Nutmeg and mace are two parts of one fruit. The tree, Myristica fragrans, is native to the Banda Islands in Indonesia. Nutmeg is the seed, and mace is the lacy red covering around it. A dried nutmeg weighs 5 to 10 g, and the trees are male or female: about half of the trees grown from seed are male and never bear fruit, so growers usually graft.
Nutmeg is also very old as a food. Residue on pottery pieces from Pulau Ay, a small island in the Banda group, is about 3,500 years old and is the earliest known sign of people eating nutmeg.
As a food, nutmeg adds flavor and little else. One teaspoon (2.2 g) has 12 calories, 0.5 g of fiber and 3% of the daily value for manganese, and nothing in it reaches 5% of a day’s needs. Almost no trials test nutmeg as food, and the biggest body of human evidence is poison center and hospital reports of people who took teaspoons to tablespoons on purpose. A pinch in a recipe is far below those amounts.
Health benefits of nutmeg
The top findings from 19 studies, strongest evidence first
What the stars mean
- Strong. Several randomized trials, pooled in a meta-analysis, point the same way, or regulators (FDA or EFSA) have approved the claim.
- Moderate. Good randomized trials support it, but there are fewer of them, or their results vary.
- Limited. Small, short or single trials, or mixed results. Promising, but it needs confirmation.
Population and lab studies get no stars: they show a link or a mechanism, not proof.
How we rate evidence →- ★Better blood vessel function after a spiced mealIn 25 adults with overweight, a meal with a spice mix including nutmeg raised a blood vessel function test 24 hours later. The mix also held cinnamon, ginger and allspice, so nutmeg’s share is unknown.
- ★Less urinary incontinence with mace powderIn 60 women with mixed urinary incontinence, 46.7% on mace powder reported a cure, against 0% on placebo. Mace is the covering of the nutmeg seed, not nutmeg itself, and the trial was small.
- ★Nutmeg oil mouthwash worked like a standard rinseIn 60 people, plaque scores fell 39.2% and 39.4%, and bad breath scores 54.5% and 56.3%, with no significant difference between groups. The groups used nutmeg oil or chlorhexidine, a standard rinse, with no placebo group; a mouthwash is not eaten.
- ★No extra nerve pain relief from nutmeg oilIn 74 people with painful diabetic neuropathy, pain scores fell in both groups, and the groups did not differ after 4 weeks. The rub held nutmeg and mace oils and went on the skin, not in the mouth.
- Population studyPoisoning reported after about 2 teaspoonsSeveral poisonings were reported after about 5 g of nutmeg (about 2 teaspoons). The few milligrams a day of myristicin, a nutmeg compound, that come from food are unlikely to cause harm.
All 19 studies, strongest evidence first
A meal seasoned with a pumpkin pie spice mix, which includes nutmeg, raised a blood vessel function test 24 hours later in adults with overweight
Randomized crossover trial in 25 adults with overweight or obesity, who ate test meals with salt and pepper alone or with a spice mix at about 1 g per 135 kcal of food. The mix was cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and allspice in an unknown ratio, so nutmeg’s share is unknown. The test was flow-mediated dilation, and insulin half an hour after the meal was also lower, while triglycerides did not differ between meals. One author serves on the advisory board of the McCormick Science Institute.
1.5 g of mace powder twice a day for 3 months eased mixed urinary incontinence in women more than placebo
Single-blind randomized trial in 60 women who all did pelvic floor muscle training. Patients reporting a cure on a global improvement scale were 46.7% with mace and 0% with placebo, and on a severity scale 90% against 16.7%. Mace is the covering of the nutmeg seed, not nutmeg itself, and the trial was small. The authors report no side effects in the mace group.
A nutmeg oil mouthwash used twice a day for 21 days cut plaque and bad breath scores about as much as chlorhexidine
Randomized trial in 60 people with plaque and bad breath, 30 per group, comparing the nutmeg oil mouthwash with a 0.2% chlorhexidine rinse. By day 21 plaque scores had fallen 39.2% and 39.4%, and bad breath scores 54.5% and 56.3%, with no significant difference between the groups. It had no placebo group, and a mouthwash is not eaten.
A nutmeg oil rub on the skin for 4 weeks did not ease diabetic nerve pain more than the same rub without nutmeg
Double-blind, placebo-controlled trial in 74 people with painful diabetic neuropathy in Trinidad. The rub held mace oil (2%), nutmeg oil (14%), methyl salicylate and menthol, and the placebo kept the last two. Pain scores fell in both groups, and the groups did not differ after 4 weeks. This was a skin product, not food.
