Immune Systems Advisor

Black seed oil has been used for its therapeutic benefits for thousands of years. Since the pandemic began, researchers have been evaluating the effect it may have on COVID-19. 1  The seeds come from the Nigella sativa (N. sativa) plant that grows in Southern Europe, Southwest Asia and the Middle East. 2  Traditional medicine healers have used the seeds in different forms. Black seed is coal-black with a dull surface and shaped like tiny Brazil nuts. The bioactive components include thymoquinone, α-hederin, alkaloids and omega-6 fatty acids. Black seed oil has also been used for dermatological applications. For example, a review of the literature in the Journal of Dermatology & Dermatologic Surgery 3  found black seed oil could promote wound healing in farm animals and reduce the impact of vitiligo in lizards. In one clinical study 4  in humans, lotion infused with 10% of N. sativa oil reduced acne vulgaris after two months with 67% of the patients fully satisfi...

Some doctors and media channels argue that there is very little evidence to support the use of dietary supplements to prevent or treat COVID-19.  This guide provides our recommendations for nutritional defense against COVID. This version covers more than 150 studies that represent the best of science-backed strategies for nutritional interventions in the prevention and treatment of COVID-19. The supposedly gold standard of evidence in medicine is the randomised, controlled trial, or RCT. In RCTs, people are randomly given a treatment, or not. However, RCTs are expensive and takes time to implement i.e. requiring a minimum number of patients for the RCT to be 'adequately powered'. The first published Randomized Controlled Trial in medicine appeared in 1948 ( wikipedia ).  In the 21st century, evidence of medicine comes in many forms: Randomised controlled studies (RCT) Real world observational clinic...