Nigella has no known toxicity level. It is extremely safe to take. But, you should also understand some important facts about Nigella.
There is no need to take Nigella on an empty stomach. In fact, by doing so, you are eliminating one of its proven effects. This is extremely important to diabetics.
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6T8D-4TY45GJ-1&_user=10&_rdoc=1&_fmt=&_orig=search&_sort=d&view=c&_acct=C000050221&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=10&md5=041caf9e2ed225fa9758602bb8c949e0Results
The aqueous extract of Nigella sativa (0.1 pg/ml to 100 ng/ml) exerted dose-dependent inhibition of sodium-dependent glucose transport across isolated rat jejunum. Maximal inhibition exceeded 80% and IC50 was close to 10 pg/ml. An oral glucose tolerance test was carried out in rats after the initial dose and after a 6-week treatment of Nigella sativa (2 g/(kg day)), and compared to metformin (300 mg/(kg day)). Chronic Nigella sativa treatment improved glucose tolerance as efficiently as metformin. Nigella sativa and metformin also reduced body weight without any toxic effect.
Conclusions
To our knowledge, this is the first demonstration that Nigella sativa directly inhibits the electrogenic intestinal absorption of glucose in vitro. Together with the observed improvement of glucose tolerance and body weight in rats after chronic oral administration in vivo, these effects further validate the traditional use of Nigella sativa seeds against diabetes.
If you take Nigella on an empty stomach, it won't do much good for the purpose of inhibiting glucose absorption in the stomach. Obviously, Nigella will do much better for diabetics if taken with food.
As far as taking Nigella with Exjade, think about what Nigella does for hepatitis patients. It lowers the liver enzyme levels. This is exactly what is often needed with patients on Exjade. You want to keep your liver enzymes in check while using Exjade because if they get high, you have to stop Exjade.
In a study concerning the effect of Nigella on liver surgery patients, not only was it found that in prevented damage to the liver that is common after this type of surgery, but also that patients using Nigella had much lower levels of liver enzymes.
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/122247.phpIn this experimental study rats underwent hepatic ischemia for 45 min followed by 60 min period of reperfusion. Rats were intraperitoneally infused with only 0.9% saline solution in the control group. Rats in the treatment group received NS[Nigella sativa] (0.2 mL/kg) intraperitoneally, before ischemia and before reperfusion. Blood samples and liver tissues were harvested from the rats, and then the rats were sacrificed. Serum aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) levels were determined. Total antioxidant capacity (TAC), catalase (CAT), total oxidative status (TOS), oxidative stress index (OSI) and myeloperoxidase (MPO) in hepatic tissue were measured. Also, liver tissue histopathology was evaluated by light microscope.
The levels of liver enzymes in the treatment group were significantly lower than those in the control group (P < 0.01). TAC in liver tissue was significantly higher in the treatment group than in the control group (P < 0.05 and P < 0.05, respectively). TOS, OSI and MPO in hepatic tissue were significantly lower in the group 3 than the group 2 (P < 0.05 for all). Histological tissue damage was milder in the Nigella sativa treatment group than that in the control group. These results suggest that NS treatment protects the rat liver against to hepatic ischemia-reperfusion injury.
Nigella sativa has no side effects.
I would propose that Nigella will have an overall positive and protective effect in patients using ALL chelation drugs, and especially in Exjade users.
Nigella is also beneficial to the overall immune system and is an immunomodulator. A review of the medicinal properties of Nigella can be seen at
http://www.scialert.net/pdfs/pjbs/2004/441-451.pdfFrom the amount of patent applications that can be found online, dealing with the pharmaceutical use of Nigella, I would have to say that this is has been known for centuries. Nigella is a very important medicinal herb. Modern research has given much support to the statement "There is a cure for all diseases in Black Seed except death."
On the subject of taking things on an empty stomach. There are very few things that have to be taken on an empty stomach and since there are very few empty stomachs during the course of a day, these times should be reserved for things like Exjade and IP6. There is no need to make things more difficult by arbitrarily assigning a policy of "take on an empty stomach." Take Nigella with food. Take it in your food. For best results, either grind the seeds or fry in a dry pan just long enough for the seeds to pop and then use them as a spice. I love it in my tomato soup.
And one more thing. It has been proven that Nigella raises hemoglobin levels. This is what Ambareen experienced. Her gap between transfusions became longer by using Nigella.
Nigella is proving to be a very important part of the supplement routine for thals. I would recommend it to all (not just thals).