Cinnamon — “the Eternal Tree of Tropical Medicine”
Aah — that first sip of coffee. It’s like love in a cup.
Approximately 63% of Americans start their morning off with a nice hot cup of delicious coffee.
I am definitely part of the majority. I couldn’t get both eyes open without it.
I love my coffee with cinnamon. It gives it a mild taste of wood spice with a bit of sweet, and leaves me feeling like I just treated myself to something a bit special.
It’s like two of my favorite comfort foods have come together — coffee and anything cinnamon.
It’s nice to feel that way first thing in the morning; good for the soul.
I like to eat somewhat healthy, however. I’m one of those people that read the back of the box.
Therefore, I did a bit of research to find out if there were any health benefits to adding the cinnamon.
I am happy to say that there are plenty of good reasons to add cinnamon to your coffee, as well as any other food or drink you might like.
That being said, there are a few things you need to keep in mind.
Types of Cinnamon
There are hundreds of species of cinnamon. But the two main types of cinnamon sold commercially are Ceylon and Cassia Cinnamon.
The differences between the two are significant, as you will read.
Cassia Cinnamon
Cassia Cinnamon is grown in three areas of the world — China, Indonesia, and Saigon.
Each has there own variation of flavor, shape, taste, and color.
Chinese Cassia (Cinnamomum aromaticum) is also called Cassia Cinnamon or Chinese Cinnamon. It’s bitter and mainly used medicinally in China.
Indonesian Cassia (Cinnamomum burmanni) may also be called Korintje Cinnamon and Padang Cassia. This type is what you will typically find in America.
Saigon Cassia (Cinnamomum loureiroi) is also known by the names Vietnamese Cinnamon and Vietnamese Cassia. It is the most preferred Cassia Cinnamon for flavor.
These types of Cinnamon are all shades of darker reddish brown.
The flavors are a pronounced spicy wood flavor. Some types are also a bit sweet.
The sticks are hard with a thick single layer and a rough texture.
Ground Cassia Cinnamon is gritty.
But Cassia Cinnamons are all high in Coumarin levels, some as high as 6.97 g/kg, which is toxic to the liver.
Ceylon Cinnamon
Ceylon Cinnamon is the best cinnamon to use. This is the one that you want.
Ceylon Cinnamon (Cinnamomum Zeylanicum) is grown in Sri Lanka (90%), India, Madagascar, Brazil and the Caribbean.
You may also hear of it by the names True Cinnamon, Mexican Cinnamon, and Cinnamomum Verum.
The cinnamon is light to medium reddish brown..
It has a subtle and sweet taste with an aromatic, almost floral, smell.
The cinnamon sticks are much more delicate than the Cassia sticks, because they’re rolled out by hand.
The sticks are soft and brittle with multiple thin fine layers, like a cigar.
The best part is that Ceylon Cinnamon has a minute amount of Coumarin, 0.017 g/kg, making it safe to consume.
Ceylon Cinnamon is the choice for me.
Coumarin
Coumarin in high quantities has been known to cause liver damage.
In the United States, it has been banned as an additive, but is still found naturally in some foods, such as Cassia Cinnamon.
As much as 90% of the Cinnamon used in the United States is Cassia.
Some countries in Europe set a tolerable daily intake for coumarin. In Germany, this number is 0.1 mg per kg of body weight.
It is recommended to consume no more than 1-2 teaspoons per day of Cassia Cinnamon, due to the level of Coumarin it contains.
Health Benefits of Cinnamon
1. Nutritional Facts
First lets get the tiny details out the way — the basic measurements, per say.
