Health Benefits of Jeera (Cumin)

About Jeera (Cumin)

Jeera/Cumin (belongs to the Apiaceae family) seeds are very famous for their medicinal benefits having spicy flavour and slightly bitter taste. It has a strong phytochemical compound called as the cuminaldehyde (4-isopropylbenzaldehyde) which gives it a pungent aroma as well as the hot and spicy taste. Generally, in India it is used to fry the soups, curries, sauces and etc to get the aromatic and yummy taste.

It has lots of pharmacological effects on the human body health because of its medicinal properties including anti-tumour, anti-diabetic, anti-epileptic, Immunologic, antimicrobial and etc activities. In the southern regions (Kerala and Tamil Nadu) of the India, drinking jeera water regularly for the medicinal purposes is very famous. They say that jeera works as the medicine, spice and food which are used in many home remedies.

Jeera (Cumin)

Benefits of Jeera (Cumin)

Rehydrate Body

• Drinking luke warm jeera water is considered as to rehydrate the human body and keep refresh all the time.

Promote Digestive System Functioning

• It helps in improving the saliva secretion, enhancing appetite and relieving the digestive disorders.

Effective Remedy for Many Problems

• It also provides relief from the chills, reduce swellings, relieve breathing difficulties, regulate bowel movements, relief joint infections, treat umbilical hernia, treat intestinal diseases, eyes problems and toothache.

Reduces Baby Crying

• It helps to get rid from the constant crying in the children.

Improves Milk Production in Mothers

• Eating cumin seeds in food and drink its water improves the breast feeding in the lactating mother.

Maintains Blood Sugar Level

• It manages the proper blood content in the body and lowers the blood sugar level in the blood.

Treats Anemia

• Because of its richness in the iron content, it helps in treating the anemia by maintaining the haemoglobin content of the blood.

Keeps Body Fresh

• It increases the blood haemoglobin level thus enhances the oxygen carrying capacity of the cells throughout the body.

Treats Asthma

• Jeera/Cumin seeds act as a good bronchodilator and have a compound called Thymoquinone which helps in reducing the inflammations and treating asthma.

Boosts Immunity System

• It is a very good anti-oxidant spice which fights with the free radicals in the body and enhances the body immunity to better fights with all the infections.

Promotes Healthy Menstruation

• It is very beneficial for the women of all age group as it helps in maintaining the healthy menstrual cycle.

Prevents from Cancer

• It is very effective against the cancer and prevents from the colon, stomach, liver and breast cancer as it contains the variety of anti-carcinogenic agents such as thymol, dithymoquinone, thymoquinone, thymohydroquinone and anti-oxidants like eugenol and limonene.

Cures Respiratory Problems

• Jeera seeds are rich in the Vitamin C and have anti fungal properties thus aids in curing the cold including other respiratory problems.

It Regularizes Metabolism Process

• It also helps in maintaining the kidney health and metabolism process.

Prevents from Digestive Disorders

• Starting every morning with a glass of jeera water helps to fight with the various disorders such as morning sickness, diarrhoea, flatulence, nausea, dyspepsia, mal-absorption syndrome as it helps in stimulating the secretion of enzymes which breaks the carbohydrate, glucose and fat.

Beneficial for Major Organs

• Drinking jeera water is very advantageous for the major organs like liver, stomach and kidney.

Prevents from Acidity

• Soak a tsf of jeera in a glass of water for the entire night and drink it in morning, it facilitates the bile production by the liver which relieves from the bloating, acidity, abdominal gas and etc.

Clears Respiratory Passage

• Jeera water clears up the respiratory passage by diluting all the collected mucous in chest. It acts as an antiseptic which kills the microorganisms and prevents from the cold, cough and fever.

Treats Sleeping Disorder

• Regular intake of jeera water helps in treating the sleep disorder and enhances the sound sleep.

Soothes Sore Throat

• Taking jeera water with some ginger soothes the sore throat.

Effective for Whole Body

• It is rich in the flavonoid phenolic anti-oxidants like zea-xanthin, carotenes and lutein which have lots of beneficial effects on the body.

Improves Memory Power

• It enhances the brainpower and sharpens the memory and intelligence.

Keeps Major Body Systems Healthy

• It maintains the health of the digestive tract and excretory system.

Prevents from Pile

• It speeds up the digestive processes and reduces the risk of piles.

Keeps Blood Pressure Normal

• Potassium content available in the jeera maintains the blood pressure and heart rate thus prevents from the hypertension.

Treats Diarrhea

• Taking roasted cumin seeds powder with dahi or lassi helps in treating diarrhea or dysentery problems.

Benefits of Jeera for Breast Feeding (Lactating) Women

Enhances Breast Milk Production

• Eating roasted jeera seeds into ghee with dal or adding it to the laddoo or halwa helps in enhancing the breast milk production during lactation.

Benefits of Jeera Powder

Promotes Fast Wounds Healing

• Powdered cumin is a very good laxative and has anti fungal and anti microbial properties, thus enhances the wounds healing process.

