Cinnamon is a type of herb which is used as a culinary spice.  It is from the laurel family and is native to Sri Lanka and South India.  Its distinctive flavour comes from an aromatic essential oil which makes up just 0.5-1% of the spice. 

Cinnamon has been known for centuries and is even mentioned in the Bible.   The bark is used as a spice and is found in both sweet and savoury cooking as well as in drinks such as tea, cocoa and liqueurs.  In the Middle East it is often used in savoury dishes but in the States it is often combined with sugar and used on pancakes or in apple dishes. 

 

It has been suggested that cinnamon is helpful for a number of health problems including flatulence, heartburn, nausea, toothache and bad breath.  It is thought to have antibacterial properties and so might help with E coli and helicobacter pylori.  More recently it has had some publicity with regards to lowering cholesterol and the management of blood sugar and insulin resistance. 

One study in Diabetes Care in 2003 showed that cinnamon used on a daily basis could help to reduce glucose, total cholesterol and LDL (‘bad’) cholesterol in people with type 2 diabetes.  It seems to help lower glucose levels in Type 2 diabetes as it improves the transport of glucose into the cells.  Cinnamon is also thermogenic which means that it helps to burn off fat. 

This entry was posted on Thursday, May 1st, 2008 at 1:10 am and is filed under Diabetes, Ingredient Spotlights. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.