It’s common for people to get completely lost in the supplement market these days. They often end up spending ridiculous sums to buy products that may very well end up doing nothing.
For this reason I’m going to talk about a cheap natural substance today that has scientifically proven benefits for your health.
The Health Benefits of Cinnamon
Cinnamon is obtained from the bark of various species of the Cinnamomum tree and despite the different sources, it’s beneficial effects on health remain similar.
Regular consumption of Cinnamon helps to manage your blood-sugar levels, including helping to increase insulin sensitivity. It can also help with high blood pressure, cholesterol and even be beneficial to your fitness goals. In addition it is quite rich in fiber and can thus help stave off hunger sensations after a meal as well as improve digestion.
Dosing?
To get the most from this natural supplement, it’s recommended to consume about 3-6 grams daily. I’d recommend doing so mostly with high-carbohydrate foods so you can immediately notice its helpful effects in managing blood sugar levels. The general effects on your health last for a while, but will eventually disappear, so I suggest to consume it regularly.
There are many ways to consume cinnamon. Most use it with various baking goods but it’s also not uncommon to use it in drinks. It goes well with dairy products as well. With that said, I’d recommend to find ways to incorporate cinnamon into your existing diet rather than trying to rearrange it too much to make room for it. If you are already on a healthy and beneficial diet, messing it up can end up doing more harm than cinnamon will do good. For example, don’t start suddenly unnaturally huge amounts of ice cream just because it goes well with cinnamon.
Dangers!
I mentioned earlier that cinnamon is obtained from various species of the Cinnamomum tree. Now here lies the problem – the end product tends to contain a liver-toxic substance called coumarin.
At the moment the safe daily dose of coumarin is set at 0.1mg/kg. Which makes the daily tolerable dose for a 50 kg (110 lb) woman 5 mg of coumarin and for a 75 kg (165 lb) man, 7.5 mg of coumarin.
Now, the most common form of Cinnamon called Cassia can contain as much as 700-12,000 mg of coumarin per 1 kg of cinnamon. This means that despite the health benefits of cinnamon in general, consuming the 3-6 gram dose needed for those health benefits is also going to end up causing liver toxicity. Making Cassia a poor choice for everyday use.
Luckily there are less toxic variants available.
The best choice is Ceylon Cinnamon which at most, contains only 190 mg of coumarin per 1 kg. And that means you can safely consume your daily 3-6 grams without fear of toxicity.
Visually the ceylon cinnamon bark looks brighter and the taste is milder. It is hard to differentiate the two unless you can compare products. So, unless you can be sure the cinnamon you have is of the Ceylon type, I would not recommend consuming it in larger doses.
But when you do get your hands on the right stuff, I’m sure you’ll be pleasantly surprised by both the good taste and it’s effects.
Here are a few options I found:
Frontier Natural Products Cinnamon, Og, Grnd Ceyln, Ft, 1.76-Ounce
Frontier Herb Organic Powdered Ceylon Cinnamon, 1 Pound bag — 1 each.
Ceylon Cinnamon Capsules – ‘ True Cinnamon ‘ from Sri Lanka – 500mg – 60 Veggie Capsules
Enjoy!
– James