US poison center exposures to nutmeg rose significantly between 2000 and 2017, while most natural psychoactive substances fell
Analysis of the US National Poison Data System, which logged 67,369 calls about natural psychoactive substances over 18 years, most of them marijuana, anticholinergic plants and hallucinogenic mushrooms. Nutmeg, marijuana and kratom were the exceptions to the falling rates. The abstract gives no nutmeg counts or amounts, and a call is a report, not a confirmed poisoning.
Of 119 nutmeg exposures reported to California poison control, none caused a death or a major effect
Review of single-substance cases from 1997 to 2008. Intentional use made up 72.3% (86 cases), mostly people aged 13 to 20, and these patients more often had a racing heart and agitation and more often needed medical evaluation (61.6% against 33.3%). The authors still say effects can be significant and can need medical care. The abstract gives no amounts.
Of 32 nutmeg ingestions reported to the Illinois Poison Center over 10 years, 17 were accidental, and 10 of those were in children under 13
Retrospective review of poison center data from 2001 to 2011. Of 15 intentional cases, 5 combined nutmeg with other drugs, all in people aged 15 to 20, and one patient who had taken several drugs needed ventilator support. The authors advise more education about accidents in young children and about mixing nutmeg with drugs.
In 7 nutmeg poisonings in Germany, including doses of 20 to 80 g of powder, no life-threatening situation was seen
Poison information center series from 1996 to 1998, plus one fatal case in a 55-year-old woman in whom myristicin and the sedative flunitrazepam were both found, so the authors think the combination caused her death. A patient who took 2 to 3 tablespoonfuls of powder (about 14 to 21 g) had a myristicin blood level of 2 µg/ml 8 hours later.
Poisonings have followed about 5 g of nutmeg (about 2 teaspoons), while the few milligrams of myristicin a day from food are unlikely to cause harm
Toxicology review from the Swedish National Food Administration. Several poisonings were reported after about 5 g, equal to 1 to 2 mg of myristicin per kilogram of body weight, and the authors note that other nutmeg compounds may play a part. Rats showed no toxic effects at 10 mg/kg, but data on long-term toxicity were missing, so a full risk assessment was not possible.
Interviews in Indonesia, nutmeg’s home, found no evidence of hallucinogenic use, only a mild sedative action
Ethnobotanical survey in Maluku and central and east Java, based on talks with herbal remedy sellers, healers and midwives. Nutmeg is still used there for diarrhea, mouth sores and insomnia. The authors suggest that reports of nutmeg as a hallucinogen be re-examined, but this rests on interviews, not measurements, and the poisoning reports here show effects at large doses.
A man who ate 18 to 28 g of nutmeg developed a severe psychotic episode that cleared quickly
Case report from Portugal, so one person. He had disorganized speech, agitation and grandiose delusions, and stayed well for a year without treatment. The authors write that symptoms usually begin 3 to 6 hours after ingestion and clear within 48 hours. At the USDA weight of 2.2 g a teaspoon, his dose is roughly 8 to 13 teaspoons.
Less than one tablespoon of nutmeg can cause hallucinations, palpitations and a feeling of impending doom, one report says
Case report of a 23-year-old college student who took nutmeg on purpose, with a review of earlier reports. Lab tests are usually normal and treatment is supportive. The authors liken the picture to an anticholinergic poisoning. The abstract does not give the amount this student took.
A 6-year-old who ate six pieces of mace developed a reversible coma and recovered with supportive care
Case report from Saudi Arabia of one child who swallowed the mace by accident and had serotonin-type and anticholinergic symptoms with an altered level of consciousness. She went home 36 hours later. Mace is the covering of the nutmeg seed, and the authors call for more family awareness to prevent accidental exposures.
In lab tests, nutmeg and mace blocked the drug-processing enzymes CYP3A4 or CYP2C9
Screening of 55 spices for effects on these two enzymes, which handle many medicines. Cinnamon, black and white pepper, ginger, mace and nutmeg all inhibited at least one. A compound isolated from mace blocked CYP2C9 14 times more strongly than a known inhibitor. Enzyme tests do not show that food amounts change drug levels in people.
In cultured cells, myristicin, nutmeg’s main aroma compound, did not cause chromosome damage at up to 100 µM
Test in V79 cells that compared four plant compounds. Elemicin, a relative found in nutmeg, gave a weak response at 100 and 500 µM, estragole and myristicin were negative, and methyleugenol was unclear. The authors say standard cell tests have limited power to judge these compounds. It is not a study in people.
