HOT APPLE cider tastes flat without a cinnamon stick, and toast, cookies, candies, and fruit salads all benefit from a generous sprinkle of cinnamon powder. But cinnamon (Cinnamomum zeylanium) is more than just a kitchen spice. This herb's been used medicinally for thousands of years.
Modern science has confirmed its value for preventing infection and indigestion and has also discovered a couple of new therapeutic uses for the herb. Most cinnamon comes from Asia and the West Indies. To harvest the spice, collectors strip the aromatic bark from branches of trees no more than three years old.
These strips are what we know as cinnamon sticks. Ancient Chinese herbals mention it as early as 2700 BC, and Chinese herbalists still recommend it for fever, diarrhoea, and menstrual problems. Cinnamon was an ingredient in ancient Egyptian embalming mixtures. In the Bible, Moses used it in holy anointing oil. After the fall of Rome, trade between Europe and Asia became difficult, but cinnamon was so prized that it still found its way West.
CINNAMON BENEFITS
Fights tooth decay: several toothpastes are cinnamon-flavoured for good reason. Cinnamon is an antiseptic that helps kill the bacteria that cause tooth decay and gum disease.
Soothes upset stomach: like many culinary spices, cinnamon helps calm the stomach. A Japanese study of animals revealed that this spice may also help prevent ulcers. To brew a stomach-soothing tea, use one-half to three-quarter teaspoon of powdered cinnamon per cup of boiling water. Steep for 10 to 20 minutes. Drink up to three cups a day.
Clears up urinary-tract infections: one German study showed that cinnamon "suppresses completely" the cause of most urinary-tract infections (Escherichia coli bacteria) and the fungus responsible for vaginal yeast infections (Candida albicans).
Allow diabetics to use less insulin: in adult-onset (Type II) diabetes, the pancreas produces insulin, but the body can't use it efficiently to break down blood sugar. Researchers discovered that cinnamon reduces the amount of insulin necessary for glucose metabolism. One-eighth of a teaspoon of cinnamon triples insulin efficiency. For people with diabetes, taking one-half to three-quarter teaspoon of ground cinnamon with each meal may help control blood sugar levels.
SOME RECIPES (THERE'S A LOT MORE)
Make a paste of honey and cinnamon powder, apply on bread instead of jelly and jam and eat it regularly for breakfast. It reduces the cholesterol in the arteries and saves patient from heart attack.
Take one part honey to two parts of lukewarm water and one teaspoon of cinnamon powder, make a paste and massage it in skin slowly. The pain recedes within a minute or two. Arthritis patients may take daily, morning and night, one cup of hot water with two spoons of honey and one teaspoon cinnamon powder. If taken regularly even chronic arthritis can be cured.
Take two tablespoons of cinnamon powder and one teaspoon of honey in a glass of luke warm water and drink it. It destroys the germs in the bladder.
Make a paste of one teaspoon of cinnamon powder and five teaspoons of honey and apply on the aching tooth. This may be applied three times a day till the tooth stops aching.
Those suffering from common or severe colds should take one tablespoon lukewarm honey with one-quarter spoon cinnamon powder daily for three days. This process will cure most chronic cough, cold and clear the sinuses.
SAFETY CONSIDERATIONS
The amounts of cinnamon normally used in food are non-toxic, although some people experience allergic reactions after eating this spice.
Cinnamon oil is a different story. Applied to the skin, it may cause redness and burning. Taken internally, it can cause nausea, vomiting and possibly even kidney damage. Never ingest cinnamon oil.
Culinary cinnamon is on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's list of herbs generally regarded as safe. For otherwise healthy non-pregnant adults, there's no danger from medicinal doses.
Source:http://www.prevention.com/cda/finder/1,1345,1023,00.html; http://www.stakich.com/
honeyinmedicine.htm; http://www.metromkt.net/viable/
1cinnamo.shtml;
Dr. Sylvia Mitchell, research fellow (Graduate School), Biotechnology Centre, University of the West Indies, Mona, email: smitchel@uwimona.edu.jm
