Health Benefits Cinnamon offers More than What a Spice can Do

Health benefits cinnamon is essential to our body, just like any other healthy foods. Cinnamon also has many medicinal and food uses. As one of the oldest spices, it is highly rewarding because of its powerful aroma.

Health benefits cinnamon has been added to beverages and desserts to be distinguished from others. Chefs and cooks love this because of its aroma. Even applying cinnamon in small amounts to our food is flavorful. Just add a dash or a pinch of cinnamon. So, you can still appreciate the original flavor of your food. More than a pinch can ruin the taste of your food.

For instance, if you are bored with your diet meals, you can add a pinch of cinnamon as a topping. Once you have smelled the aroma of cinnamon, you will be motivated to appreciate your diet meals.

For medicinal uses, the health benefits of cinnamon in our body moves by reversing the effects of fatty acids, regulation of blood sugar level, and the creation of anti-bacterial. It promotes anti-inflammatory. You will have the details to the wonderful health benefits cinnamon as you read along.

Wonder from where health benefits of cinnamon originated?

Nowadays, cinnamon comes from Indonesia. It has the largest producing country of cinnamon cassia. Alongside with China, Vietnam and Sri Lanka account for almost 99% of the world’s Cinnamon production.

In ancient times, cinnamon has been very popular in preserving meats. The Arab traders have controlled the trading of Cinnamon in those times. Europe found out that it’s from Sri Lanka and they would wage many wars for it.

Other events where cinnamon is involved include the bodies preservation in ancient Egypt. Another one, history cited that Roman Emperor Nero burned some cinnamon during his wife’s funeral. It was believed back then that burning cinnamon could show regret for causing the death of the person.

What does cinnamon look like?

Maybe you are wondering how cinnamon would look like beforehand. The most common source of cinnamon spice is the inner bark of the tree. When harvested and dried, cinnamon would curl up.

The aroma of cinnamon is stronger than any herbs. That is why we only sprinkle an ample amount of it to our dishes and teas. It has a brown-red color. The leaves measure between three to seven inches long. It also has a fragrant smell like the bark of the tree.

Farmers growing cinnamon tree has techniques to increase its yield. A cinnamon tree can become more than 10-feet tall and can live up to 40 years. But, other methods used by farmers is the top pruning technique to produce more branches in a cinnamon tree. You can start the harvest for the buds, leaves, and bark, two years after planting.

Are you looking for cinnamon in the market?

After harvesting and processing, you can have cinnamon in the market as a quill or ground powder. A quill is a stick-like made from dried and rolled cinnamon bark—which also looks great as a household freshener and decoration.

There are two main cinnamon varieties in the market—the Ceylon and Cassia. Ceylon cinnamon is what we call the ‘true cinnamon.’ While, Cassia cinnamon, also known as Chinese cinnamon, is the typical cinnamon we are using nowadays.

The difference between the two major cinnamon varieties comes with quality. Ceylon cinnamon has the bona fide quality of cinnamon spice. Given this, it has the highest value in the market. The Cassia cinnamon is cheaper than the former. With that, most of the cuisines and baked products consist of cassia cinnamon.

Before deciding, let us check the characteristics of cassia cinnamon.

Cassia cinnamon is widely produced in Asian countries like Indonesia, China and Vietnam. If you can taste the cassia, you can experience an overpowering spicy flavor. Cassia cinnamon is hard to process into powder. Therefore, you can see the general appearance in the market through stick form. The folding is inward and has a hollow space at the center. Also, cassia cinnamon is potentially bad for your liver when consumed in massive amounts.

On the other hand, Ceylon cinnamon, unlike cassia, appears to have a sweet flavor and light brown. The texture is tender; therefore; you can see the Ceylon with many folds as sold in the market. It is high-quality cinnamon because a small size of it can envelop many cuisines. As it is known to be the ‘true cinnamon,’ you’ll need to spend more dimes on it than cassia cinnamon. It is worth buying because Ceylon cinnamon has no harmful effect even consumed regularly.

What do we get from eating cinnamon?

We are all familiar that cinnamon is one of the favorite spices in the kitchen. But it has many medicinal purposes aside from giving off some enthusiasm to enjoy our boring and bland foods.

Cinnamon is packed with vitamins and minerals. It gives an adequate amount of fatty acids, carbohydrates, protein, calcium, iron magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, and vitamins.

Cinnamon is good for weight loss

Knowing the nutrients we can get from eating cinnamon, we can assess on what parameters does a cinnamon benefits us. It will be the concern from those in the weight loss program.

