Hei Zhi Ma
StarSesamum indicum L.
Traditionally used for
- Eye health
- Ears & hearing
- Bowel health
- Energy & fatigue
☯ TCM Properties
Nourishes Liver and Kidney Yin; Nourishes Essence and Blood; Moistens the Intestines and Unblocks the Bowels; Blackens the hair and benefits the eyes
Traditional Chinese Uses
Hei Zhi Ma (black sesame seed) is a mild, neutral-warm, food-grade tonic that nourishes Liver and Kidney to supplement Blood, replenish Jing, and moisten dryness. It is used for Liver-Kidney deficiency presenting with premature greying, hair loss, tinnitus, blurred vision, and lower back weakness, and its oily content relieves constipation from intestinal dryness. As a delicious food that doubles as a tonic, black sesame exemplifies the Chinese tradition of treating deficiency through everyday nourishment.
Western Herbalism Properties
Relationships
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Botanical Description
Sesamum indicum L. (Pedaliaceae) is an erect annual herb growing 50-100 cm tall, with opposite or alternate, lanceolate to ovate leaves and pubescent stems. Tubular, bell-shaped white to pale-pink flowers form in leaf axils and develop into elongate, four-angled capsules containing numerous small, flat, oval seeds in colors ranging from white and tan to brown and black. Cultivated since antiquity across Africa and Asia, sesame is one of the oldest oilseed crops, thriving in warm climates with well-drained soils. The seeds (Hei Zhi Ma when black) are pressed for oil or eaten whole and are highly valued in Chinese, Ayurvedic, and Western herbal traditions for their lubricating, nourishing qualities.
Active Constituents
Sesamin
Furofuran lignanConcentration: Reported across cultivars from roughly 0.05 to 11 mg per gram of seed, so from a trace to about 1% of seed weight depending on variety, seed colour, geography and analytical method
The dominant lignan of the seed and the compound most of the human trial evidence concerns. It activates PPAR-alpha, increasing fatty acid oxidation and reducing lipogenesis, and inhibits delta-5 desaturase, shifting fatty acid handling. Meta-analyses of sesamin supplementation report modest reductions in blood pressure and improvements in the lipid profile.
Sesamolin
Furofuran lignanConcentration: Generally 0.2 to 4.3 mg per gram of dried seed, usually lower than sesamin, although some Korean black cultivars invert that order
Structurally close to sesamin and the precursor from which sesamol is generated during roasting and oil refining. It shares the antioxidant and lipid-modulating activity of sesamin, and contributes to the oxidative stability of sesame oil.
Sesamol
Phenolic lignan derivativeConcentration: The least abundant of the three lignans in the intact seed; it is generated from sesamolin by heat during roasting and by bleaching-earth treatment during oil refining
A potent chain-breaking antioxidant and the reason roasted sesame oil resists rancidity. Its content in a product is largely a function of processing rather than of the seed itself.
Seed-coat polyphenols and anthocyanin-type pigments
Polyphenolic pigmentsConcentration: Concentrated in the black hull. Free phenolic lignan content of black cultivars was reported at 82.8 to 251.9 mg per kg against 29.3 to 53.8 mg per kg for white cultivars, an average roughly threefold difference
This is the material basis for the traditional preference for black over white sesame in Chinese medicine. The measured chemical difference between black and white seed sits mostly in the hull, so hulled or tahini-type products lose much of what distinguishes Hei Zhi Ma from ordinary sesame.
Fixed oil rich in oleic and linoleic acid
Triacylglycerols and unsaturated fatty acidsConcentration: The seed is roughly half oil by weight, dominated by oleic and linoleic acid in near-equal proportion
The lubricating oil load is the direct explanation of the classical function of moistening the intestines and unblocking the bowels. It also carries the lipophilic lignans and tocopherols.
gamma-Tocopherol
Tocopherol (vitamin E)Concentration: The principal tocopherol of sesame, in contrast to the alpha-tocopherol dominance of most seed oils
Antioxidant. Sesame lignans raise tissue gamma-tocopherol concentrations by inhibiting its degradation, so the seed's lignans and its vitamin E act together rather than independently.
Sesame seed storage proteins (2S albumins and oleosins)
Allergenic seed proteinsConcentration: A substantial fraction of the seed's roughly 18 to 25% protein
These are the clinically important allergens. Sesame allergy is frequently severe and frequently persistent, and since 1 January 2023 sesame has been the ninth major food allergen requiring plain-language declaration on United States food and dietary supplement labels under the FASTER Act.
Phytic acid
Inositol hexaphosphateConcentration: Present at the levels typical of oilseeds
Chelates divalent cations in the gut lumen, reducing the absorption of iron, zinc and calcium taken at the same time.
Calcium (largely as oxalate in the hull)
MineralConcentration: Unhulled sesame is among the calcium-densest common foods, but much of that calcium is bound as oxalate in the seed coat and poorly absorbed
The frequently quoted calcium content of unhulled sesame overstates what is bioavailable, because oxalate in the hull binds a large share of it. The oxalate load is also the reason to be cautious with large habitual intakes in people who form calcium oxalate kidney stones.
⚠ Drug Interactions
Any sesame-containing product given to a sesame-allergic patient
Sesame is a major food allergen with a population prevalence in the United States estimated at around 0.2%, roughly 1.5 million people, and reactions are often severe. It became the ninth United States major food allergen on 1 January 2023. Herbal prescriptions are a recognised blind spot, because a Latin-named ingredient such as Semen Sesami Nigrum is not read as sesame by a patient who has been told to avoid sesame seeds.
Clinical note: Screen for sesame allergy before prescribing Hei Zhi Ma, and tell the patient in plain words that the herb is sesame. Sesame is also a frequent hidden ingredient in granule excipients and in oil-based external preparations.
