Gingelly/Til
Also known as
Latin : Sesamum indicum
English : Gingelly, Sesame
Sanskrit : Tilah
Hindi : Til
Marathi : Tila
Tamil : Ellu, Eellu-cceti
Telugu : Nuvvulu
Malayalam : Ellu
Kannada : Ellu
How it looks�It is an erect, annual plant with large thin leaves, white, pink or purplish flowers and quadrangular oval fruits
What we use�Roots, leaves, seeds, oil
What it does�Roots & leaves�emollient
Seeds�astringent, laxative, thermogenic, aphrodisiac, galactogogue, digestive, hair restorer, tonic,
Oil� astringent, anthelmintic, constipating, thermogenic
How we use it�
In
joint pains�Leave a tsp of black gingelly seeds in a glass of water overnight and drink it in a morning.
Alternately, a tsp of gingelly seeds with half a tsp of dry ginger powder should be taken with a glass of hot milk every morning.
To
induce puberty�In underdeveloped adolescent girls, it is useful to give a decoction of til seeds everyday (or) Gingelly seeds and jaggery are rolled into small "laddoos� and are
taken one thrice a day to stimulate overall physical development and for increasing lactation in breastfeeding women.
In
dysmenorrhoea�The same gingelly jaggery laddoos or any preparation with gingelly is useful to promote free flow of menstrual blood and ease pain and discomfort accompanying
menstrual flow.
In
bedwetting�Half a tsp of gingelly with a quarter tsp of ajowain should be given to the child at night along with mineral water. Even gingelly-jaggery laddoos can be given according
to the age of the child.
In
high blood pressure�Gingelly oil can substitute other cooking media such as ghee,
groundnut oil, coconut oil, mustard oil or even refined oil, as til oil retains all its natural benefits besides having the least amount of saturated fat.
In
piles�Especially in bleeding, using a poultice of the seeds pasted with butter relieves pain and bleeding to a large extent.
In
gout�Steam boiling sesame seeds and pasting with milk makes an effective application on gouty joints.
In
diarrhoea�Black sesame seeds are pasted with a dash of sugar and eaten along with goat milk.
In
colicky pain�Rolling a ball made of sesame seed pasted over the abdomen soothes the shooting pain.
In
cracked heels/soles�Applying gingelly oil on the affected area and fomenting the feet with hot water at night is highly beneficial.
For
jet black hair�Black sesame seeds, amla and bhringraj powdered together and applied maintain the rich black texture of hair besides completely revitalizing it.
For
strong teeth�Chewing a handful of sesame seeds and washing it down with cool water regularly will ensure a set of healthy teeth. Gargling with sesame oil everyday is just as
effective.
Modern Study
The external application of sesame oil was found to exhibit anti-cancer activity in malignant melanoma in an experimental study