Effective for Many Problems

• Using roasted jeera/cumin powder in the recipe helps in treating the diarrhoea, support the stomach muscles, remove intestinal gas problems, enhance urination as well as increase the sexual desire.

Benefits of Jeera Water

Jeera water has lots of health benefits which includes the following:

Benefits of Jeera Water during Pregnancy

Increases Hemoglobin Count

• Jeera is very in the iron which is very good for the pregnant and lactating women.

Reduces Risk of Birth Defects

• It prevents the fetus from various birth defects.

Promotes Milk Secretion

• Roasted cumin seeds enhance the milk secretion in breastfeeding mothers.

Benefits of Jeera Water for Skin

Removes Toxin

• Jeera seeds are full of dietary fibres which remove the toxic materials in the body and cleanse the skin to make it clean, fresh and rejuvenate.

Provides Natural Glow to Skin

• It makes the facial skin naturally glowing and healthy.

Provides Nourishment to Skin

• It boosts up the skin functioning and enhances its ability to absorb more essential nutrients to be nourished and healthy.

Makes Skin Smooth

• It has necessary minerals (potassium, calcium, selenium, copper, manganese) playing vital role in keeping the skin supple, soft and smooth.

Provides Essential Vitamins

• Regular intake of the jeera water in the morning provides enough vitamins (vitamin A, C and E) to the body which nourishes the skin.

Prevents from Ageing

• It replenishes the skin and prevents from getting wrinkled thus aids in preventing the premature ageing.

Keeps Skin Free of Spots

• It acts as a natural remedy to remove acne problem. Applying boiled jeera water regularly on the skin makes it toned, clear and acne-free.

Relieves Skin Inflammation

• It soothes the skin by relieving the burning sensation of the skin.

Benefits of Jeera Water for Hair

Promotes Hair Health

• Jeera water nourishes the hair follicles and makes it long, flawless, shiny and strong because of its vitamins and minerals contents.

Makes Hair Shiny

• It nourishes the hair by the root and makes it silky and lustrous.

Benefits of Jeera Water for Weight Loss

Maintains Healthy Weight

• It slightly aids in the strategy of the weight management as it stimulates the appetite, removes toxins from the body and treats various digestive disorders including gas and bloating problems.

Benefits of Jeera Water for Men

Maintains Sexual Health

• Drinking jeera water or tea in the morning (empty stomach) improves the sexual health in the men, enhances the sperm production, controls the heart rate and blood pressure.

Treats Sexual Problems

• It also helps in treating the erectile dysfunction, low sperm count, premature ejaculation and sperm virility.

Benefits of Cumin Seeds Oil

• Cumin seeds oil extract works as a good stimulant, carminative, anti-oxidant and diuretic.

Removes Dandruff

• It is greatly used for purposes of aroma therapy, massage and scalp treatment to get rid of dandruff.

Nutritional Benefits of Jeera/Cumin Seeds per 100 g

(Source: USDA Nutrient database)

Energy: 375 Kcal

Dietary Fibres: 10.5 g

Carbohydrates: 44.24 g

Protein: 17.8 g

Fat: 22.27g

Vitamins

Thiamine (B1): 0.628 mg

Riboflavin (B2): 0.32 mg

Pyridoxine (B6): 0.435 mg

Folates (B9): 10 µg

Niacin (B3): 4.58 mg

Vitamin A: 1270 IU

Vitamin C: 7.7 mg

Vitamin K: 5.4 µg

Vitamin E: 3.3 mg

Electrolytes

Sodium: 1788 mg

Potassium: 68 mg

Minerals

Calcium: 931 mg

Phosphorus: 499 mg

Magnesium: 366 mg

Copper: 0.867 mg

Manganese: 3.3 mg

Zinc: 4.8 mg

Iron: 66.36 mg

Phyto-nutrients

Carotene-ß: 762 µg

Lutein-zeaxanthin: 448 µg

Selection and Storage of Cumin Seeds

Buy fresh cumin/jeera seeds by selecting it for the market. Fresh and quality jeera has pleasant yet peppery flavour when pressed between fingers. Try to buy cumin seeds instead of powdered as it may have some contaminated spice mixtures. It can be stored in a dry, cool and dark place in the sealed container for a year.

Disadvantages and Side Effects of Jeera/Cumin

• Jeera has property to lower the blood sugar levels hence during or after the surgery it may interfere with the blood sugar control. Thus it should be avoided 2 weeks before going to the surgery.
• It should be avoided while going on medications for diabetes as it may interact with the cumin.

How Much Jeera Seeds You Should Eat Daily

Jeera seeds are most famous Indian spice and generally used as cooking purposes to prepare delicious dishes. However, it can be taken as jeera powder and jeera water according to the need of people in different stages of life. As it is a spice, so eating its small amount benefits a lot. Thus eating in large amount should be avoided as it may lead to some serious health condition. One small spoon full of jeera seed is good for a healthy and adult person however, if a person already suffers any health problem and want to add jeera water or powder in daily routine, he/she must consult to the doctor.