Sesame - Nutrition and Health Treatments

Nutrition and Health Treatments

Nutritional content

For thousands of years, sesame seeds have been a source of food and oil. Sesame has one of the highest oil content of any seed, some varietals exceeding 50 percent oil content compared to soybean's 20 percent. Sesame oil is one of the most stable vegetable oils, with long shelf life, because of the high level of natural antioxidants (sesamin, sesamolin, and sesamol). Oil from the seed is used in cooking, as salad oils and margarine, and contains about 47 percent oleic and 39 percent linoleic acid. Sesame seed oil, like sunflower seed oil, is rich in Omega 6 fatty acids, but lacks Omega 3 fatty acids. Sesame seed is also rich in protein, at 25 percent by weight. The flour that remains after oil extraction is between 35 to 50 percent protein, has good effective carbohydrates, and contains water-soluble antioxidants (sesaminol glucosides) that provide added shelf-life to many products. This flour, also called sesame meal, is an excellent high-protein feed for poultry and livestock. The addition of sesame to high lysine meal of soybean produces a well balanced animal feed.

The relative ratio of protein and oil, as well as essential amino acids and essential fatty acids varies with sesame cultivar as well as growing conditions.

In 2008, about 65 percent of the annual sesame crop was processed into oil and 35 percent was used in food. The food segment included about 42 percent roasted sesame, 36 percent washed sesame, 12 percent ground sesame and 10 percent roasted sesame seed with salt.

Health claims

Kamal-Eldin et al. have reviewed patent literature claiming beneficial effects of sesame seed. They note that these health claims are based on the very high levels (up to 2.5%) of furofuran lignans with beneficial physiological activities, mainly sesamin, sesamolin, and sesaminol glucosides. Among edible oils from six plants, sesame oil had the highest Ferric Reducing/Antioxidant Power (FRAP) value, which means the herbs and additives are better preserved in sesame oil. To the extent these herbs have health benefits, the study proposes that it may be possible that ingestion of these herbs preserved in sesame oil could increase resistance of polyunsaturated fatty acids of cell membranes and lipoproteins to oxidation within the body.

Sesame seeds contain phytosterols associated with reduced levels of blood cholesterol. Sesame seeds are a good source of calcium and are therefore suitable for sufferers of osteoporosis. Sesame seeds contain a high amount of the antioxidant phytic acid. The nutrients of sesame seeds are better absorbed if they are ground or pulverized before consumption, as in tahini.

Women of ancient Babylon would eat halva, a mixture of honey and sesame seeds to prolong youth and beauty, while Roman soldiers ate the mixture for strength and energy.

There have been erroneous claims that sesame seeds also contain THC which may be detectable on random screening. This error stems from a misunderstanding of the commercial drug Dronabinol, a synthetic form of THC. The normal delivery mechanism for synthetic dronabinol is via infusion into sesame oil and encapsulation into soft gelatin capsules. As a result some people are under the mistaken assumption that sesame oil naturally contains THC. In fact, THC, CBD, CBN and the other cannabinoids are unique to the Cannabis genus.

Sesame oil is used for massage and health treatments of the body (abhyanga and shirodhara) and teeth (oil pulling) in the ancient Indian ayurvedic system. Ayurveda views sesame oil as the most viscous of the plant oils and believes it may pacify the health problems associated with Vata aggravation.