A nutmeg extract protected mice from chemical liver injury by acting through the PPARα pathway
Mice were given thioacetamide, a liver toxin. The extract brought raised liver enzymes back down and lowered oxidative stress and inflammation, but it did not protect mice that lack PPARα. A nutmeg lignan, myrislignan, also protected. This was an extract in mice, not a spice amount in people.
A nutmeg hexane extract cut immobility time in mice in a test used to screen for antidepressants
Mice given 10 mg/kg by mouth were less immobile in the tail suspension test without a change in general activity. Blocking serotonin or noradrenaline receptors reduced the effect. In safety checks, 2,000 mg/kg killed no mice and nutmeg powder was not mutagenic in the Ames test. Animal study with a solvent extract.
A nutmeg seed extract for 12 weeks reduced weight gain in rats, though not final body weight
Twelve male rats were split between a control group and a group given the extract by oral gavage. The extract made fat cells smaller and more numerous and raised two proteins involved in energy use, PGC-1α and UCP3, but did not significantly raise UCP1. A very small animal study.
A lignan-enriched nutmeg extract reduced fat build-up in developing fat cells in a dish
3T3-L1 fat cell precursors treated with the extract at 6 µg/ml had less STAT3 activation and less fatty acid synthase early in development. It did not trigger fat breakdown or change an inflammation marker. Cells in a dish, using a lignan-enriched extract, so this says little about nutmeg as eaten.
Who should be careful with nutmeg
Most people can eat nutmeg freely. Take a little care if one of these applies:
- Teaspoons to tablespoons, taken on purpose. Poisonings have followed about 5 g (about 2 teaspoons) and up, with a racing heart, agitation and hallucinations that start hours later, and in 7 German cases of 20 to 80 g none was life-threatening. Spices and flavorings in food were estimated to give a few milligrams of myristicin a day, which Swedish toxicologists judged unlikely to cause harm.
- Young children. In Illinois, 10 of 17 accidental nutmeg exposures were in children under 13, and a 6-year-old became comatose after eating six pieces of mace, then recovered. Keep whole nutmegs and mace out of reach.
- Mixing with drugs or medicines. In Illinois, 5 of 15 intentional cases mixed nutmeg with other drugs, and the one patient who needed a ventilator had taken several. Lab tests also found nutmeg and mace block two drug-processing enzymes, but no human study shows this matters at food amounts.
How to choose, store and eat nutmeg
- Whole nutmeg: one dried nutmeg weighs 5 to 10 g, which is more than 2 teaspoons of ground, so grate a little at a time and keep the rest away from children.
- Ground nutmeg and mace: mace is the covering of the same seed, with a more delicate flavor and an orange color, and the same care applies to both. A teaspoon of ground nutmeg weighs 2.2 g.
- In food: a trial seasoned meals with a cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and allspice mix at about 1 g per 135 kcal of food. Cooks also use it in rice pudding, potato and spinach dishes, pumpkin pie and mulled drinks.
Buy small amounts and keep nutmeg airtight in a dark, cool place. Spices do not turn unsafe with age, but the flavor fades, and most have a shelf life of 6 months to 1 year.
Sources
- Hallström H, Thuvander A. Toxicological evaluation of myristicin. Nat Toxins. 1997.
- Stein U, Greyer H, Hentschel H. Nutmeg (myristicin) poisoning: report on a fatal case and a series of cases recorded by a poison information centre. Forensic Sci Int. 2001.
- Ehrenpreis JE, DesLauriers C, Lank P, et al. Nutmeg poisonings: a retrospective review of 10 years experience from the Illinois Poison Center, 2001-2011. J Med Toxicol. 2014.
- Imtiaz A, Almutairy BM, Almutairi TM, et al. Mace poisoning: accidental toxic ingestion in a child leading to a reversible coma. Cureus. 2024.
- Kimura Y, Ito H, Hatano T. Effects of mace and nutmeg on human cytochrome P450 3A4 and 2C9 activity. Biol Pharm Bull. 2010.
- Huang Y, Tsai MF, Thorat RS, et al. Endothelial function and postprandial glucose control in response to test-meals containing herbs and spices in adults with overweight/obesity. Front Nutr. 2022.
- Spices, nutmeg, ground (FDC 171326). USDA FoodData Central.
- Nutmeg. Wikipedia.
- Spices, do they expire? Texas A&M AgriLife Extension. 2019.