Spices, cinnamon, ground, 1 tsp
| Protein (g) | 0.09 |
|---|---|
| Total lipid (fat) (g) | 0.07 |
| Carbohydrate, by difference (g) | 1.84 |
| Energy (kcal) | 6 |
| Sugars, total (g) | 0.05 |
| Fiber, total dietary (g) | 1.25 |
| Calcium, Ca (mg) | 28.24 |
| Iron, Fe (mg) | 0.88 |
| Magnesium, Mg (mg) | 1.29 |
| Phosphorus, P (mg) | 1.4 |
| Potassium, K (mg) | 11.5 |
| Sodium, Na (mg) | 0.6 |
| Zinc, Zn (mg) | 0.05 |
| Copper, Cu (mg) | 0.01 |
| Manganese, Mn (mg) | 0.38 |
| Selenium, Se (mcg) | 0.03 |
| Vitamin A, IU (IU) | 6.44 |
| Retinol (mcg) | 0 |
| Carotene, beta (mcg) | 0.9 |
| Carotene, alpha (mcg) | 0 |
| Vitamin E (alpha-tocopherol) (mg) | 0.02 |
| Cryptoxanthin, beta (mcg) | 5.93 |
| Lycopene (mcg) | 0.67 |
| Lutein + zeaxanthin (mcg) | 9.66 |
| Vitamin C, total ascorbic acid (mg) | 0.66 |
| Thiamin (mg) | 0 |
| Riboflavin (mg) | 0 |
| Niacin (mg) | 0.03 |
| Vitamin B-6 (mg) | 0.01 |
| Folate, total (mcg) | 0.67 |
| Vitamin B-12 (mcg) | 0 |
| Vitamin K (phylloquinone) (mcg) | 0.72 |
| Folic acid (mcg) | 0 |
| Folate, DFE (mcg_DFE) | 0.67 |
| Cholesterol (mg) | 0 |
| Fatty acids, total saturated (g) | 0.01 |
| Fatty acids, total monounsaturated (g) | 0.01 |
| Fatty acids, total polyunsaturated (g) | 0.01 |
It’s packed with vitamins and minerals. Not bad for a teaspoon of ground up tree bark, right!
2. Natural Sweetener
Cinnamon has a naturally sweet taste to it. Not strong like sugar, but a subtle, more sophisticated taste like a drop of honey.
It won’t give you cavities, raise your blood sugar, or add inches to your waistline like sugar will.
So, it’s a nice substitute in some of the foods you might want to sweeten up like the obvious morning coffee or tea. Sprinkle it on unsweetened applesauce or oatmeal. It’s good as a rub for meat and I always add a bit to chili.
3. Weight Loss
This is another great reason to add cinnamon to your coffee.
Cinnamon has natural appetite suppressant abilities by delaying gastric emptying.
Combine this with caffeine’s ability to raise the metabolism, and you’ve got a nice little cup of confidence in your hand.
4. Improves Insulin Response
Insulin is the hormone in your body that regulates your energy and metabolism.
If your body resists doing what the insulin is telling it to do, this is called insulin resistance. That becomes diabetes.
Cinnamon helps your body to stop resisting and do what the insulin is telling it to do. Cinnamon improves the response.
This is good even if you don’t currently have diabetes because it acts as a preventative.
5. Anti-Inflammatory
Cinnamon has a high content of phenolic compounds that reduce inflammation.
This is helpful for digestion, temporary pain relief, muscle recovery, or chronic conditions like arthritis.
Anti-inflammatories, such as cinnamon, are also important because chronic inflammatory diseases are the leading causes of death in the world.
6. Carminative
Cinnamon is one of the many herbal remedies for gas and bloating of the intestines.
These are known as Carminatives.
Others you may be familiar with are fennel, peppermint, ginger, and parsley, to name a few.
Consuming some will prevent or relieve the discomfort.
7. Eases Menstrual Symptoms
The anti-inflammatory properties combined with anti-oxidant properties help to lessen the effect of menstrual symptoms for women.
Cinnamon has been shown to help stop the nausea, heavy flow, and cramps women get each month with their cycle.
It also helps with the flatulence and diarrhea that often come with it.
But, be careful if you take your cinnamon with coffee. Coffee makes cramps worse.
8. Speeds Wound Healing
Cinnamon contains two antioxidants Cinnamaldehyde and Cinnamtannin.
Both of these aid in the healing of wounds by repairing tissue and acting as blood coagulants.
This in turn speeds up the time it takes to heal the wound.
9. Loaded with Antioxidants
Cinnamon, especially Ceylon, is loaded with antioxidants.
As a matter of fact, one teaspoon of Ceylon Cinnamon has more antioxidants than 1/2 cup of blueberries, which are loaded with antioxidants.
Add that to your coffee with all it’s polyphenols and you are going to kick out all kinds of free radicals.
10. Increases Mental Ability
Cinnamon just keeps getting better and better.
It protects the neurons (the little nerves that send the neurotransmitters back and forth).
I love neurotransmitters – some of them are the “happy hormones”.
Back to what I was saying, this increases our focus, attention, and motor function.
Furthermore, cinnamon has been shown to have a positive effect during studies on Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s Diseases.
11. May Help Regulate Blood Pressure
Cinnamon contains Cinnamic Acid which has anti-inflammatory properties.
This helps blood flow freely through the body, putting less strain on the heart.
These effects have been shown to lower the blood pressure.
12. May Lower Cholesterol
Studies have shown that the antioxidant Cinnamaldehyde in Cinnamon significantly lowers total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, and triglyceride levels.
However, more research needs to been done to conclusively prove this.
