title: Effects ofNigella sativasupplementation on blood parameters and anthropometric indices in adults: A systematic review on clinical trials.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Nigella sativa(N. sativa) has been used in traditional medicine and several studies have been performed in the last decades to reveal the effects of it on different medical disorders such as diabetes, dyslipidemia, hypertension, and obesity. We evaluated the effects ofN. sativasupplementation on lipid profiles, glycemic control, blood pressure (BP), and some anthropometric indices in humans.
  
  
  METHODS
  A search on published studies was done by using databases including PubMed, Google Scholar, Thomas Reuters Web of Science, and Cochrane. Medical subject headings (MeSH) terms searched included "N. sativa," "Black seed," "Black cumin," "kalonji," and "Triglycerides," "Cholesterol," "Lipoproteins," "LDL," "Lipoproteins," "HDL," "Blood glucose," "Hemoglobin A," "Glycosylated," "Blood pressure," "Body mass index," "Waist circumference". Initially 515 articles were extracted. Four hundred ninety-two papers that were unrelated, reviews, animal studies, and combined and duplicated studies were excluded, 23 articles were eligible for this review.
  
  
  RESULTS
  After analyzing 23 articles including 1531 participants, these results were achieved: In 4 trials,N. sativareduced BP, but in 5 trials it could not. Fasting blood sugar (FBS) was reduced significantly in 13 studies. In addition,N. sativareduced levels of glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c). Although weight and waist circumference (WC) in 2 articles were reduced significantly, in 6 articles they were not. Fluctuation in lipid profile in the articles was very controversial, being significant in many of them but not in others.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our systematic review revealed thatN. sativasupplementation might be effective in glycemic control in humans.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Nutrition, Food Security Research Center, School of Nutrition and Food Science, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran.
authors.forename: Alireza
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mohtashami
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Nutrition, Food Security Research Center, School of Nutrition and Food Science, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran.
authors.forename: Mohammad Hasan
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Entezari
keywords: Anthropometric indice; Nigella sativa; glycemic control; lipid profile