Written by Marcia J. Egles, MD. This study demonstrated that type 2 diabetic patients who supplemented with Cuminum cyminum significantly decreased their serum levels of insulin, FBS, glycosylated hemoglobin, and inflammatory indices of TNF-α and hsCRP and significantly increased their serum levels of adiponectin.
Cuminum cyminum or green cumin is a plant native to Egypt, the Mediterranean, Iran and India. It is a cooking spice as well as a medicinal with anti-oxidant properties 1. In a recent clinical trial of eight weeks duration, green cumin oil was shown to add benefit to the control of hyperglycemia in patients with type II diabetes mellitus 2. Most previous studies showing the anti-diabetic properties of cumin oil in diabetes mellitus have been conducted only in laboratory animals 3.
The study from Urmia University of Medical Sciences in Iran evaluated the effect of 50 and 100 mg daily oral doses of green cumin essential oil capsules on glycemic indices in patients with type II diabetes who were receiving standard medical care. The study assessed 395 diabetic patients to find 99 patients who met the study’s requirements. In general, the patients were healthy adults between the ages of 20 to 60 years old who had suboptimal glycemic control. To be eligible for the study, patients had to have fasting blood glucose levels of more than 126mg/dl but less than 200mg/dl on their usual oral diabetic medications. Those on insulin therapy were excluded. Those with other diseases, smokers, and pregnant women were excluded. The oil capsules used in the study were commercially prepared from Iranian green cumin seeds.
After stratification for age, gender and body weight, the 99 patients were randomly divided into three groups of 33 persons each. Blood samples were drawn at the start and at the conclusion of the 8 weeks. The first group of 33 received 50 mg of green cumin oil to be taken orally each day. The second group received 100mg of green cumin oil daily and the third group, the control, received a daily placebo capsule. All the patients were monitored during the study to check that they were maintaining their usual food consumption, medications and activity levels. Thirty from each group completed the study.
The study’s findings were both statistically (p values less than 0.05) and clinically significant. The FBS and the HgA1C in the placebo group held constant from the start to the end of the study. The mean of the FBS (fasting blood sugar), glycosylated hemoglobin (HgA1C), and the serum levels of insulin were significantly decreased in both treatment groups, but most notably at the 100mg dosage. For example, the mean FBS in the 100 mg group dropped from 170 mg/dl at the start to 114 mg/dl at the conclusion. Likewise, the HgA1C in the 100 mg group improved from 7.09% to 5.31%. The green cumin treatment groups also showed significantly reduced serum levels of inflammatory indicators such as TNF-alpha (tumor necrosis factor-alpha).
The researchers concluded that green cumin may be a clinically helpful addition to patients with type II diabetes. No adverse side-effects to cumin were reported in this study of otherwise healthy diabetics. One citation mentioned a coagulation activity of cumin in herbal medicine 1,2 which might potentially pose a concern for using cumin in those with bleeding disorders or on anti-coagulation treatments. No such patients were included in this study. Patients on insulin treatment were also not included in this study. The possibility of hypoglycemic reactions (glucose dangerously too low) for insulin combined with cumin was not investigated by this study.
Source: Jafari S, Sattari R, Ghavamzadeh Si. Evaluation the effect of 50 and 100 mg doses of Cuminum cyminum essential oil on glycemic indices, insulin resistance and serum inflammatory factors on patients with diabetes type II: A double-blind randomized placebo-controlled clinical trial. Journal of traditional and complementary medicine. 2017;7(3):332-338,
Copyright © 2017, Center for Food and Biomolecules, National Taiwan University. Production and hosting by Elsevier Taiwan LLC. This is an open access article under CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
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Posted October 26, 2018.
Marcia Egles, MD, graduated from Vanderbilt University School of Medicine in 1986. She completed her residency in Internal Medicine at St. Louis University Hospital. Dr. Egles is certified in Internal Medicine and is a member of the American College of Physicians. She resides in Avon, IN with her husband and two sons.
References:
- Thippeswamy N, Naidu KA. Antioxidant potency of cumin varieties—cumin, black cumin and bitter cumin—on antioxidant systems. European food research and technology. 2005;220(5-6):472-476.
- Jafari S, Sattari R, Ghavamzadeh Si. Evaluation the effect of 50 and 100 mg doses of Cuminum cyminum essential oil on glycemic indices, insulin resistance and serum inflammatory factors on patients with diabetes type II: A double-blind randomized placebo-controlled clinical trial. Journal of traditional and complementary medicine. 2017;7(3):332-338.
- Patil SB, Takalikar SS, Joglekar MM, Haldavnekar VS, Arvindekar AU. Insulinotropic and β-cell protective action of cuminaldehyde, cuminol and an inhibitor isolated from Cuminum cyminum in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats. British Journal of Nutrition. 2013;110(8):1434-1443.
