Cinnamon: Health Benefits and Damages

Cinnamon is an indispensable spice. Appears on store shelves thanks to an evergreen tree - ceylon cinnamon, belonging to the laurel family. The tree reaches a height of 6-12 meters. It grows only in tropical areas, cultivated on moist soil.

Kinds of Cinnamon

Its types are very diverse, and each cinnamon has its own characteristics:

1. Ceylon. It is a tube that is very easy to break, since its thickness is only up to 1 mm. But the best is the one that is no thicker than writing paper in thickness. The color of the upper part may be brown - very light or with a yellow tint. It has a strong aroma and sweet-burning taste. It is cultivated mainly in Sri Lanka, India, as well as in Brazil, Indonesia and Malaysia. This is the best view.
2. Malabar. It has a rough appearance with thick walls - more than 3 mm, the color is dark brown, unevenly colored. Taste qualities - with bitterness and astringent properties. The native land of this species is southwestern India.
3. Cinamon. It is thin pieces of bark from 1 to 2 cm. The outer part has a very light beige color, the inside is yellow-red. The aroma has a specific - spicy-spicy, taste - spicy-burning. This species is brought from the Moluccas.
4. Chinese Its appearance is fragments of the bark, the thickness of which is more than 2 mm. The outer color of the bark is reddish brown, gray-brown blotches are noticeable. The taste is burning and sharp, astringent, sweetish. Cultivated on plantations in China, Laos, Cambodia.

How to distinguish real cinnamon from cassia

First of all, in order not to be mistaken in choosing natural high-quality cinnamon, you should pay attention to aroma when choosing. Cassia has a rough, but sweeter and less intense smell. True seasoning has a refined noble aroma, softer, with notes of warmth and pleasant sweetness.

If the product is presented in the form of sticks, you can also determine the color by color:

1. Real cinnamon has a uniform color. Most often represented by light brown sticks. And cassia, in turn, is reddish-brown or with a grayish-brown tint, both on the outside and on the inside.
2. The best variety has a closed surface at both ends, the ends are specially twisted in the form of a ram's horn. And at the cassia, the ends are only slightly curved or simply straight, open.
3. You can verify the quality by examining the cut of the stick. The highest grade immediately shows the finest structure, the thickness of a paper sheet. With a strong press, you can easily break the fragile base, because such cinnamon is crushed without difficulty. It’s quite difficult to break the cassia, as it is rougher and thicker. When they begin to grind it, it does not crumble, but breaks into fibers, its sticks are hollow inside.

The label will help to find out about the type; it should contain information about the country that produces the goods. If you need high-quality spice, then you should purchase a product made in Ceylon. Spice from China, Vietnam or Indonesia lags in quality.If the product indicates that it is Germany, Israel or another country where it is not possible to grow Ceylon cinnamon, it is better to avoid acquiring such a spice, because there is no production of cinnamon, and the sale of bark from Ceylon is not established there. Price will also indicate quality. Real cinnamon is more expensive.

You can determine the quality with the help of iodine. Cassia will react to iodine in dark blue, and high-quality cinnamon will turn a bluish tint.

Important! In Chinese cinnamon, which is also called cassia, there is an increased amount of coumarin, and for humans this substance in high doses is toxic.

How much cinnamon can be consumed per day

Doctors advise to use no more than one teaspoon per kilogram or liter of food in various dishes. Coumarin in Ceylon cinnamon is contained in a small amount - 0.02 g / kg. In cassia much more - 2 g / kg.

Composition and calorie content

Calorie spice - 247 kcal. One stick contains approximately 10 kcal. The composition contains many useful components, so cinnamon is not only of interest to culinary experts all over the world, but also has many medicinal properties. It contains:

Vitamins

1. Vitamin A supports the immune system, eliminates keratinization of the skin, improves vision and promotes faster healing of wounds, makes the skin healthy.
2. Vitamin C is responsible for raising immunity, helps the respiratory tract, increases the strength of capillaries, synthesizes collagen, and relieves feelings of irritation, fatigue and drowsiness.
3. Vitamin B group helps to quickly absorb fats and proteins that have entered the stomach food, is responsible for cellular respiration, helps to form red blood cells, relieves anxiety conditions.
4. E is a vitamin antioxidant, which is needed as a preventive measure for the occurrence of tumors and vascular diseases.
5. Vitamin K has a positive effect on the cardiovascular system, participates in blood coagulation processes, enhances intestinal motility, supports liver and heart functions.
6. PP helps the body absorb protein better, normalizes gastric secretion, relieves pain in the stomach, and prevents the development of diarrhea.

