Sesamin is the main lignan (a plant compound) in sesame seeds and oil. It is sold alone or mixed with episesamin as "sesame lignans".
Also known as: sesame lignans, episesamin, sesame seed extract.
A blood pressure trial used 60 mg of sesamin a day for 4 weeks (Miyawaki 2009). An absorption study used 50 mg of sesame lignans (half sesamin, half episesamin) a day for 28 days (Tomimori 2013). These are study protocols, not a recommendation.
It is sold in the US as a dietary supplement. Under the 1994 dietary supplement law (DSHEA), FDA does not approve dietary supplements before they are marketed, and the maker, not FDA, is responsible for safety and labeling.
What studies show: a 2022 meta-analysis of 7 trials (212 people) found sesamin lowered total cholesterol by about 11 mg/dL, LDL by about 8 mg/dL and systolic blood pressure by about 3.7 mmHg, with no effect on HDL, triglycerides, diastolic pressure or weight (Sun 2022). In 25 people with mild high blood pressure, 4 weeks of 60 mg a day lowered blood pressure by an average of 3.5/1.9 mmHg (Miyawaki 2009).
Safety: no serious side effects occurred over 28 days in 48 healthy people, and the lignans did not build up with daily dosing (Tomimori 2013). The sources here do not describe drug interactions.
In 10 healthy people taking 50 mg of sesame lignans a day, sesamin peaked in the blood about 5 hours after a dose and reached steady levels by day 7. The abstract gives half-lives for episesamin (7.1 hours) and for sesamin's main breakdown product (2.4 hours) but not for sesamin itself, so we do not list one (Tomimori 2013).
Numbers shown are taken from the source above. Half-life varies from person to person.
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