Benefits Of Cinnamon
Cinnamon is well known as a delicious spice and is used in the preparation of a variety of dishes and recipes. Apart from its use as a spice, cinnamon is very beneficial for the body and is used as a medicine for the treatment of various ailments. The many befits of cinnamon to the body include:
1. Enhances the activity of the brain.
The most important benefit of cinnamon is that it enhances the activity of the brain. It acts as a brain tonic. Cinnamon also helps to remove nervous tension and reduces loss of memory.
2. Helps maintain sugar levels in type II diabetes.
Cinnamon helps to control the blood sugar levels in people suffering from diabetes. There are two types of diabetes. Type I diabetes occurs because of decreased secretion of insulin by pancreas and type II is genetic in origin. Studies have revealed that that cinnamon is helpful for patients suffering with type II diabetes. Cinnamon contains a polyphenol compound that is water-soluble and is known as MHCP. This substance improves the function of insulin in the body and thus maintains the blood sugar levels.
3. Improves colon health.
Cinnamon helps to improve the health of the colon. This ultimately helps in reducing the possibility of fatal diseases like colon cancer.
4.Improves digestive health.
Cinnamon helps in reducing the acidity in the stomach and thus improves the overall digestive health of the person.
5.Enhances the secretion of breast milk.
Cinnamon helps in increasing the secretion of breast milk especially among new mothers.
6.Cinnamon improves metabolism.
Cinnamon supports and enhances metabolism of fats, starches, and many other nutrients. It thus improves the digestion of food in the digestive tract.
7.Helps in lowering blood pressure.
Cinnamon contains a chemical substance that helps in the thinning of blood. When the blood is thin it flows freely in the arteries and the veins. This thin blood puts less pressure on the walls of arteries, thus lowering the blood pressure.
8.Improves blood circulation.
Cinnamon helps in improving the circulation of blood in the body.
9.Puts away bad breath.
Cinnamon is also used to clear up foul smell from the mouth and the gums.
10.Helps during cold.
Cinnamon helps during cold by clearing up a stuffed nose.
Apart from the great enhancement of taste and flavor of your food cinnamon offers so many benefits to your health. It is therefore important to include and increase the quantity of cinnamon to your diet and keep fit and healthy.
I suggest you update the article to include mention of medical concerns regarding the potential toxicity of Coumarin – present in Cassia Cinnamon, but almost absent from Cinnamon Zeylanicum, the original cinnamon from what we used to call Ceylon and is now Sri Lanka.
I learned about this when researching my own daily breakfast – which includes 1-2 g of cinnamon. My understanding is that this would be a potentially hazardous level of consumption if it was Cassia.
It was quite difficult to find a supplier guaranteed to be only dealing with the Sri Lankan product so, although I appreciate you might not wish to favour a commercial site, I pass on http://srilanka-cinnamon.com/index.html in case anyone else is keen to find a safe supply of this splendid spice.
In fact you’ll see on that page they take the opportunity to push the Coumarin message because it obviously favours their own product. But they didn’t even know about it until I informed them and advised them to exploit the information.
They are quite reasonably not overstating the case. It is only believed to be a potential hazard, as the article below makes clear, because it has produced a toxic response in animal models. There are no examples in the literature of cinnamon induced coumarin poisoning in humans. However, after reading material like
http://www.scribd.com/doc/38623146/Coumarin-The-Real-Story-Update2-1
I didn’t feel like being the first!