One of the cinnamon’s secrets is regulating our blood sugar level. The insulin levels in our body should be monitored and controlled. It is essential because the average insulin level is connected to our metabolism. We should be aware that healthy metabolism contributes to our overall health.

Given this, cinnamon can enhance our metabolism by regulating our blood sugar. If we increase our metabolism, we can prevent the storage of additional fat in our body. Otherwise, our body converts the carbohydrates into energy. In this instance, we are not getting weaker even we are cutting our intake of carbs.

Furthermore, cinnamon offers detoxification properties as another way to promote weight loss. It has natural appetite suppressant. With this, you will have control over your appetite by feeling full for more than four hours. Therefore, you can skip snacks and eat between meals.

Of course, cinnamon is not entirely responsible for your weight loss. You also need to do some regular exercises daily.

Cinnamon Health Benefits offer control blood pressure and reduce the risk of heart diseases

If cinnamon can regulate blood sugar, it can also reduce the risk of heart diseases and other related problems. Is this only a speculation on the benefits of cinnamon?

Indeed, cinnamon contributes in lowering the bad cholesterol. It also has something to do in decreasing the blood pressure in our body. However, these results will take effect over time and with a combination of other healthy foods.

Are you thinking of cinnamon nutrition? It plays a role in cutting down the risk of chronic diseases like diabetes and heart attack. More health benefits cinnamon come from the fiber and calcium it has. With the fiber and calcium, cinnamon supports the flushing out of harmful chemicals in our body.

Furthermore, cinnamaldehyde can be found in cinnamon. It is responsible for anti-inflammatory properties that our blood needs. Anti-inflammatory is essential in our body. It is part of our healing abilities if we get cut or wounded accidentally. With the aid of cinnamaldehyde from cinnamon, we can avoid blood clotting. It will make our blood flow consistent and no constriction at all. Having adequate anti-inflammatory in our body, it can prevent any further symptoms. These symptoms, if not treated right away, can lead to heart attack, diabetes and other serious ailments.

There are various ways to consume cinnamon other than sprinkling over our salad, coffee, and bread. You can also have a cinnamon tea for easy absorption of the nutrients it offers.

Cinnamon prevents cancer

Now, let us pinpoint what the benefits of cinnamon in the prevention of cancer are.

One of the dilemmas we have for cancers is late detection. Most cancers that cause fatality are detected too late. In most cases, cancer usually detected at the final or middle stage. How can we alter this reality?

There are ways to deal with cancer. You should eat adequate food that is rich in anti-oxidant properties. It will prevent tumors. Having said that cinnamon has more antioxidants than other spices.

What are anti-oxidants? Anti-oxidants are responsible for keeping our cells healthy and stopping the proliferation of damaged cells. Therefore, it can prevent even the early symptoms of cancer episode.

Also, cinnamon by-products like oil have many health benefits for treating tumors and other cancers. Cinnamon oil is an essential oil that when combined with fiber and calcium, can take control of your bowels. These nutrients will help you remove the toxins out of your body through bowel elimination. Over time, you can feel graceful, without irritation feeling.

Cinnamon promotes anti-microbial compounds

Aside from cancers, high blood pressure and blood sugar level, cinnamon can do more than that. It is tough for other spices to win against cinnamon. It has many health benefits cinnamon can include like being an anti-microbial food.

Yes, cinnamon oil is believed to prevent the spread of fungi and other disease-carrying bacteria in our food. With only a few drops of oil in our food, it can prevent the incidence of yeast infection. It can also improve the taste of the food.

The benefits of cinnamon for cognitive function

Other than consumption, we can enjoy the health benefits cinnamon with its aroma. Who would have thought that the smell of cinnamon could affect our brain cells?

Cinnamon is one of the most appreciated aroma spice. According to a study conducted, after the exposure of the participants in cinnamon aroma, their brain functions became more coherent than before. The participants have improved their responses, focus, alertness, and memory functions.

Currently, a study determines further effects of cinnamon aroma in our brain functions. This study will support the delay of brain degeneration due to old age and counter anxiety and depression symptoms.

Indeed, the cinnamon aroma can do more things that make your food delightful to eat. It has more on it that we need to consider as one of the health and weight loss foods.

Cinnamon has other uses

Other than the health benefits cinnamon, we can also enjoy it for other purposes. Like other spices, you can process cinnamon and make a product that you can use at home and personal beauty products.

