Cuminum, Cumin

Sweta Jiraka (Ayurveda)
Zeera Safaid (Unani)
Zi ra dkar po  ཟི་ར་དཀར་པོ  (Tibetan)

Della Materia Medicinale, Andrea Valuassori, 1562

Krauterbuch, Lonitzer, 1578

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Botanical name:
Cuminum cyminum

Parts used:
Seed

Temperature & Taste:
Very Warm, dry. Pungent
attenuates, digests, dissolves, discusses Wind

Classifications:
2C INCIDERS.    2D ATTENUATERS OF CONGEALED BLOOD.    2H. CARMINATIVE.    2Q. ANODYNE
3C. ALEXIPHARMIC.    3F. LITHONTRIPTIC.    3H. LACTAGOGUE.    4e. STOMACHIC.    4f. SPLENETIC.    4g. HEPATIC

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Uses:
1. Warms the Stomach, Moves Qi:
-Wind, Colic, Bloating, Tympanites (Edema with wind)
-Food Stagnation
-Malabsorption
-used to aid slimming

2. Warms the Lungs, clears Phlegm, stops Cough:
-common Cold, hoarseness
-Cough, Asthma, shortness of Breath, Pleurisy (Electuary with Honey or boiled in wine with Figs)
-"According to Galen its oral intake with vinegar and water is useful in Dyspnea" (Avicenna)
-"useful for treating Breathlessness" (Avicenna)

3. Settles Wind, Benefits the Head:
-Headache, Migraine, Dizziness, Vertigo etc. (Salmon)
-Insomnia, Amnesia (taken with Honey)
-"The extract of wild cumin improves eye-sight" (Avicenna)
-Cold Palpitation (Avicenna)

4. Warms the Kidney, Clears Damp, Promotes Urine:
-Edema, Renal Colic, urinary complaints including Incontinence
-Arthritis, Gout
-Gonorrhea
-Regarded as Aphrodisiac

5. Benefits in Pregnancy, Promotes Milk:
-taken throughout Pregnancy to aid Fetal development, relieve Morning Sickness and promote easier Childbirth (Ayurveda)
-promotes Milk postpartum
-it has developed a reputation to increase Breast size

6. Moves the Blood, Promotes Menstruation:
-Amenorrhea, Dysmennorhea
-large doses promote Miscarriage
-also for Blood stagnation, Bruising

7. Resists Poison:
-Slow, Persistent Fevers (Ayurveda)
-Snake bite (decocted in wine)
-topically for Scorpion bites (Ayurveda)
-Insect Bites (Avicenna)

8. Externally:
-a plaster (made with wine and Barley meal) is applied to Stitches and pains of the Sides; also to the abdomen for Colic.
-applied topically to joint pain, as well as swellings of the Joints, Breast or Genitals
-applied as a paste to Boils and Scorpion stings in Ayurveda.
-Boiled in Wine and made into a poultice for Swellings of the Testicles caused by Wind or Water.
-Unani texts state it 'destroys' pterygium
-"Washing with it cleanses the face" (Avicenna)
-"Finely powdered cumin... heals the Wounds" (Avicenna)
-applied to Bruising and blood spots in or around the Eye (Avicenna)
-Scabies, Pterygium: "It is chewed with salt to enable it to get mixed up with saliva. In this form it is applied in cases of Scabies, Pterygium" (Avicenna)

Dose:
Powder: 500mg–3 grams
Decoction: 2–6 grams

Preparation:
... available in PRO version

Corrective:
... available in PRO version

Substitutes:
... available in PRO version

Main Combinations:
1. Cough, Asthma, shortness of Breath, Pleurisy, Cumin with ... available in PRO version
2. Hiccup, Cumin with ... available in PRO version
3. Indigestion, Colic, Food Stagnation, Cumin with ... available in PRO version
4. Indigestion, Bloating, Colic, Bowel Pain:
i. Cumin with ... available in PRO version
ii. Cumin with ... available in PRO version
ii. Cumin with ... available in PRO version
5. Loss of Appetite, Cumin with ... available in PRO version
6. Stomach Pain, Cumin with ... available in PRO version
7. Renal Colic, Cumin with ... available in PRO version
8. Gout, Cumin with ... available in PRO version
9. Hoarseness and Loss of Voice:
i. Cumin roasted with ... available in PRO version
ii. Cumin with ... available in PRO version
10. Vertigo:
i. Cumin with ... available in PRO version
ii. Cumin with ... available in PRO version
11. Aphrodisiac, Cumin taken with ... available in PRO version
12. To aid Fetal development, relieves Morning Sickness and promote easier Childbirth, Cumin ... available in PRO version

Major Formula
Carminative Decoction
Carminative Decoction (Pharm. Dogmaticum)
Lesser Cumin Composition (Galen)
Powder of Cumin Greater (Diacyminum) (Nicholas)
Electuary of Cumin (Diacyminum) (Mesue)
Powder of Cinnamon Compound (Mesue)
Powder for Loss of Appetite (Nicholas)
Electuary for Gastric Pain

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Cautions:
1. Avoid large doses during Pregnancy and not suitable for use in Heat-type bodies.
2. Not used in Hot or Bilious constitutions

Main Preparations used:
Distilled Water of the Seeds, Distilled Oil, Species Diacuminum