Antihypertensive drugs (ACE inhibitors, calcium channel blockers, diuretics)
Meta-analyses of sesame products and of isolated sesamin report modest reductions in systolic and diastolic blood pressure. Proposed mechanisms include inhibition of angiotensin-converting enzyme and enhanced endothelial nitric oxide synthase activity, which overlap directly with the targets of standard antihypertensives.
Clinical note: Effect sizes are small, so this is a monitoring point rather than a contraindication. Ask patients starting large habitual sesame intake alongside antihypertensives to check their blood pressure for the first couple of weeks.
Insulin, sulfonylureas and other glucose-lowering drugs
A GRADE-assessed dose-response meta-analysis of sesame products in humans found improvements in glycaemic control among its outcomes, alongside effects on lipids and inflammatory markers. The certainty of evidence across outcomes is not uniformly high, and the effect sizes are food-scale rather than drug-scale.
Clinical note: Worth mentioning to patients on insulin or sulfonylureas who start eating sesame in quantity, but does not normally require dose adjustment.
Statins and other lipid-lowering drugs
Sesamin supplementation trials show reductions in total cholesterol and triglycerides with a rise in HDL cholesterol, attributed to PPAR-alpha activation and reduced lipogenesis. The direction of effect is favourable and no antagonism has been reported.
Clinical note: No action needed. Relevant only as a reason not to be surprised by an improved lipid panel.
Oral iron, zinc and calcium supplements, and levothyroxine
Sesame carries a substantial phytate load and, in unhulled form, oxalate in the seed coat. Both chelate divalent cations in the gut lumen, and this class effect is well characterised for oilseeds and whole grains generally. Direct interaction studies with sesame specifically were not found.
Clinical note: Separate mineral supplements and levothyroxine from large sesame doses by two hours or more. Also relevant to habitual heavy intake in patients who form calcium oxalate stones.
Dosage
| Form | Amount | Frequency | Duration | Population | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| decoction | 9–15 g | Daily | — | — | 中国药典 2020 【用法与用量】9～15g。 【性味与归经】甘，平。归肝、肾、大肠经。 — Chinese Pharmacopoeia 2020, quoted verbatim; route and cautions preserved. Replaces a cleared category-filler value. |
Dui Yao — Herb Pairs
The classical two-herb combinations this herb appears in, each with an action neither herb has alone.
Liver and kidney are nourished while wind is dispelled and the liver cleared, brightening the eyes and darkening the hair.
Core pair of a classical formula — Sang Ma Wan, Yi Fang Ji Jie (Wang Ang)
Evidence Tier
Strong evidence · 4 studiesRecorded studies by study design, strongest design at the top. This is a study-design tier only, not a GRADE rating: it does not weigh risk of bias, consistency or precision.
Systematic review / meta-analysis
1
1 verified · 0 unverified
Randomized controlled trial
0
Other clinical trial
0
Observational / case report
1
0 verified · 1 unverified
In vitro / animal
1
0 verified · 1 unverified
Other / unclassified
1
1 verified · 0 unverified
Verified: design read from PubMed for a DOI that resolves to the cited paper Unverified: taken from the study's recorded description
Clinical Studies
The Effects of Sesamin Supplementation on Obesity, Blood Pressure, and Lipid Profile: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials
Pooled randomized controlled trials of isolated sesamin, the seed's principal lignan. Sesamin supplementation was associated with favourable changes in blood pressure and lipid profile, with the caveat that the trial pool is small, the participant numbers modest, and the interventions short.
Clinical evidence of sesame (Sesamum indicum L.) products and its bioactive compounds on anthropometric measures, blood pressure, glycemic control, inflammatory biomarkers, lipid profile, and oxidative stress parameters in humans: a GRADE-assessed systematic review and dose–response meta-analysis
The broadest human synthesis for whole sesame products rather than isolated lignans, with GRADE certainty ratings and dose-response modelling across anthropometry, blood pressure, glycaemic control, inflammatory markers, lipids and oxidative stress. Useful precisely because it grades the certainty of each outcome instead of reporting a single pooled effect.
Prevalence and Severity of Sesame Allergy in the United States
The population-based survey that underpinned the regulatory case for treating sesame as a major allergen in the United States. It estimated sesame allergy affecting a substantial minority of a percent of children and adults, with a high proportion of severe reactions, and was influential in the labelling change that took effect in 2023.
Phytochemical Contents and Antioxidant and Antiproliferative Activities of Selected Black and White Sesame Seeds
Directly compares black and white cultivars, the distinction that matters for this drug. Free phenolic lignan content averaged roughly threefold higher in the black cultivars, with correspondingly greater antioxidant and antiproliferative activity in vitro. It gives the traditional preference for black seed a measurable chemical basis, while remaining a cell-based study with no clinical endpoint.
Historical Texts
Shen Nong Ben Cao Jing
Han dynasty, compiled by the 2nd century CEBen Cao Gang Mu
Ming dynasty, 1596References
- Senouwa Segla Koffi Dossou, Fang-tao Xu, Komivi Dossa, Rong Zhou, Ying-zhong Zhao, Lin-hai Wang. Antioxidant lignans sesamin and sesamolin in sesame (Sesamum indicum L.): A comprehensive review and future prospects . Journal of Integrative Agriculture (2023) [DOI]
- Venu Gangur, Caleb Kelly, Lalitha Navuluri. Sesame allergy: a growing food allergy of global proportions? . Annals of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology (2005) [DOI]
This information is for educational purposes only and is not intended to replace professional medical advice. Always consult a qualified healthcare provider before using any herbal remedy, especially if you are pregnant, nursing, or taking medications.
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