What is cumin good for? This Mediterranean spice relieves hypertension, reduces gas, prevents diabetes, and much more. Today, we’ll tell you all about how to take cumin and take advantage of all its properties.
To flavour, to add flavour, to transform a simple bite of vegetables into a fragrant and intense spoonful, that is the mission that cumin fulfills with great care. Whether it is cumin powder, ground cumin, cumin seeds or rustic cumin, cumin provides an unmistakable fragrance, soothes digestion, reduces diarrhea, prevents diabetes, and takes care of our heart. Widely used in the gastronomy of North Africa, the Middle East, and India, this spice with a Mediterranean flavour has much to offer our table.
Just as spices allow us to season our dishes to the rhythm of the world’s cuisines, cumin pampers us with its properties as we immerse ourselves in the most delicious specialties. Below, all about the benefits of cumin and its uses in the kitchen.
What is cumin and what is it used for?
Cumin ( Cuminum cyminum ) is a herbaceous plant belonging to the Apiaceae family, formerly classified as Umbelliferae, as are dill, parsley, coriander, and celery. What is cumin used for? It is used to season our food, it adds aroma and helps us improve our digestion, relieves gas and diarrhea, and prevents diabetes and hypertension.
A source of minerals and full of healthy properties, we can find ground cumin available in convenient jars in supermarkets and in bulk in specialty stores, where it is also common to find it whole or prepared to drink as an infusion.
Differences between cumin and black cumin
Regarding the types of cumin that exist, there are three that share a name, although with a different surname. These are cumin or white cumin ( Cuminum cyminum ), bitter cumin ( Cuminum nigrum ), and black cumin ( Nigella sativa ).
Bitter cumin, also known as Kashmiri jeera, is one of the least known. It belongs to the same botanical family as white cumin and is consumed mainly in Central Asia. It is widely used in Indian cuisine and on the Mughal table, although it does not have as many healing properties as white cumin or black cumin.
Cumin or white cumin is the most popular and accessible, brown in color, it is famous for its digestive properties and its contribution of minerals, it has a light citrus aroma and is widely used in Indian cuisine to season curries, vegetables, etc.
On the other hand, black cumin, despite sharing its name with white cumin, is a different botanical species that produces smaller seeds, black in colour and with a slightly more bitter taste than those of white cumin. This type of black cumin is one of the favourite spices on the Persian table for seasoning meats, yogurt-based sauces and flavouring pickles. Among the healing properties of black cumin oil, its diuretic, antioxidant, antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory power stands out. As for black cumin oil, it is used to care for the skin and hair thanks to its high content of vitamin E and in the last decade its potential anti-cancer property has been studied in depth, with special focus on the prevention of lung cancer and breast cancer.
Origin of cumin
The cumin plant is an annual herbaceous plant native to North Africa and the Mediterranean basin with a long medicinal tradition. India, Iran, Turkey, China, and Egypt, where the cumin plant grows, are the main exporting countries, although the Middle East grows it in large quantities for domestic use.
If you want to know how the cumin plant is grown, it is grown at temperatures of 20 to 30 °C, being able to develop in lower ranges with the possibility of a slower growth. It is a plant sensitive to excess humidity so it requires dry environments with controlled temperature. In countries like Iran the best time of the year to plant cumin is in December while in northern Argentina the growing season begins in May. For their part, Europe and the United States are the main importers of ground cumin and cumin seeds in the world.
Properties of cumin
Ground cumin is gluten-free, a great source of minerals, and rich in terpenes, flavonoids, and phenols that give it great antioxidant potential. In addition, cumin has antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory properties. Thus, consuming ground cumin helps us take care of our body, keep our tissues younger, lighten our digestion, prevent diabetes, and take care of our heart. All of these are benefits that we can enjoy by adding ground cumin to our meals, using a few drops of the essential oil extracted from cumin, or drinking cumin infusion.
Nutritional values of cumin
Cumin or white cumin is exceptionally rich in iron and calcium. It is also a source of other minerals such as magnesium, potassium and phosphorus and is low in sodium. Its contribution in calories, carbohydrates and fats is interesting, although they remain in the background when used in small proportions for cooking.
- Energy : 419 kcal
- Carbohydrates : 45.4 g
- Fats : 18.2 g
- Proteins : 17.8 g
- Fiber : 10.5 g
- Iron : 66.35 mg
- Calcium : 931 mg
- Magnesium : 356 mg
- Potassium : 1788 mg
- Phosphorus : 499 mg
- Sodium : 168 mg
Specifically, in a single tablespoon of cumin we find 36% of iron, 7% of calcium and 11% of magnesium of the recommended daily amount, as well as up to 7% of phosphorus and only 0.7% of sodium, making it a highly recommended condiment in cases of hypertension.
Benefits of cumin
What is cumin good for? It can relieve hypertension, reduce gas, improve digestion, prevent diabetes and osteoporosis, improve performance in sports, prevent infections and much more. Below are the 10 benefits of cumin that make it a very healthy spice to always have in your pantry.
