Herb library · Spice · Sesamum indicum
Sesame
An ancient oilseed eaten as seeds, tahini and oil across Asia, Africa, the Middle East and the Americas. Controlled trials suggest modest effects on blood pressure and blood sugar. Sesame is also one of the nine major food allergens in the United States.
Traditional use
Sesame seed is sacred in Hindu ritual and its oil is the base of many medicated oils in Indian medicine. The Sushruta Samhita classes the seed as sweet, bitter and astringent, heat-making, good for the skin, teeth and hair, and ranks black sesame above white. Chinese records say a Han-dynasty general brought it from the West, and Chinese medicine counts the seeds as cooling and soothing. By the 1800s it was grown in Africa, the West Indies and the southern United States, where it was called benne and eaten as a food; doctors there used the oil as a mild laxative and a soothing application, and the leaves in a soothing drink. In 1756 Browne recorded that sesame (vanglo) was brought to Jamaica by its Jewish community, who made the seeds into cakes. In Nigeria, Holland (1915) records it as beni at Lagos and ridi in Hausa, grown as a native crop in black- and white-seeded kinds, the white for food oil.
Traditional energetics
Ayurveda
Taste (rasa): sweet, bitter and astringent; potency (virya): heating; after digestion (vipaka): sweet; in dosha theory it balances vata and may aggravate pitta. An English Translation of the Sushruta Samhita, vol. 1 (1907), Sutrasthanam, ch. XLVI, p. 476 (opens in a new tab)
Galenic (hot or cold, dry or moist)
Hot and moist. Hortus Jamaicensis (1814), vol. 2, p. 252 (opens in a new tab)
Chinese materia medica
Temperature: cool; flavor: sweet. Chinese Materia Medica: Vegetable Kingdom (1911), p. 404 (opens in a new tab)
What studies show
- Limited
Blood pressure: a 2017 review of 8 controlled trials (843 people) found that eating sesame lowered blood pressure. When only the 4 best-designed trials were counted, systolic pressure fell by about 3 points and the fall in diastolic pressure was not significant; the authors call for larger, better trials.
- Limited
Blood sugar in type 2 diabetes: a 2023 review of 8 trials (395 people) found lower fasting blood sugar and HbA1c with sesame, but not lower insulin, and results varied widely between studies. A 2025 review of 13 trials (521 people) also found lower HbA1c.
- Limited
Cholesterol: a 2016 review of 10 controlled trials found that sesame lowered triglycerides but not total, LDL or HDL cholesterol, and called the evidence for a cholesterol effect insufficient. A 2022 review of 7 small trials (212 people) of sesamin capsules, a concentrated sesame compound, found modest drops in total and LDL cholesterol and systolic blood pressure.
Be careful of
Cautions
- AllergySesame is one of the nine major food allergens in the US (FASTER Act, 2021). Since January 1, 2023, packaged foods and dietary supplements must declare it, even inside "spices" or "natural flavor". FDA says food allergies can range from hives to life-threatening anaphylaxis.
- AllergyLabels may still be missing it: FDA notes that products made before 2023 did not have to be relabeled, ingredients can change, and unpackaged foods such as bagels in a bin may not be labeled. Check the label every time and ask the maker or the store if you are unsure.
- AmountThe trials used sesame seeds, oil or sesamin capsules; the 2025 review found some effects at 10 g a day or less. Sesamin capsules concentrate one compound far beyond what food provides, and the trials lasted weeks, not years.
- InteractionIf you take medicine for diabetes or blood pressure, tell your clinician before adding sesame supplements: the trials found lower blood sugar and blood pressure.
- PregnancyNo pregnancy or breastfeeding safety information for sesame supplements was found in the sources used here. Sesame as food is widely eaten.
- Ask a clinicianTalk with a clinician or pharmacist before using this if you take prescription medicines, are pregnant or breastfeeding, or are giving it to a child.
From the old books
What herbals and dispensaries of the past printed. History, in their words.
“Tilam has a taste blended of the sweet and the bitter with a shade of the astringent. It is astrigent, heat-making, and produces Pittam. It is sweet of digestion, demulcent, tonic, and curative as a plaster for ulcers.”
“The cultivation in Tropical Africa is essentially native and comparatively easy. Two principal varieties are grown—“black seeded” and “white seeded”; the white may vary from pure white to pink or red; the oil from the black seed is more suitable for industrial purposes and that from the white for food.”
“These plants were introduced to Jamaica by the Jews, and are now cultivated in most parts of the island: the seeds are frequently used in broths, by many of our Europeans; but the Jews make 'em chiefly into cakes.”
Sources
- Food Allergies — FDA (opens in a new tab) · FDA · read September 25, 2026
- Allergic to Sesame? Food Labels Now Must List Sesame as an Allergen — FDA Consumer Update (opens in a new tab) · FDA · read September 25, 2026
- Can sesame consumption improve blood pressure? A systematic review and meta-analysis of controlled trials (J Sci Food Agric, 2017) — PubMed record (opens in a new tab) · NIH · read September 25, 2026
- Effect of sesame consumption on glycemic control in patients with type 2 diabetes: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (Phytother Res, 2023) — PubMed record (opens in a new tab) · NIH · read September 25, 2026
- Clinical evidence of sesame products and its bioactive compounds on cardiovascular risk factors in humans: a GRADE-assessed systematic review and dose-response meta-analysis (Nutr Metab, 2025) — PubMed record (opens in a new tab) · NIH · read September 25, 2026
- Sesame fractions and lipid profiles: a systematic review and meta-analysis of controlled trials (Br J Nutr, 2016) — PubMed record (opens in a new tab) · NIH · read September 25, 2026
- The effects of sesamin supplementation on obesity, blood pressure, and lipid profile: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (Front Endocrinol, 2022) — PubMed record (opens in a new tab) · NIH · read September 25, 2026
Reviewed September 25, 2026.