Spice It Up: The Health Benefits of Cinnamon

With winter in full swing, enjoy the warmth of seasonally spiced foods. Add flavor and kick the sugar with cinnamon. This nutritious spice has a sweet flavor to help reduce the need for sugar. Cinnamon is culled from the bark of tropical evergreen trees and is packed with protective phytochemicals. A recent review published in BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine shows the many health benefits cinnamon has to offer. Of the 70 studies reviewed, cinnamon was found to safely promote the following:

• Anti-microbial: Cinnamon has been shown to fight against many microbes including human rota-virus, salmonella and thrush.
• Lowers glucose: The spice can improve diabetic symptoms in humans. Cinnamon reduces blood glucose levels by lowering glucose absorption in the intestine and increasing absorption into cells where it is needed. It also increases glucose metabolism and insulin sensitivity.
• Lowers blood pressure: Cinnamon has been shown to have a dose response reduction in blood pressure in rat studies. In other words, the more cinnamon the rats were given, the greater the drop in blood pressure. 
• Lowers cholesterol: In mice and rabbit studies, the spice increased good HDL cholesterol while lowering bad LDL cholesterol.
• Antioxidant: Cinnamon oil has powerful antioxidant capacities. Subjects given cinnamon supplements have had increased free radical scavenging and decreased oxidative damage. 
• Healthy skin: Collagen production slows with aging, causing wrinkles and bags. Cinnamon extract has been shown to promote collagen formation in skin cells. 
• Osteoporosis prevention: Cinnamon has demonstrated that it can inhibit the cells that break down bone.
• Liver health: Rats treated with cinnamon showed a reduction in liver damage after sustaining injury compared with control rats.

Bottom Line: Cinnamon has long been used for herbal remedies. It has been studied extensively in cells and animals with positive results. Some studies show positive health outcomes in humans, but there is still a need for more research to fully understand the health impact of this phytonutrient dense spice. For now, it is certainly a healthy alternative to sugar with a warm, comforting flavor.

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