Cinnamon for Beauty Products

We can use cinnamon oil for a relaxing massage. You will enjoy the natural aroma of cinnamon in your skin. It will make your skin warm and help your muscles relax. You can also use cinnamon oil if you need to calm yourself especially when you have the flu and chills.

The effect of cinnamon on your skin is like a fountain of youth. Cinnamon helps your skin produce collagen. Collagen is responsible for your skin to look radiant, juvenile, and soft. Other than that, you can use cinnamon as a facial scrub. The antibacterial presence in cinnamon prohibits the bacteria in your face to generate skin problems. Therefore, you may use a cinnamon facial scrub to lessen the formation and address some skin problems like eczema and acne.

Other than for beauty products, cinnamon also has an aphrodisiac effect in our body. It is proven that spicy foods could create sexual drive. By producing enough body heat, it can warm up your body for sexual passion. For that reason, cinnamon is considered as one of the foods to eliminate erection dysfunction. Also, it improves poor sexual performance.

Cinnamon for Home Use

Likewise, cinnamon can lessen bad odors. Aside from the aroma, it has antibacterial properties that act as a natural solvent. We can use this to kill the bacteria in our mouth that causes bad breath and other oral cavity problems. To prepare the mouthwash, you need to have lemon juice, honey, and cinnamon spice. Mix the three ingredients accordingly. This homemade mouthwash is safe to use and can reduce bad breath and halitosis.

You may also look into cinnamon as an insect repellant that will not harm your pets at home. Nowadays, we are looking for alternatives that can fight insects. Chemicals in insect repellants can cause a lot of health problems. With the strong aroma of cinnamon, you can use the oil to ward off mosquitoes and even destroy its larvae.

Ways of Storing Cinnamon

The last thing you need to prepare is the storage for your cinnamon.

Proper storing of cinnamon is essential to preserve the freshness and nutrients even for a long time. But how can you store cinnamon? Does it need adequate monitoring while in storage?

You can store cinnamon using a glass container with a perfectly sealed mechanism. The storage room should be a dry and cool place. Your cabinet in the kitchen might be the right place for it. Other options like the refrigerator are also appropriate.

The cinnamon stick can last longer than cinnamon powder. The storage variance is 6 months. However, even stored in an airtight container; still, the tendency of losing its smell and taste can happen after a couple of months.

You can check if you can make use of your cinnamon by the smell and taste. Fresh cinnamons should have the aroma and taste like sweet and spicy. Otherwise, you should dispose of your deteriorated cinnamon.

Cinnamon recipes for all occasions

With all the ideas that you have here for using cinnamon, the best way to enjoy cinnamon is making a tea out of it.

Yes, cinnamon tea is the top choice if you need to experience the pure health benefits cinnamon. You can have all the nutrients and cinnamon vitamins in this herbal tea. If you’re not a ‘tea-person,’ you can have the quick cinnamon recipes. For example, you can sprinkle your toasted bread with cinnamon, or you can add a twist in your favorite burrito. If you are enjoying soy milk, you can boil cinnamon sticks. Afterwards, you can add portions of it in your soymilk, depending on the taste you want to achieve.

While enjoying cinnamon to your favorite recipes, you need to know that there are side effects of eating cinnamon. One thing that can hinder you from enjoying cinnamon is allergic reactions. If you’re unsure if you have allergic reactions with cinnamon, you can test a small amount in your skin. You can also drizzle a pinch of cinnamon in your food. After a while, if you are experiencing common symptoms, you need to have professional medical advice. Signs are itchy eyes, nausea, red eyes, swelling and inflammation in the skin, runny nose, vomiting, and skin reactions.

Side effects of Cinnamon

Furthermore, you should not ignore the allergic reaction or symptoms. Ask for medical advice to get the prescribed medications like antihistamines and eye drops to reduce your allergens with cinnamon. When not treated early, you will have some breakouts. The only way to let the breakouts subside is by hospitalization or thru IV fluid treatments.

Taking in cinnamon by moderation and knowing if you have health problems are the things you need to know before choosing this kind of foods for weight loss. The essentials of knowing the facts will lead you to be healthy and fit without having any complications.

Our Insights:

Going back with all the health benefits cinnamon as well as its origins and facts, by now we should know how to select the proper cinnamon in the market. In our opinion, the key to have the perfect cinnamon is to understand the appropriate way to choose and store cinnamon.

In selecting the best cinnamon, we have discussed in the early part of this article that there are two primary varieties of cinnamon. You can have cassia cinnamon or Ceylon cinnamon. With this, you can easily decide what to choose and buy—the one that will add some flavor in your meals.