Health Benefits of Cumin Seeds or Jeera

Rajan is a botany and chemistry major. He has worked as a poultry breeder for 23 years, breeding layer and broiler parents.

Origin, Distribution And General Information

Latin name: Cuminum cyminum

Cumin seeds are called Jeera in India.

I will be using these words interchangeably, but in essence, both are the same.

Cumin plant is native to Egypt, the East Mediterranean and India and has been cultivated in the Middle East and China since thousands of years. Cumin grows in climates having a long and hot temperature of around 30 deg C (86 deg F).

The dried seeds of cumin plant, that is, cumin or jeera is used mainly as a spice in whole or ground form. Jeera is used in cuisines of many cultures, like Mexican, Spanish, North African, Middle Eastern and Asian.

Cumin seeds are roasted, most of the time, before using in Indian cuisine.

Cumin seeds resemble caraway seeds since they belong to the same family, but their flavours are different, cumin being more pungent of the two.

The Bible has reference to cumin having been used in the seasoning of soups and bread.
The Egyptians used jeera both as a spice and as one of the ingredients used to mummify the Pharaohs.

Ayurvedic medicine uses cumin or jeera to treat various health disorders.

Jeera or cumin seeds are actually the dried fruits of the cumin plant and each fruit contains a single seed.

Varieties Of Cumin Seeds

The commonly available cumin or jeera is actually 'white cumin' whose colour varies from tan to dark brown.

The other variety is the black cumin, also called 'shah jeera' or 'Kala jeera' in India.
The black variety has a more delicate flavour and is quite expensive.
Black jeera is added to some North Indian meat recipes.

In the West, black cumin is called nigella and is obtained from 2 different plants:

• Bunium persicum
• Nigella sativa

In India, the seed obtained from the plant Carum carvi is called black cumin, while in the West black cumin is the from the seed of the plant Nigella sativa.

I may point out here that the black cumin obtained from Nigella sativa is called Kalonji in India. Read about the health benefits of Kalonji in my linked hub. It is also a spice albeit a bit differently.

Uses Of Cumin Seeds

Jeera is used to season and spice many dishes using it ground in many cases and fry roasted in others.

It is used to flavour soups, stews, grills, meats and vegetables. Jeera rice is a very common food preparation in India. Dals and legumes are tempered with fry toasted jeera seeds

Worldwide, cumin is used in foods, beverages, liquors, medicines, toiletries and perfumeries.

Moroccan, Asian, Middle Eastern cuisines use jeera extensively.

Cumin is used in Dutch cheese like Leyden cheese and German, Munster cheese.

Traditional French bread use cumin. In German, Kummel liquor, cumin and caraway are used for imparting flavour.

Portuguese sausages are flavoured with cumin.

In India, roasted and ground cumin seeds are added to buttermilk to improve digestion and enhance flavour. Ground cumin is also used as a daily spice in cooking various Indian dishes. One such dish, potato & cumin curry, prepared with potatoes and whole cumin seeds, is shown in the video below.

Jeera Aloo Sabzi (Potato Cumin Curry)

How To Make Cumin Seed Powder

Dry roast the jeera seeds in a hot non-stick pan till they release their aroma. Leave them to cool and then grind finely.

Cumin Or Cumin Powder? Which is Better

• Powdered or ground cumin loses flavour quickly and has half the shelf life of cumin seeds.
• Ground cumin loses flavour and colour- the finer the grind, the faster the loss, in presence of heat and sunlight than cumin seeds.
• Ground cumin has more flavouring power than cumin seeds since grinding exposes more of the volatile oils.
• 1 tsp of ground cumin has about the same nutritional value as 1 tbsp of cumin seed.
• Ground cumin stays fresh for about 6 months while the whole seed keeps good for about a year.

Cumin Oil

Cumin Oil

Cumin oil is obtained from cumin seeds. It is a hot,pungent, spicy and penetrative smelling oil. The oil is extracted by steam distillation of the mature seeds.

Cumin oil mainly contains cuminic aldehyde, cymene, dipentene, limonene, phellandrene and pinene.

It also contains numerous phytochemicals, carotenes, zeaxanthin and lutein.

Cumin oil has antiseptic, antispasmodic, carminative, digestive, diuretic, bactericidal, antitoxic, nervine stimulating and tonic properties.

Uses Of Cumin Oil

Since cumin oil is warming it relieves muscular aches, pains and osteoarthritis. It corrects digestive problems like colic, indigestion, dyspepsia, gas and bloating.

Since it is a nervine tonic and stimulant, it benefits in headaches, migraine, and nervous exhaustion.

Nutrition In Cumin

Cumin or jeera is an excellent source of iron, a very good source of manganese and a good source of calcium, phosphorus, copper and magnesium.

1 tsp of cumin seed (2.1 gms) provides 8 calories, 0.2 gm fibre and less than 1% carbohydrates.

