Thermal nature: neutral.
Flavor: sweet.
Healing properties:
- Tonifies the yin fluids and blood,
- Strengthen the liver and kidneys,
- Has general demulcent properties-lubricates the intestines and the five yin organs (heart, liver, kidney, spleen-pancreas, and lungs),
- Act as general tonic.
Conditions: Used to relieve rheumatism (reduces wind obstruction), constipation, dry cough, blurry vision, ringing in the ears, blood in urine, low backache, weak knees, stiff joints, nervous spasm, headache, insufficient mother’s milk, and dizziness, numbness, or paralysis caused by deficient blood or yin. Also useful to darken prematurely gray hair. Very helpful in conditions of the elderly as well as chronic wasting diseases where constipation and deficient body fluids exist. In India used as a special food for the cool, damp season.
Avoid in cases of deficient spleen-pancreas marked by diarrhea watery stools.
Note: Common tan sesame seeds exhibit the same properties as black seeds but are milder-acting.
Sesame seeds should be ground up before eating or cooking to make them more digestible. They become even more digestible with soaking overnight then lightly pan-roasting before grinding.This helps to reduce the effects of their substantial oxalic acid content, which ties up calcium and other minerals.
“Sesame butter” sold in stores is whole sesame seeds milled into a butter.
“Sesame tahini” is made of sesame seeds with their hulls removed before milling.
Thus tahini, a refined food to avoid, lacks fiber, many minerals and metabolic cofactors necessary for complete digestion. In our clinical experience, tahini contributes to liver stagnancy issues along with attendant emotional imbalances, namely, anger, depression, and irritability.
