Cinnamon’s Infection and Diabetes-Fighting Properties Revealed

Contributing writer for Wake Up World

Cinnamon’s medicinal potential is as rich and complex as its flavor and aroma, with balancing blood sugar and fighting infection at the top of the list.

Cinnamon is a familiar spice, but few are aware of just how diverse are its medicinal properties. The US National Library of Medicine houses well over 1300 abstracts on the subject of the various forms of cinnamon’s potential health benefits.

GreenMedInfo.com has gathered together research on no less than 60 potential health benefits of this highly valued spice on our research page dedicated to the topic: Cinnamon Medicinal Properties.

First, it must be clarified that there are a wide range of plants whose bark are sold as cinnamon. The first though less used form is known as Cinnamomum verum (literally “true cinnamon”). It is sometimes called Ceylon (the ancient name of Sri Lanka) cinnamon, as it is named after the geographic region where it was first commonly cultivated. Due to its rarity, it is more expensive and harder to find on the market.

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Other forms include:

C. cassia (Cassia or Chinese cinnamon)
C. burmannii ( Indonesian cinnamon)
C. loureiroi (Vietnamese cinnamon)

One of the major differences between C. verum and varieties such as C. burmannii and C. cassia is that the latter types contain much higher levels of coumarin, a naturally occurring phytochemical with blood-thinning properties. This has prompted European health agencies to warn against consuming large amounts of cinnamon varieties such as cassia.[i] Natural blood-thinning activity, of course, within the proper context can be life-saving, but when mixed with already dangerous blood-thinning drugs such as aspirin, can be a recipe for disaster – all the more reason why folks using spices and herbs in ‘pharmacological’ or heroic doses should consult a medical herbalist, or physician with a nuanced understanding of the benefits and potential harms of using high-dose herbal therapies.

Another issue that the US buyer of spices must be fully aware of is the likelihood that, unless explicitly labelled ‘USDA certified organic’, the cinnamon they are purchasing was exposed to toxic levels of gamma irradiation in a controversial process known as “electronic” or “cold” pasteurization. To learn more about this serious threat to our food supply read: The Invisible Nuclear Threat in Non-Organic Food.

Lastly, be mindful of the differences between the powdered whole herb, various water or alcohol extracts, and the oil itself. Some of the studies below focus solely on the oil component (90% of the oil is the therapeutic substance known as cinnamaldehyde) whereas others use water soluble components. The information listed below is not provided as medical advice but to illustrate the vast potential natural substances have to be used in a therapeutic manner.

Blood Sugar Disorders

Probably the most well-known health benefit of cinnamon is for blood sugar disorders. And this is for good reason. There is now a rather substantial body of clinical and preclinical research showing that it may help to improve the condition of both type 2 and type 1 diabetics in the following ways:

Type 2 diabetics: Improve fasting blood sugar,[ii] reduce glycated hemoglobin (A1C) and blood pressure,[iii] increase glucose optimization in a manner similar to metformin,[iv] [v]improve insulin signaling and sensitivity,[vi] [vii] and improve blood lipid profiles.[viii]
Type 1 diabetics: Protect against hypertension,[ix] protect against diabetes-associated kidney damage,[x] suppress post-meal blood sugar elevations,[xi] and contribute to ongoing reduction in blood sugar.[xii]

Infections

While there is extant folk medical lore indicating that honey mixed with cinnamon can help relieve a sore throat, or fight off infection, few realize it has been confirmed to have extensive anti-infective properties against a wide range of bacteria, viruses and fungi.

It makes sense that cinnamon bark would protect against infection, as one of the major biological functions of plant bark is as defense against predation (ie. infection).

What follows is an impressive range of pathogens that appear to succumb to cinnamon:

Aspergillus niger[xiii]
Campylobacter Infections[xiv]
Candida Infection[xv]
Coronaviridae (SARS-associated) Infections[xvi]
Escherichia coli Infections[xvii]
H1N1 Infection[xviii]
Head Lice[xix]
HIV Infections[xx]
Insect Bites: Repellent[xxi]
Klebsiella Infections[xxii]
Legionnaires’ disease[xxiii]
MRSA[xxiv]
Pseudomonas aeruginosa[xxv]
Staphylococcal Infections[xxvi]

Like many natural spices that have been used for thousands of years, we are only now just beginning to comprehend through scientific research how important they are, not simply for flavoring our foods but for helping keep us free of disease.

For an impressive list of traditional spices and herbs that have now been confirmed to have medicinal properties by empirical science, view GreenMedInfo’s article on the topic: When Science Confirms Tradition.

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