1 tbsp cumin seed provides 23 calories.

Nutrients and Their Levels In Cumin Seed

Health Benefits Of Cumin

• Cumin improves the appetite, benefits the digestive system in various digestive disorders like flatulence, indigestion, dyspepsia, diarrhoea etc.
• Cumin increases mother's milk and reduces pregnancy-associated nausea.
• Jeera is a stimulant helping in secretion of pancreatic enzymes needed to absorb nutrients from food.
• It strengthens the liver's detoxification power.
• Shows antiseptic properties thereby toning down the symptoms of cold, sore throat and relieves boils.
• It increases body heat, improves metabolism and is a tonic.
• Jeera has prevented tumour growth in stomach and liver in laboratory studies on animals and may provide anti-cancer benefits in humans.
• Jeera has a free-radical destroying ability. A poultice made of cumin relieves breast swelling.
• Cumin is carminative and anti spasmodic.
• Cumin or jeera corrects and balances the tri doshas in the body & makes it healthy.

Uses Of Cumin In Specific Health Conditions

In Bad Breath

Eat cumin after roasting for getting rid of bad breath.

In Bleeding Piles

Take 1 tsp of cumin, aniseed and coriander seeds. Add 200 ml of water and boil the seeds till about 100 ml water remains. Add 1 tsp desi ghee. Drink morning and evening. It stops bleeding. It is very beneficial in bleeding piles in pregnant women.

In Piles

Take cumin seeds and mishri (candy sugar), in equal quantities. Grind both together. Take 1 tsp of this with water 3 times a day.
Also, make a paste of ground cumin with water and apply. This helps to remove the swelling and pain.

In Painful Piles

Take 1 tsp jeera and 1/4 th tsp black peppercorns. Grind them. Add 30 ml honey to this and mix. 1 tsp of this mixture to be licked 3 times a day for relief.


Chronic Low-Level Fever, Intermittent Fever, Weakness during Fever, Diseases Of Women And To Increase Breast Milk

Grind cumin seeds. Add an equal quantity of jaggery and make pea-sized pills. Chew 2 pills 3 times a day and drink water after this.

It increases breast milk, reduces swelling of the uterus and vagina, controls leucorrhoea, the above mentioned febrile conditions and strengthens the uterus post-delivery.

In Malaria

Grind 1 tsp cumin seeds. Add 3 tsp jaggery and make 3 pills out of this. Just before the time fever normally comes, take 1 pill at a time at hourly intervals. Repeat this process for some days.

For Old Fevers

Take 1 gm ground cumin. Add the same quantity of jaggery. This is one dose. Take 3 times a day for some days.

Digestive Powder

• Take equal quantities cumin, dry ginger, long pepper and black peppercorns. Grind all of them together. Take 1 tsp of this after meals with water. It digests food faster.
• Boil 2 tsp cumin seeds in 250 ml water. Cool & strain. Take this 3 times a day in equally divided doses.

In Diarrhoea And Loose Motions

Roast cumin seeds and grind. Take 1/4 tsp if this with 1/2 tsp honey 4 times a day.
After meals take buttermilk to which roasted and ground cumin seeds and black salt have been added.

For Face Marks

Boil cumin seeds. Wash face with this water to clear the marks.

In Swollen & Painful Gums

Take roasted cumin and rock salt. Grind & sieve. Massage the gums with this and throw out the saliva that is formed.

In Itching & Body Heat

To bathwater add cumin seeds and boil. Cool and take bath with this water.

In Itching, Boils And Other Skin Diseases

Grind jeera seeds and mix hot water to make a paste. Apply this paste on the affected area.

In Renal Stone, Stoppage Of Urine And Swelling

Grind equal quantities of cumin seeds and sugar. Take 1 tsp of this with water 3 times a day.

In Gas, Stomachache, Excessive Burping, Indigestion, Colitis And Conjunctivitis

Roast cumin seeds and grind. Take 1 tsp of this with 1 tsp honey after meals daily.
Cumin is beneficial in stomach diseases.

For Those Who Have Regular Stomach Pain

Take cumin seeds with sugar after meals.

For Knots In Breasts Or Boils In Nursing Mothers

Make a paste of ground cumin seeds with water and apply on the affected breast.

For Nausea & Vomiting In Pregnancy

Juice 4 lemons. Strain the juice. Add 50 gms ground rock salt and mix well. Then add 125 gms whole cumin seeds to this and keep them soaked the entire lemon juice dries up and the cumin seeds too, dry up. Fill the dry cumin seeds in a bottle.
Chew 1/2 tsp of these cumin seeds, 3 times a day.

This stops nausea & vomiting in pregnancy.

To Increase Mother's Milk

Roast 125 gms cumin seeds in desi ghee. Add 125 gms ground candy sugar. to this. Consume 1 tsp of this mixture everyday in the morning and at night with milk.

