Herb Notes: The Benefits of Cinnamon
With its familiar sweet and pungent taste, cinnamon is a common spice that makes an exceptionally tasty addition to every meal it graces. Cinnamon’s gifts go far beyond its flavor, however: in fact, herbalists know that cinnamon offers many healing gifts.
Want to learn more about the gifts of cinnamon?
Let’s dive into three key health benefits of cinnamon…
1. Cinnamon for Digestion
Cinnamon is a warming spice that can help support healthy digestion. It's particularly helpful for easing stagnant digestion with gas, cramping, and bloating. My favorite way to enjoy the digestive benefits of cinnamon include cooking with this spice and also enjoying a cinnamon-spiced milk with my meals. Next time you're making your favorite soup or stir-fry, try adding a pinch of this culinary spice to the recipe!
2. Cinnamon for Colds
Cinnamon’s warming and antimicrobial properties also make it a great herbal ally during colds and the flu. When I feel sick with a cold or flu, I brew up a cup of plant-based cinnamon milk to sip on, and I often notice it immediately improve my congestion, aches, and cold body temperature.
3. Cinnamon for Oral Health
Cinnamon’s antimicrobial properties and anti-inflammatory properties also make it a wonderful herbal ally for oral health. Brushing your teeth with cinnamon powder can help support teeth and gum health. The antimicrobial effects of cinnamon can support the oral microbiome and even help improve halitosis.
Cinnamon Contraindications
If you’re excited about working with cinnamon, it’s important to know some key contraindications. Large amounts of cinnamon are contraindicated during pregnancy. There are some concerns about potential harmful properties of cassia cinnamon in large amounts on the liver, so opt for ceylon cinnamon instead. As Rosalee de la Forêt writes in her cinnamon plant profile on HerbMentor, “Cinnamon can significantly lower blood glucose levels, so people with diabetes should closely monitor their insulin if they wish to regularly take cinnamon… Cinnamon is such an effective blood thinner that it is not advised to take therapeutic doses of cinnamon at the same time as blood thinning medications.”1
Want to Learn More About Other Common Herbs' Benefits?
Now that you've learned a little bit about the health benefits of cinnamon, you might be wondering how you can learn more about the medicinal properties of other common plants.
Well, here’s the easy way to get more info about some of our favorite herbs: download a FREE deck of our top 12 Herb Notes here. You’ll learn all about the medicinal properties of common herbs like elderberry, dandelion, and more.
And before I go, I couldn't help but answer a few frequently asked questions about cinnamon...
Where can I get cinnamon?
You can get cinnamon in the spice aisle at your local grocery store. You can either get cinnamon powder or cinnamon sticks. I tend to get ground cinnamon (cinnamon powder) because it can be easier to cook with. Some stores, especially health food stores with bulk tea sections, will also sell cinnamon chips, which can be a nice option for making tea with.
What can I cook with cinnamon?
There are so many different delicious things you can cook with this popular spice. You can add cinnamon to your favorite baked goods, soups, and roasted veggies. You can make cinnamon rolls, add a pinch of cinnamon to your hot chocolate, or make a tasty cinnamon tea with milk. You can seek inspiration from different food products in the desserts section at your local grocery store to see which ones include cinnamon.
What are the types of cinnamon?
There are a few different common types of cinnamon you can find at the grocery store. These include cassia cinnamon (Cinnamomum cassia) and ceylon cinnamon (Cinnamomum verum). Ceylon cinnamon is often referred to as “true cinnamon.” Ceylon cinnamon has a sweeter, more mild taste that cassia cinnamon. Cassia cinnamon has higher coumarin content; these higher levels of coumarins can thin the blood. As Rosalee de la Forêt notes in her monograph on HerbMentor, “Regularly ingesting more than one teaspoon of cassia cinnamon powder per day could pose a health risk to some individuals including those with liver problems, those taking anticoagulant medicines or those about to undertake surgery.”2
What part of the plant does cinnamon come from?
Cinnamon comes from the inner bark of the cinnamon tree — so cinnamon powder is just ground up cinnamon bark. Cinnamon is an evergreen tree in the family Lauraceae.
What are the potential benefits of cinnamon?
As I mentioned above, some of the medicinal properties of cinnamon include that it can help support healthy digestion, immunity, and oral health. In addition, cinnamon’s antispasmodic and anti-inflammatory properties make it supportive for addressing pain.
Footnotes
The Herbal Remedy Vault has all of our printable recipe cards...
