An Australian-first study from the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) showed that "Nigella Seed Oil supplementation was associated with faster recovery of symptoms than usual care alone for patients with mild COVID-19 infection."

In addition, the UTS study showed that "there is growing evidence from modelling studies that thymoquinone, an active ingredient of Nigella Sativa… can stick to the COVID- 19 virus spike protein and stop the virus from causing a lung infection." 

If you’d like to read more about the study, it’s summarised here and available in full here.

Our Hero Ingredient – Black Seeds

In case you weren’t aware, the Hero Ingredient for all Oasis Black products are the very Nigella Sativa seeds discussed in the UTS study - aka BLACK SEEDS. Either Black Seed oil (cold pressed, virgin, and certified organic of course) or powdered organic Black Seeds, are featured in every single Oasis Black product.

Naturally I was thrilled when I heard about the UTS study. I've been praising (and preaching) the miracles these tiny little Black Seeds can offer since I first discovered them in Morocco...

There's a good reason why I chose them as the Hero Ingredient for all my formulations.

Digging Deeper

The UTS study also discusses the current known barriers to pharmaceutical development of thymoquinone (TQ), and suggests looking into transdermal delivery (i.e. through the skin) as an option to overcome these limitations.

We know that the skin is porous and that many substances applied to it can be absorbed into the bloodstream – which is why transdermal patches like Nicotine patches work so well.

And, other studies have shown that Black Seed Oil offers enhanced percutaneous absorption properties. Meaning that Black Seed Oil is able to deeply penetrate the skin and deliver nutrients (as well as other substances) deep within the skin tissue and hence, bloodstream.

So, to me, focusing on transdermal application as the ideal delivery method for TQ (and Black Seeds’ many other amazing properties) just makes sense.

The Entourage Effect

But TQ alone shouldn’t receive all the attention when it comes to Black Seeds.

Much like the Entourage Effect associated with Cannabis, I believe that there’s a good reason as to why Mother Nature combines certain compounds in the same seed/plant – they work better together than they do separately.

So instead of singling out the individual TQ compound, which could make it unstable and ineffective on its own (and possibly the cause of the limitations cited in the UTS study), I believe we should be focusing on utilising the stable, ‘whole seed’ form of Nigella Sativa instead – i.e. the minimally processed and organic, cold pressed seed oil and/or powdered seeds.

Naturally, this is exactly the methodology I employ in my product formulations – I focus on using only minimally processed, organic, cold pressed oil and/or powdered seeds to deliver the maximum benefits to your skin, in the most stable version possible.

I am thrilled to see that through studies like the above, that a natural product and traditional remedy like Black Seeds may be finally getting the recognition they deserve.

I look forward to, and welcome, further studies into the effectiveness of topically applied Black Seed Oil (and Oasis Black products) against COVID-19 as well as other diseases.