Dr. Weeks’ Comment: When I was a commercial fisherman off the coasts of Norway and Scotland in 1976, I had the time of my life (I love rough seas) but I also drank so little water while at sea that I got kidney stones and they HURT! Who do you know who gets kidney stone or has kidney challenges? Eat the anti-inflammatory seeds and you will be delighted
Phytother Res. 2019 May;33(5):1404-1412. doi: 10.1002/ptr.6331. Epub 2019 Mar 14.
Efficacy of black seed (Nigella sativa L.) on kidney stone dissolution: A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, clinical trial.
Ardakani Movaghati MR1, Yousefi M2, Saghebi SA3, Sadeghi Vazin M1, Iraji A4, Mosavat SH5.
Abstract
Preclinical studies have shown beneficial effects of black seed (Nigella sativa L.) in the prevention and treatment of renal stones. Hence, we designed a study to evaluate the renal-stone-dissolving efficacy of black seed. Sixty patients with renal stones were randomly enrolled in two arms of a randomized, triple-blind, placebo-controlled, clinical trial. The patients were treated by black seed capsules (500 mg) or placebo two times per day for 10 weeks. Patients were assessed in terms of size of renal stones by using sonography before and after intervention. In the black seed group, 44.4% of patients excreted their stones completely, and the size of the stones remained unchanged and decreased in 3.7% and 51.8% of patients, respectively. In contrast, in the placebo group, 15.3% of the patients excreted their stones completely, 11.5% had reduction in stone size, 15.3% had increase in stone size, and 57.6% had no change in their stone size. The difference in the mean size of renal stones after the study was significant between the two groups (p < 0.05). N. sativa L., as compared with placebo, is demonstrated to have significant positive effects on disappearance or reduction of size of kidney stones.