The Magic Spice: Cinnamon
In order to encourage more of the autumn spirit, I thought I would write about the well known cinnamon spice which is quite synonymous with autumn food and drinks as it adds a comforting boost of flavor and charm to both sweet and savory dishes.
But cinnamon is not just a great additonal to recipes - It is actually also beneficial to our health in various ways, from being an anti microbial agent and being able to protect against neurodegenerative conditions all the way to helping diabetic people with managing diabetes. We will be discussing all of these benefits here today, where I will also provide some background information about the spice and its origins as well as offer some ideas as to how you can enjoy more of cinnamon especially during this time of the year.
Before you start reading, I recommend you get a cup of your favorite tea or coffee as well as a comfortable blanket to keep you warm and get you settled into the feeling of autumn.
I hope you enjoy this one 🍁 🍂
BACKGROUND INFORMATION ON CINNAMON
Cinnamon is a space which actually comes from the bark of trees which belong to the Cinnamomum genus, where only a handful of the cinnamomum species are grown commercially for the cinnamon spice.
The most well known type of cinnamon, Ceylon cinnamon, which is also considered the original type of cinnamon, comes from the species of trees called Cinnamomum verum which are native to Sri Lanka.
Indonesia is currently the largest producer of cinnamon, followed by China, Vietnam and Burma, where in 2018, Indonesia and China produced almost 70% of the world's whole cinnamon production.
Once collected in its bark form, it can be ground into a powder and then sold to consumers.
HEALTH BENEFITS OF CINNAMON
Packed With Beneficial Properties & Antioxidants
Cinnamon has many properties which have been used for medicinal and soothing purposes. The extensive properties of cinnamon come from the essential oils from the tree bark, which contain the potent compound cinnamaldehyde. The powerful properties of cinnamon include being:
Anti bacterial
Anti fungal
Anti viral
Anti inflammatory
Due to all of these properties, cinnamon may help with fighting various infections as well as inhibiting the growth of bacteria such as Salmonella. But thats not all, by having so many medicinal properties, cinnamon is also rich in various antioxidants - Even more than high antioxidant foods such as garlic - which could even make it useful as a natural food preservative.
May Help Protect Against Cancers
Although more research is needed on human studies, some test tube based animal studies have shown promising results for cinnamon being able to slow down the growth of cancer cells and even stopping the growth of tumor cells.
The proposed way in which cinnamon acts against cancer is by reducing the growth of cancer cells and formation of blood vessels within tumors, which altogether means that cinnamon may very well be toxic to cancer cells.
Helps To Manage Blood Pressure and Cholesterol
Consumption of cinnamon is associated with a short term reduction in blood pressure while also influencing levels of cholesterol in our blood by lowering the LDL (bad) cholesterol and possibly even increasing HDL (good) cholesterol levels.
Considering that cinnamon can help with lowering blood pressure and management of cholesterol, it could be that cinnamon can potentially help protect against developing heart disease.
However more trials need to be done with human based experiments, as currently experiments were only done on animals.
Effectively Lowers Blood Sugar & Type II Diabetes Risk
Cinnamon is quite well known for being able to positively help with managing blood sugar levels which is useful for people with diabetes, where it has been shown that cinnamon may lower fasting sugar levels for as much as 10-30%.
The way in which cinnamon is currently understood to help with blood sugar management is in the following ways:
It controls the amount of glucose which enters the blood stream: This is due to cinnamon interfering with different digestive enzymes which helps to slow down the breakdown and digestion of carbohydrates in your body.
A compound in cinnamon mimics the function of insulin: This improves glucose uptake by your cells although it acts slower than insulin itself.
It reduces insulin resistance: This means that your cells become more responsive to insulin, meaning that they can uptake and use the sugar which flows in your blood stream, all together helping to prevent chronically high blood glucose levels and diabetes.
Could Protect Against Neurodegenerative Diseases
The older we get, the more prone we are to developing neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimers or Parkinson's which are categorized by a progressive deterioration of brain cells.
For Alzheimers disease it is currently believed to be caused by a build up of various protein based plaques in the brain (tau proteins), which effectively lead to slower cognitions and poorer memory abilities. Luckily, cinnamon has been found to contain two compounds which appear to inhibit the build up of these tau proteins, although more research is needed as so far these experiments have been tested on animals.
For Parkinson's disease, cinnamon also holds promising effects as certain beneficial compounds within the spice have been shown to protect neurons, normalize neurotransmitter levels as well as improve our motor function.
HOW TO ENJOY MORE OF CINNAMON
Below you can find a couple of ideas of how to include more cinnamon into your daily food choices - some of which I regularly do myself. Experiment and see what you enjoy, if you are new to using cinnamon, start with smaller quantities.
Including cinnamon in baked goods which include apples, pears, nuts or ginger (apple pie, cinnamon rolls, carrot cake, banana bread, baklava, ginger bread cookies, churros, french toast etc.)
Try making a cinnamon spiced rice pudding
Making your own roasted and caramelized cinnamon nuts at home
Add into oatmeal, smoothies and yogurt bowls
Making your own granola and adding in cinnamon
Try adding a little into pumpkin soup or recipes with sweet potato/ other squashes
Drinks: Making mulled wine with cinnamon and cloves or making a hot chocolate with cinnamon
In terms of the recommended intake, for adults no more than 1 teaspoon per day should be consumed, and for children that should be lower. Cinnamon naturally contains compounds called coumarins which in larger amounts may not be well tolerated by our body, but consuming less than a teaspoon of cinnamon per day is considered safe.
Apart from cinnamon being something that I have enjoyed for practically my whole life, I have always heard that cinnamon is good for you, especially in terms of regulating blood glucose levels, which made me want to explore more how cinnamon impacts our body and ways that it can positively impact our well being.
I hope that through this you were able to learn something new and I also hoped that I have given you some more inspiration as to how you can make more use of cinnamon.
Thanks for reading.