Prevents anemia thanks to its high iron content
Cumin is the perfect addition to our meals if we are looking to prevent anemia. 100 g of cumin contains 368% of the recommended daily amount (RDA) of iron for women and up to 800% of the RDA for men. Thus, by adding just one tablespoon of ground cumin (10 g) to our meals we are ingesting between 30 and 60% of the recommended daily amount of iron. If we also add a good splash of lemon to our couscous with cumin we are ensuring that we absorb most of the iron.
Cumin is an ally against osteoporosis thanks to calcium
100 g of ground cumin contains 77% of the recommended daily calcium. This means that when we have a shakshuka-style egg breakfast with spices and a teaspoon of ground cumin, we are ensuring that we start the day with 7 or 10% of the calcium we need. With the added bonus of knowing that thanks to the vitamin D present in the eggs, we will absorb all the calcium perfectly. Another excuse to enjoy the table while taking care of our health.
Cumin is rich in phosphorus and magnesium: ideal for sports
Cumin contains up to 110% of the recommended daily magnesium and 70% of phosphorus. These two minerals are essential for the good health of our bones, which are constantly renewed along with the presence of calcium. Likewise, phosphorus and magnesium are two of the essential nutrients for good sports performance. Both are involved in the generation of energy from carbohydrates and the regulation of muscle contraction, two key factors for good sports performance. Thus, drinking a cumin infusion or chewing some seeds before doing sports can be a great idea to ensure a good workout.
Cumin, the ideal digestive and carminative
Cumin is the easiest and most natural digestive aid available to us. When we add cumin powder or cumin seeds to our dishes, we are helping to stimulate the secretion of pancreatic enzymes such as amylase or trypsin, which are responsible for digesting carbohydrates and proteins at top speed. This extra help makes our digestion easier and contributes to reducing gas.
Cumin to prevent and fight infections
Cumin contains cumin aldehyde, an organic compound with great antimicrobial power capable of eradicating different types of bacteria, fungi and yeasts. This component gives ground cumin and cumin essential oil their antibacterial character and protects us against potential digestive infections.
Cumin to increase breast milk production
It has recently been shown that administering a few drops of cumin extract three times a day for a month to lactating women significantly increases breast milk production. Although more research is still needed, and it is important to consider this possibility only under medical supervision, cumin may be a helpful spice for improving breast milk production.
Cumin to prevent diabetes
Cumin powder and cumin seeds reduce blood glucose levels both before and after eating. This is one of the best-known benefits of this earthy spice, as it helps prevent hyperglycemia and helps prevent the development of diabetes.
Cumin as an anti-inflammatory
We were talking about the virtues of cumin aldehyde to fight infections and we are going back to it to talk about its potential anti-inflammatory virtue. This volatile compound, responsible for the aroma of cumin, is found in high quantities in the essential oil, which has been shown in studies carried out with rats to have a potential anti-inflammatory effect. This suggests that cumin could be a potential anti-inflammatory ingredient.
With cumin, goodbye to diarrhea
Cumin seeds and cumin infusion are known to help treat traveler’s diarrhea. The digestive properties of cumin, known since ancient times, are confirmed in the laboratory, where the consumption of cumin seeds has managed to reduce the frequency of diarrhea and the amount of intestinal secretion, alleviating not only intestinal discomfort but also the uncomfortable and exhausting dehydration that results from diarrhea.
Cumin to control hypertension
Cumin may be an interesting condiment in a diet to lower hypertension due to its low sodium content. Even so, it is good to remember that to date, most studies showing the hypotensive effect of cumin have been carried out with black cumin (Nigella sativa ) as well as with the aqueous extract of white cumin in studies with rats. Therefore, although we cannot yet state categorically that the consumption of cumin powder can reduce hypertension, everything points to the fact that it can prevent it.
Contraindications of cumin
Cumin has some contraindications. It is not recommended for people with allergies to other spices from the Apiaceae family, such as dill or parsley, due to possible cross-allergy. It is also not recommended for use by diabetics, pregnant or lactating women, without medical supervision, especially when it comes to essential oils that have a higher concentration of active ingredients.
Cumin use in cooking
Ground and whole cumin are used to prepare all kinds of curries, to season potatoes, jeera aloo, and rice, to flavour chicken dishes and are an essential part of the spice mix in curry powder. They also flavour bread and are used in cooking to make infusions and cold drinks with pepper and lemon.
How to take cumin
Cumin powder or seed is as easy to take as adding it to slightly warm oil in a pan. In this way we create an aromatic and delicious paste that will envelop our vegetables. As for black cumin, the benefits of black cumin oil relieve bronchitis, asthma, fever and gastrointestinal problems and today we can consume it in capsule form twice a day, always under the supervision of our family doctor.
The possible side effects of taking black cumin oil are similar to those of white cumin, in addition to the possible sedative effect, for this reason it is contraindicated in people with diabetes, pregnant women and lactating women.
Recipes with cumin
Cumin is a basic condiment for hummus and chicken shawarma. In Latin America, cumin powder gives flavour to Bolivian empanadas salteñas and Mexican tacos al pastor, while in India, no curry is complete without cumin. Other peninsular recipes that have adopted cumin are gurullos, a typical Andalusian pasta dish, and alboronía, a spiced ratatouille also from Andalusia. The best recipes with cumin show us that the potential of this spice full of properties is almost infinite.