Super Foods Blog

Eat plenty of cinnamon for good taste and great health

For over four thousand years, ancient Chinese, Indians and Egyptians have used cinnamon as a medicine for various ailments and in cooking. It is not clear whether it was used in cooking first or as a medicine first. What ever its origins, this wonderful aromatic spice’s properties of being antiseptic, anti-inflammatory, astringent and healing, has been traditionally used for gastrointestinal ailments, heart problems, diabetes and a myriad other ailments. The Egyptians even used it for embalming.
Cinnamon spice is the aromatic bark of the Cinnamomum verum tree, belonging to the laurel family and native to Sri Lanka. Other trees from the same families and aromatic cassia are found in China and southern Asia. Due to its demand for its health benefits and its use in cooking, today it is commercially grown in many tropical countries. The Arabs introduced the fragrant spice to the Europeans using the famous overland spice route. It has been fought over, traded for, used as currency and at times it has been more expensive than gold. Today it is cheap and easily available as curled dried bark called quills or powdered and you can pick them up in grocery stores everywhere.

Ancient and modern cultures have used and continue to use cinnamon for its wonderful aroma and taste in cooking and its great medicinal properties. It has traditionally been used for gastrointestinal disorders, flatulence, morning sickness, diabetes, heart problems, high blood pressure and its anti-inflammatory, antiseptic, astringent and food preserving properties.

Scientific studies have confirmed the many beneficial effects of this spice. The properties have been attributed to the basic aromatic oils, cinnamaldehyde, cinnamylacetate, cinnnamyl alcohol and other volatile substances found in the bark. Studies have also shown that cinnamon does have unique antinflammatory, antimicrobial, antifungal, properties in addition to increasing brain activity by just smelling it. Science has also confirmed its properties in helping insulin absorption in diabetics, helping reduce cholesterol and blood pressure and various other beneficial effects.

Let’s take a look at some of them. It acts as a digestive aid as it is antiflatulent, antibacterial, anti fungal and antiseptic. All of this aids digestion and prevents infection and discomfort. It relieves aches and pains like menstrual cramping, muscle and joint pains and stiffness, toning up tissues at the same time. It improves circulation by stimulating the brain and prevents platelets from clotting unnecessarily. It also reduces cholesterol in the blood and regulates blood pressure. It gives relief from colds, congestion and allergies. It relieves arthritic and rheumatic pain due to its anti-inflammatory properties. Being antibacterial, it prevents urinary tract infections, gum disease and tooth decay. It helps in Type 2 diabetes by increasing insulin absorption, thus normalizing the blood glucose. It alleviates liver complications and helps bile absorption.

The myriad beneficial properties of this spice should make it a daily part of our diet. Light up those cinnamon candles to activate the brain. Perfume your house with the smell of apple pie baking with cinnamon. Leave cinnamon sticks in bowls around the house and find those positive changes so beneficial to handle the stress of daily life.

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