A daily dose of 2 g ground Nigella sativa seeds can raise men’s testosterone levels by thirty percent. Researchers at the University of Tikrit in Iraq discovered this when they gave men 2 g Nigella sativa every day for three months.
Study
In countries like Iraq many people don’t have enough money for medicines such as clomiphene, HMG or testosterone, so scientists are looking seriously at the effect of local herbs and extracts on hormone disturbances. The Iraqi study, which was published in 2013 in the Tikrit Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences, is one of these studies.
The researchers did an experiment with 40 married men aged 18-40 who were unable to have children, and whose sperm quantity and quality doctors had already declared suboptimal. Half of the men were given a placebo for three months; the other half was given 2 capsules twice a day, each of which contained 500 mg Nigella sativa.
Results
The amount and quality of the sperm of the men who had taken a placebo did not change significantly. Among the men who were given Nigella sativa, both quantity and quality of their sperm increased, as the table below shows.
The concentration of the hormone FSH rose by 47 percent and that of LH by 33 percent in the blood of the men in the Nigella sativa group. These hormones stimulate the production of sperm and testosterone in the testes. The Nigella sativa supplementation raised the men’s testosterone level by 29 percent.
Conclusion
“From the present study, we conclude that there is a significant increase in testosterone level after treatment with Nigella sativa, which may be attributed to somehow enhancing FSH and LH release, which leads to improvement in all semen parameters”, the Iraqi researchers wrote. “The present study recommends the use of Nigella sativa as a single treatment for male infertility or complementary with another fertility therapy.”
The use of Nigella sativa as a single agent in treatment of male infertility
Abstract
Infertility is a condition defined by the failure of the wife to achieve a successful pregnancy after 12 months or more of regular unprotected intercourse. About 1 in 7 couples have problems conceiving, with a similar incidence worldwide. Over 80% of couples who have regular sexual intercourse and do not use contraception will achieve a pregnancy within one year. The aim of this was to investigate the effect of Nigella sativa on male infertility. This study is a case control longitudinal clinical study. It was conducted on 55 infertile men with age range from 18-40 years from December 2011 to December 2012. The patients included were those who attended the clinics of specialist urologist, who are complaining of infertility with low sperm count or quality. Forty patients from the total 55 patients (15 patients withdraw from the study for many reasons) who were complete the whole treatment trial were included in this study. 40 infertile men were treated with N. sativa Capsule 2g per day. Semen parameters, serum Follicle stimulating hormone (FSH), Luteinizing hormone (LH) and testosterone were measured before and after 3 months of treatment with N. sativa. Sperm count was significantly increased after 3 months of treatment with N. sativa. The percentage of actively moving sperms was significantly increased after 3 months of treatment with N sativa. The semen volume was significantly increased after 3 months of treatment with N sativa. The sperms viability was significantly increased after 3 months of treatment with N. sativa. Sperms normal morphology was significantly increased after 3 months of treatment with N. sativa. Serum FSH, LH and testosterone levels were significantly increased after 3 months of treatment with N. sativa. These results supported by many studies published that explained and concluded the effect of N. sativa on semen quality. The present study conclude that N. sativa can be used as a single agent for treatment of male infertility.