Macro and microelements

1. Magnesium. This is an important component of enzymatic activity, has calming properties, helps the body absorb calcium and phosphorus.
2. Potassium. It promotes the elimination of fluid from the body, helps the conversion of glucose to glycogen, regulates the heart rhythm.
3. Calcium. It has an anti-stress effect, removes heavy metals, has anti-allergic properties.
4. Sodium. Supports osmotic blood pressure.
5. Iron. The main element of hemoglobin, is part of many enzymes.
6. Copper. Participates in hematopoiesis, protects joints, an indispensable participant in many metabolic processes.
7. Phosphorus. Transforms incoming food into energy. Helps to absorb vitamins easier and maintains a balance of magnesium and calcium.
8. Zinc. Thanks to him, normal respiration of tissues is restored, hemoglobin and red blood cells are regenerated. It plays an important role in the functions of the prostate gland.
9. Manganese. It has beneficial effects on the musculoskeletal system and sexual functions, restores lipid and carbohydrate metabolism.
10. Selenium. It is a preventive substance against cancer, stimulates the formation of antibodies.

Also included are polyphenol, coumarin, tannins, essential oils.

Useful properties of cinnamon

For women

It helps to establish the menstrual cycle, relieves pain, helps restore skin elasticity, remove swelling, cope with the manifestations of cellulite, relieves inflammation, and removes excess weight. In women, during menopause, the ability to maintain a sufficient amount of calcium is lost, and cinnamon can make up for this defect.

For men

The aroma of cinnamon wood has a beneficial effect on male libido, increases male potential and enhances sexual desire.Cinnamon relieves tension caused by anxiety and nervousness, as well as sexual tension. If you use spice in drinks or in food, a tonic effect on the genitals will soon affect. The presence of selenium in cinnamon is useful for men who have an active sex life, since this trace element is almost half found in the seminiferous tubules of the testicles, and is lost with the ejaculate.

During pregnancy

During pregnancy, this spice is prohibited due to the fact that it can provoke a contraction of the uterus.

When breastfeeding

When breastfeeding, if you do not exceed the daily norm, you can use cinnamon as a prophylactic to maintain a weakened body during this period. Thanks to its antiseptic effect, it will help to cope with viral infections, strengthen immunity. Tea with cinnamon will help maintain normal weight and get rid of accumulated extra pounds. To enhance lactation, a product is used, which includes milk, cinnamon, chopped walnuts, sugar.

But, in order not to harm the baby, it is necessary to introduce such a product into the diet very carefully and only after the baby is 4 months old. It is recommended to add spice to tea or kefir before morning feeding, and then watch the baby's reaction. If negative changes appear, for example, the baby will become more restless, allergic consequences will appear, problems associated with the gastrointestinal tract will begin, cinnamon will have to be abandoned for now.

For kids

Until the child is three years old, doctors do not recommend including cinnamon in the diet, but for the older age group it is useful and, above all, because of its composition it strengthens the immune system and supports normal bone and skeleton growth. But hyperactive children better not include this spice in the diet. Many recipes for baby food contain cinnamon to give aroma and taste. The main thing is to make sure that this new product in the diet does not cause an allergic reaction, although cinnamon does not belong to allergenic products.

What is useful cinnamon for weight loss

Some created recipes allow you to lose up to 3-4 kilograms per week, because they are low-calorie, with soothing properties.

How to drink cinnamon for weight loss
Thanks to this recipe, you can lose weight without diets, strengthen your immune system and restore the nervous system: a teaspoon of green tea is brewed per 100 g of water. Separately, a pinch of freshly ground cinnamon is added to 100 g of warmed milk with low fat content. Then the ingredients are mixed. Drinking is recommended a few hours before bedtime, and be sure the drink should be warm.

Recipes

1. Using spice with kefir, you can achieve excellent results if you decide to lose extra pounds. On a glass of fermented milk product, half without the top of a teaspoon of ground cinnamon is added. This recipe is used not only during the diet, but also when fasting days are needed.
2. For a drink that helps to lose weight, dried apples or herbs are used that do not cause side effects. Brew tea and add to it a separately brewed mixture consisting of dried apples, cinnamon and herbs. Three cups of 200 g should be drunk per day.

Cinnamon in medicine

Cinnamon, like many other spices, very well helps in the treatment of certain diseases. But still, you need a consultation with a doctor who will tell you in what doses cinnamon will be beneficial.

With diabetes

In diabetes mellitus, if it belongs to type II, cinnamon can be included in the diet, since the polyphenols and flavonoids contained in it have a positive effect on health. Decreases the level of glucose, as well as cholesterol by lowering the level of lipoproteins having a low density, but there is an increase in those that have a high density.Due to the presence of coumarin, blood liquefies, and, as you know, many patients experience a number of problems caused by blood viscosity, which significantly increases the risk of thrombosis.

Important: the glycemic index of cinnamon is very low - 5 units.

