Black seed oil is an herbal ingredient extracted from seeds of the flowering plant Nigella Sativa. Also known as Nigella Sativa oil, black cumin, or Kalo jeera, the oil from these seeds has been used for its medicinal properties in Eastern cultures for generations.
Along with unsaturated fatty acids like linoleic acid, the key to black seed oil’s impressive benefits is mostly thanks to the chemical compound thymoquinone. “Most of its therapeutic properties are attributed to thymoquinone (TQ), a major active chemical component that possesses antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and hepatoprotective properties,” Krupa Koestline, clean cosmetic chemist and founder of KKT Consultants, explains. She also says the seeds have natural antimicrobial and antifungal properties.
Founder and lead formulator of JBK Wellness Labs Jenelle Kim, master herbologist and doctor of Chinese medicine, also notes that thymoquinone is an antihistamine, which has been “known to help promote new hair growth for thicker hair or regrowth in areas where hair may have been lost.”
With all these beneficial components, Koestline says that the oil was often used to treat a wide variety of health conditions such as bronchitis, asthma, rheumatism, hypertension, eczema, and influenza. Beyond this, though, black seed oil has also been used for thousands of years to promote hair growth. But does it actually work?
