Can black seed powder, organic honey, lemon cure cancer?

HYDERABAD: Social media users are claiming that black seed powder, organic honey, and organic lemon can potentially cure cancer.

In the viral video, a man can be seen claiming that both black seed powder and oil could be effective on cancer if taken along with organic honey or organic lemon every day.

The man also claims that by consuming or applying these ingredients, one can get rid of cancer within a couple of months.

The video has been titled 'cure your cancer naturally'.

Fact Check

NewsMeter found the claim to be false.

National Cancer Institute defines cancer as a disease in which some of the body’s cells grow uncontrollably and spread to other parts of the body. Normally, human cells grow and multiply (through a process called cell division) to form new cells as the body needs them. When cells grow old or become damaged, they die, and new cells take their place.

What is the Black Seed the man is referring to?

A study defines Black seed (Kalonji) as Nigella sativa which is an annual herbaceous plant native to South West Asia and cultivated and naturalized in Europe and North Africa. In traditional medicine, N. sativa has been used in different forms to treat many diseases including asthma, hypertension, diabetes, inflammation, cough, bronchitis, headache, eczema, fever, dizziness, and influenza.

According to research, thymoquinone in black seed oil can influence programmed cell death in several types of cancer cells like brain cancer, leukemia, and breast cancer cells to an extent.

However, much of the research on the effects of black seed oil on cancer uses cells, so researchers do not yet know how effective the oil may be to treat cancer in people.

“Recent research reports conducted in Muslim countries have shown that N. sativa is very commonly used by cancer patients as a dietary supplement (DS) in complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) along with chemotherapy,” a study suggests.

Another study concludes: “More research works should be emphasized behind this because it is a safe and promising anticancer agent.”

“Also, the exact molecular mechanisms of thymoquinone and other components on different cancers should be investigated with more emphasis because current understandings are mostly unclear,” it adds.

Through the above investigation, we found that there is no evidence backing the cancer-caring property of black seeds or black seed oil. It should be noted that more research is needed to conclude. Different types of cancer need particular treatment. The cancer stage plays a major role as well.

Although, black seeds can kill cancer cells to an extent, there is no evidence that they can cure cancer completely.