounds over eight weeks, that’s something. I wouldn’t say it’s highly meaningful, but it is something. They did show what I would consider as significant reduction in TSH. They showed a non-significant and what I would consider a non-meaningful reduction in TPO antibodies. And this is important, because if something is non-significant and also non-meaningful—there was a change, but the change wasn’t really meaningful or significant.

So let me put the table up here on the screen that will help out on this a little bit. And I’ve highlighted for you the reduction in TSH. From 6.4 to 4.1, that is a significant and a clinically meaningful reduction in TSH. That essentially takes someone from positive to normal for a TSH value. So that’s significant. Again, weight not in a stable—we discussed 2.8 pounds. It was considered significant. Would I consider that meaningful? Maybe.

But then the TPO antibodies is the thing I really wanted to draw your attention to. So, thyroid antibodies are when your immune cells attack thyroid tissue, and it’s the underlying cause of hypothyroidism in most westernized countries. So the autoimmunity, the thyroid autoimmunity, and the antibodies that correspond to the severity of the thyroid autoimmunity is something that’s important to keep in mind and to look at. Now, in this case, we did see a reduction from 294 to 147 compared to the control right next to it that went from 278 to 274. Now, to the untrained eye that change from 294 to 147 may look significant. However, statistically it was not significant, but also clinically I do not consider that to be a clinically meaningful change.

Hey, guys. Just a quick reminder that my new book is finally available: Healthy Gut, Healthy You. And for our audience only, we are opening up a presale campaign so you can get the book before anyone else. And the presale campaign is open now up through until Friday, February 2nd.

So if you’re looking to learn more about your gut health and have a no-nonsense education on your gut and what to do to improve your gut, then this book Healthy Gut, Healthy You is going to hopefully be a huge milestone in that direction.

If you go to DrRuscio.com/GetGutBook, you can learn more and/or pick up a copy. I’m very excited about this book. What I think I’m most excited about is the self-help plan at the end. So if you’re looking for a protocol—“What diet should I use? For how long should I use it? Should I also use probiotics? Should I maybe do an antimicrobial herbal protocol? Maybe I should consider an elemental diet. Should I be using motility agents, yes or no? How do I wean off of these things?”—the self-help plan at the end of the book walks you through, step by step, with an assessment at the end of each step, exactly what the best plan for you will be.

It’s a 100% adaptable, personalized plan, and I think it’s going to really fill in the gaps for being able to take all the stuff that you learn about the gut and apply it to yourself in an efficient and effective plan. So, again, until February 2nd, the book is on presale for our audience only. Go over to DrRuscio.com/GetGutBook, and pick up your copy today. Thanks!

So, when we zoom way out, what does all this mean? Well, this is an interesting herb that may have a place in thyroid care for either hypothyroidism or for thyroid autoimmunity. And I’m certainly glad this study was published and I certainly hope there’s more research published on this herb. However, I wouldn’t rush out and put yourself on black cumin just yet.

There are other treatments for body composition that would certainly work better. Namely, there was one study that showed a low-carb, low-grain diet essentially led to a much higher level of weight loss and also a greater reduction in thyroid antibodies. Also, other compounds have been to shown to have a significant impact on those antibodies like selenium, vitamin D, CoQ10, and magnesium.

So, this is definitely something interesting, the study on black cumin here. However, it wouldn’t be my top choice for thyroid, at least not at this point. Certainly happy to keep an eye in the oven to see if anything else exciting is published. But for right now, I would say don’t rush out because you read a catchy headline saying that people lost weight and saw improved thyroid autoimmunity from black cumin. Because, technically, both those statements are true, but when you look at the details here, they’re really not significant or not even significant at all.

So, black cumin may have a place in the future for thyroid health. For right now, I would say it’s interesting, something to keep an eye on, but not necessarily something that you need to move on.

So, this is Dr. Ruscio, and I hope this information helps you get healthy and get back to your life. Thanks.

What do you think? I would like to hear your thoughts or experience with this.

  • Get help with hypothyroidism or thyroid autoimmunity.
  • Get your personalized plan for optimizing your gut health with my new book.
  • Healthcare providers looking to sharpen their clinical skills, check out the Future of Functional Medicine Review Clinical Newsletter.

Dr. Ruscio is your leading functional and integrative doctor specializing in gut related disorders such as SIBO, leaky gut, Celiac, IBS and in thyroid disorders such as hypothyroid and hyperthyroid. For more information on how to become a patient, please contact our office. Serving the San Francisco bay area and distance patients via phone and Skype.

Filed Under: Autoimmunity, Thyroid Disorders Tagged With: Anatomy, Autoimmune Antibodies, Autoimmunity, Black Caraway, Black Sesame, Endocrine System, Hashimoto's Thyroiditis, Healthcare Providers, Hyperthyroidism, Hypothyroidism, Improve Thyroid, Michael Ruscio, Rtt, thyroid, Thyroid Autoimmune, Thyroid Care, Thyroid Disease, Thyroid Disease In Pregnancy, Thyroid Functions, Thyroid Health, Thyroid Tissue, Thyroids

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Comments

  1. Baryaley says

    January 24, 2018 at 9:08 PM

    Hi sir good morning,
    Thanks a lot for your valuable guidance. sir my wife is suffering from thyroid disorder because of which she has low appetite, cold sensitivity, dry skin, puffy face, anemia and weight gain problems. Sir can you please suggest me what to do to overcome these problems.

    Reply
    • Dr. Ruscio says

      January 25, 2018 at 8:05 PM

      Hi,
      There is far more to this answer than I can provide here. I would find a good clinician or contact my office for a phone/Skype visit. Happy to help however I can.

      Reply
      • Kish says

        June 22, 2018 at 7:18 AM

        I have the same problem as above, and am not in the US. How an I seem your help?

        Reply
        • Kish says

          June 22, 2018 at 7:20 AM

          Sorry red as
          How can I seek your help?

          Reply
        • Dr. Ruscio says

          June 26, 2018 at 11:40 PM

          My book, Healthy Gut Healthy You, is a terrific place to start. It’s the best gut health plan I could offer you.

          Reply
  2. Deanna says

    July 10, 2018 at 3:01 AM

    Hi, I just wanted to say that I take my bottle of extra strength Black Seed bottle and put the closed bottle in hot tap water for half an hour and it tends to activate something in the black seed oil. I was on .250 synthroid and now 100 is too much. I am not sure if it will cure it, but I do know that if I stop taking the black seed oil my thyroid meds go back up to 250. will this eventually lead to hyperthyroidism if I keep taking the black seed oil?

    Reply
  3. Yolanda Carr says

    February 15, 2019 at 7:12 PM

    I have hypothyroidism I have dry skin, insomnia and many more affects of it. I also have periodontal disease because of this disease. Can you help me

    Reply
    • Drew, CNC (Ruscio Institute Team) says

      February 15, 2019 at 8:46 PM

      Hi Yolanda,

      I’m sorry to hear you’re not feeling well. I would suggest looking through the thyroid contents of this website and there’s some helpful information: https://drruscio.com/thyroid-disorders/

      If you’d like to become a patient, you can apply to do so here: https://www.drruscio.com/gethelp

      Good luck!

      Reply
  4. Yolanda Carr says

    February 15, 2019 at 7:18 PM

    Lately I am always tired and weak. I take levthyroxine100mg. This problem affects your whole body including your pituitary gland and hypothalamus gland in the body.

    Reply

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