Ancestral Sesame Transformation, Narrative Resilience, and Neuroprotection in Women Survivors of the Colombian Armed Conflict: An Integrative Narrative and Artificial Intelligence-Assisted Study

Armed conflict can disrupt mental health, social relationships, livelihoods, and cultural continuity. This qualitative study explored the meanings of artisanal sesame (Sesamum indicum L.) transformation in the narratives of ten women survivors of armed conflict in Montes de María, Colombia. Oral accounts were examined through a staged narrative and hermeneutic approach complemented by exploratory LIWC-22 linguistic analysis. The interviews highlighted intergenerational knowledge, embodied technical expertise, economic continuity, cultural identity, and perceived well-being. Social and cognitive linguistic categories offered additional descriptive perspectives but did not constitute clinical measures of resilience. We interpret sesame transformation as a culturally situated practice through which participants narrated livelihood reconstruction, collective memory, and agency amid structural constraints. An exploratory Ancestral Food-Based Neuroresilience conceptual framework is proposed to distinguish these psychosocial findings from hypotheses about the biological properties of sesame-derived products, which require independent experimental and clinical evaluation. The study highlights the importance of recognizing ancestral food practices and women’s participation in gender-responsive post-conflict recovery.