13. Lowers Risk of Heart Disease
Coffee and Cinnamon are a powerhouse combination.
First off, the caffeine in coffee lowers your risk of heart disease by 15%.
Then, between the Cinnamic Acids anti-inflammatory qualities lowering the blood pressure, and the antioxidant, Cinnamaldehyde, lowering the cholesterol, we can safely say that Cinnamon lowers your risk of heart disease by 30%.
Wow! Good stuff and we’re not done yet.
14. Cancer Fighter
Research is being done on the effects of cinnamon as a treatment for cancer.
It’s been found that an enzyme in cinnamon decreases the growth of cancerous cells.
It also inhibits the formation of new blood vessels in tumors. Tumors need new blood vessels to grow.
Findings have shown that cinnamon is toxic to cancer cells — it kills them.
More research has to be done before anyone can act on this information. But what great information it is.
15. Antimicrobial
An antimicrobial is an agent that kills microorganisms or stops their growth. Cinnamon falls into each of these categories of antimicrobials.
- Antibiotic/Antibacterial
- Antiviral
- Antiseptic
- Antifungal
What It Boils Down To
Both types of Cinnamon are healthy, Ceylon has a bit more antioxidants. But one contains a toxin that is harmful if you eat too much of it.
Well, I’m not going to tell anyone what to do. You do you.
Me, I’m going shopping for some Ceylon.
So, enjoy your coffee, add some cinnamon. Maybe even eat a cinnamon roll, or how about cinnamon chicken?
Whatever you do with whatever type of cinnamon you use, be happy about all the healthy benefits you got from that delicious cinnamon flavor.
References
- Hamidpour R, Hamidpour M, Hamidpour S, Shahlari M. Cinnamon from the selection of traditional applications to its novel effects on the inhibition of angiogenesis in cancer cells and prevention of Alzheimer’s disease, and a series of functions such as antioxidant, anticholesterol, antidiabetes, antibacterial, antifungal, nematicidal, acaracidal, and repellent activities. J Tradit Complement Med. 2015 Jan 16;5(2):66-70. doi: 10.1016/j.jtcme.2014.11.008. PMID: 26151013; PMCID: PMC4488098.
- Sim, J.X.F., Khazandi, M., Pi, H., Venter, H., Trott, D.J. and Deo, P. (2019), Antimicrobial effects of cinnamon essential oil and cinnamaldehyde combined with EDTA against canine otitis externa pathogens. J Appl Microbiol, 127: 99-108. https://doi.org/10.1111/jam.14298
- Nabavi SF, Di Lorenzo A, Izadi M, Sobarzo-Sánchez E, Daglia M, Nabavi SM. Antibacterial Effects of Cinnamon: From Farm to Food, Cosmetic and Pharmaceutical Industries. Nutrients. 2015 Sep 11;7(9):7729-48. doi: 10.3390/nu7095359. PMID: 26378575; PMCID: PMC4586554.
- How Cinnamon Lowers Blood Sugar and Fights Diabetes Medically reviewed by Sade Meeks, MS, RD, Nutrition — By Rachael Ajmera, MS, RD — Updated on November 8, 2022
- Kawatra P, Rajagopalan R. Cinnamon: Mystic powers of a minute ingredient. Pharmacognosy Res. 2015 Jun;7(Suppl 1):S1-6. doi: 10.4103/0974-8490.157990. PMID: 26109781; PMCID: PMC4466762.
- Wikipedia contributors. “Carminative.” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 27 Jun. 2023. Web. 10 Jul. 2023.
- Rao PV, Gan SH. Cinnamon: a multifaceted medicinal plant. Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2014;2014:642942. doi: 10.1155/2014/642942. Epub 2014 Apr 10. PMID: 24817901; PMCID: PMC4003790.
- Lu J, Zhang K, Nam S, Anderson RA, Jove R, Wen W. Novel angiogenesis inhibitory activity in cinnamon extract blocks VEGFR2 kinase and downstream signaling. Carcinogenesis. 2010 Mar;31(3):481-8. doi: 10.1093/carcin/bgp292. Epub 2009 Dec 7. PMID: 19969552; PMCID: PMC3105590.
- Kwon HK, Hwang JS, So JS, Lee CG, Sahoo A, Ryu JH, Jeon WK, Ko BS, Lee SH, Park ZY, Im SH. Cinnamon extract induces tumor cell death through inhibition of NFkappaB and AP1. BMC Cancer. 2010 Jul 24;10:392. doi: 10.1186/1471-2407-10-392. Erratum in: BMC Cancer. 2019 Nov 14;19(1):1113. PMID: 20653974; PMCID: PMC2920880.