• How to make Jeera Rice - Recipe and Preperation
  Jeera Rice also known as Zeera Pulao or Cumin Rice is a dish you can prepare easily with minimum efforts. You need to go to a restaurant to have it any more. You can prepare this at home. How to make Jeera Rice? Given is the recipe for making the sam
• The Benefits Of Cumin
  Origin and description of cumin Herbs and spices are used to enhance the flavor of your dishes, but did you know that many of them contain important nutritional benefits as well? Cumin is the seed of a small plant that grows in hot countries...
• How to Make Jeera Water
  Do you know that Jeera water made of Cumin seeds is a healthy beverage? Here's how to prepare such Jeera Water.

Some of my other hubs on Healthy Foods

• Some Amazing Benefits Of Chia Seeds
  Chia seeds, the wonder food, also called the Running Food
• Benefits Of Collard Greens
  Collard greens are the leaves of various cultivars of Brassica oleracea. Collard greens stand head over heels above other cruciferous vegetables in preventing a wide variety of cancers. To know the various health benefits of collard greens, read on..
• 6 Amazing Benefits Of Sesame Oil
  Sesame and sesame oil is a health food. sesame oil is much used in Ayurvedic medicines because of its many health giving properties. To know how you can benefit from using sesame oil, read on...
• Sesame (Til) Seeds Health Benefits
  Sesame, til or gingelly - the survivor plant, is the oldest known oilseed to us. Minute in size it may be but is big on health giving benefits. To know more, read on...

Disclaimer

The information provided in this hub is not a substitute for professional medical advice. Please consult your physician, or health care provider before taking any home remedies or supplements or embarking on a new health regime.

Using Cumin Seeds In Indian Cooking

This content is accurate and true to the best of the author’s knowledge and does not substitute for diagnosis, prognosis, treatment, prescription, and/or dietary advice from a licensed health professional. Drugs, supplements, and natural remedies may have dangerous side effects. If pregnant or nursing, consult with a qualified provider on an individual basis. Seek immediate help if you are experiencing a medical emergency.

© 2012 Rajan Singh Jolly

Comments

Rajan Singh Jolly (author) from From Mumbai, presently in Jalandhar, INDIA. on February 05, 2012:

CloudExplorer, thanks for leaving such encouraging comments. I wish you and your wife good health. I appreciate your taking out time to read and leave your valuable insights as well. Thanks for all the votes.

Mike Pugh from New York City on February 05, 2012:

Awesome info here, me & my wife are both on the road to a healthier life style, and this helps us to find more accurate resources on that quest.

Thanks for sharing your good & useful knowledge here, its vital that people get to know what affects certain healthy food may have on them.

Voted up on many levels.

JS Matthew from Massachusetts, USA on January 15, 2012:

Another useful and interesting Hub Rajan! I had never heard of Cumin Oil. Thanks for sharing. Voted up!

JSMatthew~

C.S.Alexis from NW Indiana on January 15, 2012:

Very complete article, loved it!

Rajan Singh Jolly (author) from From Mumbai, presently in Jalandhar, INDIA. on January 14, 2012:

@ Just Ask Susan - Hi. thanks for stopping by and I'm glad to read that you found the hub informative. Thanks for sharing your thoughts here.

Thanks for the vote and bookmark.

@ Arizona Sue - Hi. I appreciate your sparing time to read the hub and appreciating the effort.

Thank you.

Arizona Sue on January 14, 2012:

Wow, so informative! Thanks for your hard work and dedication to natural cures.

Susan Zutautas from Ontario, Canada on January 14, 2012:

I've been using cumin as a spice in cooking for years but never knew anything about it other than I like the taste and smell of it. Thank you so much for writing this hub as I've learned about all the benefits of cumin as well I never knew that there was cumin oil.

Voted up all the way and bookmarked.

Rajan Singh Jolly (author) from From Mumbai, presently in Jalandhar, INDIA. on January 13, 2012:

Hi Tina, Welcome again and thanks for taking out time to read and leave your valuable comments. Thanks for the vote up, bookmarking and so many appreciative words.

Christina Lornemark from Sweden on January 13, 2012:

I love this hub too! So complete, full of useful information and so useful in learning more about natural remedies. I had no idea cumin could be used for so many health conditions. I will bookmark this hub and use next time I need it

Thanks for sharing this, voted up, up

Tina

Rajan Singh Jolly (author) from From Mumbai, presently in Jalandhar, INDIA. on January 13, 2012:

Ruchira, it's always a pleasure to have you here and your comments are valued as always. Thanks for all the appreciation, bookmarking and encouraging words.

Ruchira from United States on January 13, 2012:

Hello Rajan,

An excellent hub. I am a big fan of jeera and have been using it in my cooking everyday. allow the jeera to splutter before i put in my onions/veg's to sauté. (that's how my mom taught me)

my bookmarks are all your hubs and this one is also going in that folder. natural remedies are so helpful instead of taking allopathic medicines.

Thankyou!