Three reasons to eat cinnamon plus ideas

There is a plethora of information out there about the wonderful benefits of eating cinnamon. Here are three that I consider to be the most significant health reasons to include cinnamon in your diet.  

1. It lowers blood sugar levels, making it a wonderful food for diabetics or those that are pre-diabetic.
2. It is high in antioxidants, lowering inflammation and reducing the effects of free radicals which contribute to the aging process.
3. It helps protect the heart by reducing high blood pressure and high cholesterol.

Cinnamon is also being studied for its benefits on brain health, HIV and Multiple Sclerosis to name a few.

Like all crazes, it’s easy to go overboard. So limit your daily intake at ½ teaspoon to 1 teaspoon a day. Cinnamon contains coumarin which can be harmful to the liver if you have too much, like taking cinnamon capsules for instance. Cassia cinnamon, cheaper and most commonly used, contains higher amounts of coumarin. Ceylon cinnamon, more expensive and a much purer quality of “true” cinnamon, has only trace amounts compared to the Cassia. (1)

This is a good reason to invest in the better quality cinnamon.

To get in your half to one teaspoon a day of cinnamon try these tips:

1. Sprinkle it on a latte
2. Add it to oatmeal (instead of sugar - it will taste sweet)
3. Put it in your pancake batter along with chopped peaches
4. Sprinkle it on top of a fruit salad
5. Sprinkle it on top of a graham cracker topped with nut butter or cream cheese
6. Bake a cored apple filled with finely chopped nuts, butter and cinnamon
7. Spread cream cheese on Melba Toast and sprinkle with cinnamon
8. Try out this recipe from the Taste Success USA Cookbook - Moroccan Beef - It is delicious and the secret ingredient? A cinnamon stick!