History of nutmeg
Nutmeg is one of the oldest traded spices with a known home. The tree is native to the Banda Islands in Maluku, Indonesia, and residue on pottery from Pulau Ay in the Banda group is about 3,500 years old. According to Wikipedia, nutmeg reached India and then Constantinople by the sixth century AD, and by the 13th century Arab traders knew where it came from but kept the secret from Europeans.
The Portuguese reached the source in 1512. They had taken Malacca in 1511, and an expedition under António de Abreu arrived in Banda in early 1512 and bought nutmeg and mace.
The Dutch East India Company wanted the whole trade. After a campaign in 1621 under Jan Pieterszoon Coen, the Dutch enslaved or killed most of the islanders and divided the islands into 68 plantation parcels. Historian Willard Hanna estimated that the population fell from about 15,000 to about 1,000.
The English held tiny Run, about 3 km long and 1 km wide, from 1616, when Nathaniel Courthope reached it. The Dutch later took the island and cut down its nutmeg trees. The Treaty of Breda, signed on 31 July 1667, let each side keep what it held: the Dutch kept Run, and the English kept New Netherland, which included Manhattan. The treaty names no swap, so “Run for Manhattan” is a later popular summary.
The monopoly ended when the British seized the Banda Islands in 1810 and moved nutmeg trees to Ceylon and other colonies. Trees later reached Zanzibar and Grenada, and Grenada’s flag, adopted in 1974, shows a split nutmeg fruit.
Sources
- Nutmeg. Wikipedia.
- Banda Islands. Wikipedia.
- Run (island). Wikipedia.
- Treaty of Breda (1667). Wikipedia.
- Lape P, Peterson, Tanudirjo, et al. New data from an open Neolithic site in eastern Indonesia. Asian Perspectives. 2018.
- 3,500-year-old pumpkin spice? Archaeologists find earliest use of nutmeg as a food. UW News. 2018.
- Van Gils C, Cox PA. Ethnobotany of nutmeg in the Spice Islands. J Ethnopharmacol. 1994.
Frequently asked questions about nutmeg
Is nutmeg good for you?
In the small amounts people use in food, it is harmless, but no benefit is proven. One teaspoon (2.2 g) has 12 calories and 3% of the daily value for manganese. The best human results here are a 60-woman trial of 1.5 g of mace powder twice a day for urinary incontinence and a nutmeg oil mouthwash that matched chlorhexidine, and both were small and not about nutmeg as eaten.
How many calories and nutrients are in nutmeg?
A teaspoon (2.2 g) of ground nutmeg has 12 calories, 0.8 g of fat, 0.5 g of fiber and 0.1 g of protein. Manganese and copper are the highest, at 3% of the daily value each, and nothing reaches 5%. Gram for gram nutmeg is rich in copper, but a teaspoon is a small amount, so it adds little.
How much nutmeg is too much?
No study here sets a safe daily amount. Poisonings have followed about 5 g (about 2 teaspoons), and one report puts effects at under one tablespoon, while spices and flavorings in food were estimated to give a few milligrams of myristicin a day, which Swedish toxicologists judged unlikely to cause harm. A pinch in a recipe is far below the amounts in the poisoning reports.
Can nutmeg make you high?
In very large amounts it can cause hallucinations, but the reports describe a rough experience, not a safe high. A man who ate 18 to 28 g had a severe psychotic episode, and in California 80.2% of the intentional cases were aged 13 to 20, with more racing heart and agitation than in accidents. Symptoms begin 3 to 6 hours after eating it, and interviews in Indonesia found only a mild sedative action.
Can nutmeg kill you?
No report here describes a death from nutmeg alone. Among 119 single-substance exposures in California there were no deaths, and in 7 German cases of up to 80 g none became life-threatening. A fatal German case had both myristicin and a sedative, flunitrazepam, in the blood, and in Illinois the one patient who needed a ventilator had taken several drugs.
Does nutmeg help you sleep?
No human trial here tested nutmeg for sleep. Healers in Indonesia use it for insomnia, and interviews found a mild sedative action. Large amounts are not a sleep aid: the poisoning reports describe agitation, a racing heart and hallucinations.
What is the difference between nutmeg and mace?
Mace is the lacy red covering around the nutmeg seed, so both come from one fruit. The flavors are similar, with nutmeg a little sweeter and mace more delicate, and mace gives light dishes an orange color. Treat mace with the same care: a 6-year-old became comatose after eating six pieces.
Can nutmeg go bad?
It does not turn unsafe, but the flavor fades. Texas A&M AgriLife Extension puts most spice shelf lives at 6 months to 1 year. Keep it airtight in a dark, cool place and write the purchase date on the jar.