With pancreatitis

Studies have shown that this spice promotes pancreatic enzymes, resulting in normalized functioning of the stomach and pancreas. Also, stabilization of glucose levels is noted, which means that sugar absorption will be normal, which will have a beneficial effect on the pancreas. But still, the use of this aromatic powder should be reduced, and with an exacerbation of the disease it should be completely excluded from the diet.

With gastritis

The use of cinnamon in this disease depends on its stage and level of acidity. If an exacerbation has begun, it is better to abandon the spice, but in a state of stable remission it can serve as an adjunct treatment. To reduce acidity, you will need to drink boiled water with cinnamon before meals, 3 times a day. It is better to discuss the dose with the doctor. Helps the faster healing of wounds and reduce the inflammatory process of cinnamon, added to honey.

For the intestines

Cinnamon has a medicinal effect on the most diverse functions of the digestive tract, regulating the muscle tone of the intestines, possessing anti-inflammatory properties. Helps the production of mucus, protects the intestinal wall. But too much intestinal sensitivity indicates that it is better to reduce cinnamon intake.

For constipation

With constipation, cinnamon powder has a stimulating and antiseptic effect, due to the fact that it improves digestion and enhances appetite, is an effective herbal laxative, and restores intestinal tone.

With gout

Only a balanced diet and treatment delays the development of this disease. Seasonings must also be present in the diet, which includes cinnamon and vanilla, bay leaf and others.

For the liver

Cinnamon is essential for the liver as a cleansing product. But there are significant contraindications due to the presence of coumarin.

Keep in mind: due to the fact that the spice is a natural antibiotic, it can affect the properties of some therapeutic drugs.

Cinnamon in cosmetology

The women decided to use the beneficial properties of cinnamon by inventing many good recipes.

Cinnamon Hair Masks

Such procedures are important for the hair, give it shine and elasticity.

1. One of the best recipes is considered to be: honey in the amount of 2 tablespoons, cinnamon - half a teaspoon without top and oil, preferably olive, - one spoon (if the hair is long, the dose should be increased), mix and apply, massaging, on the hair. Cover with foil and wrap your head with a warm scarf. After an hour, rinse with warm water.
2. To accelerate hair growth, you can use cinnamon oil, mixing it with white clay, mustard powder, 1 tsp. Sahara. Such a composition is rubbed into the roots of the hair and lasts no more than 1 hour.

Face masks

1. To cleanse the face, restore its freshness, it is necessary to prepare mineral water or low-fat yogurt / sour cream - 1.5 teaspoons, add a teaspoon of cinnamon. Mix all components, apply gruel on face. Leave only for 3 minutes, rinse. It is advisable to perform this procedure in the evening, as slight redness of the skin is possible.
2. If the skin needs to be lightened or pigmentation needs to be eliminated, use this remedy: grind the third part of the banana to a pulp state, add half a teaspoon of cinnamon and a teaspoon of freshly squeezed lemon. Apply the mixture on a clean face. Wash off after 5 minutes.

Cinnamon essential oil: properties and applications

Due to the presence of essential oil, the plant has acquired such a typical smell. Such an oil is obtained in the usual manner using a distillation method.As a raw material, bark of young shoots is used. The result is an oil with a strong odor, and when undiluted, it has such aggressive properties that it can cause burns to unprotected skin or cause severe irritation. It is believed that this is one of the most dangerous allergens among ethers, so oil is not used as often as others. Usually it is diluted by adding other oils 5 times more.

But in diluted form, cinnamon oil has many advantages:

• it has a pronounced calming effect;
• hemostatic and antispasmodic properties;
• relieves attacks of dizziness and nausea;
• relieves inflammatory processes and lowers body temperature;
• It is used for fungal diseases.

If inhalation is necessary, add only three drops of oil. You can drip it into a cream to enrich its structure - no more than two drops.

Important: this essential oil should not be used if sensitive skin or a person is prone to nervous exhaustion.

The benefits and harms of tea and coffee with cinnamon

To maintain energy and vitality, to enhance metabolic processes in the body, stimulate the cardiovascular system, and also often use cinnamon for weight loss in drinks. Most often it is green tea or coffee. Excellent in these drinks, in addition, components such as ginger and lemon, black pepper and milk are combined.

The fastest and easiest way to make tea is to add a teaspoon of tea leaves and a third of a teaspoon of cinnamon to pour boiling water and leave to infuse for three minutes. If you hold for a longer time, the drink may acquire bitterness, so it is recommended to drink immediately, and not make a supply. It is advisable to drink such tea several times a day.

To improve the digestive tract, to get rid of excess weight, use this drink: brew tea - green or black - 200 g. Grind cinnamon (2 g) separately and ginger to make an incomplete teaspoon. Add spices to the drink, optionally honey can be added.

Cinnamon is often added to coffee to improve taste. The most delicious is considered to be made from fried freshly ground beans. These drinks are useful in reasonable amounts.

