Hing

Pure Hing or Asafoetida (Ferula asafoetida) is the dried sap — or gum resin — obtained from the roots of Ferula plants. It’s commonly dried, ground into a coarse, yellow powder, and used for either culinary or medicinal purposes .

While it’s native to Afghanistan and Iran, asafoetida is commonly used in Indian cuisine, where it’s referred to as hing .

As a seasoning, asafoetida is known for its strong, pungent odor, which is due to its high concentration of sulfur compounds. In fact, due to its unpleasant smell, it’s sometimes referred to as stinking gum .

However, when cooked, its flavor and smell become much more palatable and are often described as being similar to those of leeks, garlic, and even meat .

In Ayurveda medicine, hing is used to aid digestion and gas, as well as treat bronchitis and kidney stones. During the Middle Ages, some people wore the dried gum around their necks to help ward off infection and disease .

Still, many traditional uses of asafetida haven’t been proven by modern science.

One of the most common uses of asafetida is as an indigestion aid .

In one 30-day study including 43 adults with moderate to severe indigestion, those taking 250-mg capsules containing asafetida twice a day reported significant improvements in bloating, digestion, and overall quality of life, compared with a placebo group (11Trusted Source).

This study was funded by the company that produced the supplement, so that may have influenced the results.

Asafoetida has also been shown to help boost digestion by increasing the activity of digestive enzymes. Specifically, it may increase the release of bile from your liver, which is needed for digesting fat (1Trusted Source, 12Trusted Source).

While the spice is also frequently used to prevent or reduce gas after eating, no research currently supports this effect.