Cinnamon with honey: benefits and harms

The healing properties of cinnamon are manifested in combination with honey. This is an excellent antimicrobial agent that protects the body from inflammation for a long time, improves the digestive process, provides a feeling of satiety. Colds are treated faster.

If you are illiterate to use these products, you can harm your health and provoke an exacerbation of disease.

The use of cinnamon in cooking

Cinnamon will fully reveal its aroma and taste if it is ground immediately before use. But first, professional chefs advise a short time to fry the sticks in a dry pan, and then with a coffee grinder or in a mortar turn into powder.

Some housewives fry the sticks in some vegetable oil over low heat until a true aroma appears.

First of all, cinnamon is used in all dishes where sugar is present. This means that any stewed fruit and jelly, puddings and casseroles, fruit pies and rolls, sweet pastries and baked fruits or vegetables, jellies and mousses, milk and chocolate drinks and liquors can be seasoned with cinnamon, and the taste will become much more refined. Ground cinnamon can also be added to meat dishes, from which they will become spicy and unusual. For example, add when cooking to duck or goose, to minced meat, meatballs, when cooking meat on the grill. Cinnamon improves the taste of jam and jam, marinades and various seasonings.

If the dish is being cooked over a fire, add cinnamon about 10 minutes before the end of cooking. If the dish is served cold, for example, curd or salad, this spice is added immediately before meals.

Harm and contraindications

Cinnamon can have a negative effect if a person has a predisposition to bleeding and increased intestinal sensitivity. If nervous exhaustion, epilepsy attacks are observed. It is not recommended to use the spice for the elderly, as well as those who have high blood pressure, and at a time when the body temperature is elevated.

Doctors do not recommend even in small quantities to eat dishes that contain cinnamon for pregnant women.

Symptoms of Cinnamon Allergy

Undoubtedly, cinnamon has excellent taste and gives a healing effect, but some people react to this spice with an allergic reaction. It manifests itself in very unpleasant phenomena:

• stomach pains begin;
• redness on the skin that causes itching and burning;
• the nose is blocked;
• dizziness occurs;
• difficulty breathing;
• swelling and inflammation can occur anywhere in the body;
• vomiting and nausea appear;
• Often spice provokes diarrhea.

Also, fragrant powder can in rare cases affect the heart rate and cause fainting.

If the body reacts negatively to cinnamon and products with its content, it is better to abandon them.

How to choose and store cinnamon

Not always, when buying cinnamon, the buyer acquires this particular spice. Often in the package appears cassia, also belonging to this type of Indonesian cinnamon, but they still have a difference. Both species are a product of cinnamon, but of different varieties. It is cultivated mainly in China and Indonesia, and the useful properties of the Indonesian counterpart are slightly different.

To obtain a high-quality product, cinnamon shoots, which are 2-3 years old, and a very thin layer of bark are taken, and cassia has a different production technology. Raw materials of trees that are more than 7 years old are used for it. It successfully replaces natural spice, but it is still fraught with danger due to the high concentration of coumarin. This substance, which in large doses causes headaches and is toxic to humans.

You can preserve the aroma, taste and valuable qualities of cinnamon if you follow a number of recommendations:

1. Hide from sunlight, do not leave in a very warm room or with a high percentage of humidity, especially if the spice is stored in sticks.
2. In order to keep the unique aroma unchanged, it must not be mixed with another spice during storage.
3. Keep in a container opaque, tightly corked. Best of all, if it is glass, ceramic or porcelain.
4. Shelf life of cinnamon is limited. In sticks, it can remain valid for 12 months, if it is chopped - up to 6.

If the spice has lost its unique flavor, then the expiration date has expired.

How to grind cinnamon sticks

An ordinary grater is not suitable for turning sticks into powder. And if you use a blender or coffee grinder, you can only get a mixture with a heterogeneous structure. First, the required number of sticks must be kept on low heat in a dry frying pan. This procedure is useful in that moisture will go away, it will be easier to grind, and aromatic qualities will be greatly enhanced. Now the sticks are placed in a reliable sturdy package and held on it several times with a rolling pin, pressing firmly. So the crushed parts turn out. You can use a mortar for these purposes - the effect will be the same.

Now a coffee grinder or blender comes in handy. If not all of the powder is used, it must be set aside in a separate container so that its specific taste and smell do not interrupt other spices.

Interesting facts about cinnamon

1. This spice is so popular and in demand that for it they came up with a certain measure to control the quality of cinnamon. They called her Excel. If this is the highest quality, then cinnamon is indicated by the marking “00000”, and then drops to the mark “0” and then to the lower limit from I to IV. The larger the number, the less quality the spice.
2. Data on this plant is contained in the book of the emperor Shen-Nung-Kwan, in which he described the plants used by people, and from this treatise it is known that cinnamon was known more than 2800 BC.
3. Until now, some people use cinnamon for religious rites.

Photo of Cinnamon