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What is the benefits of cinnamon?
Cinnamon is well known for its blood-sugar-lowering properties. Apart from the beneficial effects on insulin resistance, cinnamon can lower blood sugar by several other mechanisms. First, cinnamon has been shown to decrease the amount of glucose that enters your bloodstream after a meal.
Is Cassia the same as cinnamon?
When ground, it is hard to distinguish between the two. But the difference is in the color and smell of each of the spices. Cinnamon is warmer in tone and tan in color with a sweet flavor. Cassia is more of a reddish brown in color and has a more coarse texture, with a stronger, yet more bitter flavor.
What does Cassia do to your body?
Cassia cinnamon contains chemicals that seem to improve insulin sensitivity, which might help blood sugar control in people with diabetes. It also contains cinnamaldehyde. This chemical might help fight bacteria and fungi. Cassia cinnamon is a very common spice and flavoring agent in foods.
What does cinnamon do to a woman?
Like other herbs with warming properties such as ginger, cloves and nutmeg, cinnamon increases blood flow and raises body temperature. Just a small amount of cinnamon oil rubbed onto the nether regions is said to act as a powerful sexual stimulant.
Which is better cinnamon or cassia?
Both Ceylon and cassia are healthy and delicious. However, if you intend to consume large amounts of this spice or take a supplement, cassia can be harmful because of the coumarin content. At the end of the day, Ceylon cinnamon is better quality and much safer.
How do I know if my cinnamon is Ceylon or cassia?
Another key difference between the two is found in the taste. Cassia Cinnamon tastes stronger and hotter while Ceylon Cinnamon is full of lighter, brighter citreous tones. When it comes to colour, Ceylon Cinnamon is tan brown whereas Cassia Cinnamon takes some reddish dark brown.
What is cassia used for in the Bible?
Cassia is an essential oil that was an ingredient in anointing oil as described in Exodus 30:22–25 and in Psalms 45:7–9. Besides being used on people, the Bible tells us anointing oil was also used in making clothing fragrant. In Ezekiel 27:18–19 we learn that Cassia oil was also used in trade.
Does Cassia seed help in weight loss?
Cassia nomame prevents the intestines from absorbing dietary fat, which might promote weight loss in some people.
What is the health benefit of cassia seed?
Cassia seeds (or Semen Cassiae) is a widely used Chinese medicinal herb. It is used primarily to clear heat in the body and is often prescribed for people with blood shot, irritated, swollen or teary eyes. The cooling effect means that it can be helpful to aid sleep and is sometimes used to aid with constipation.
Can cinnamon reduce belly fat?
Scientists found that cinnamon extract helped increase brown fat in subcutaneous (fat layer under the skin) fat cells (4). This is good for people with belly fat. Belly fat or fat in the waist region is white fat. Consuming cinnamon may help turn the belly fat (white fat) into brown.
Can I drink cinnamon water everyday?
If you are looking to lose weight, then drinking cinnamon water on a regular basis is a good idea. However, if you are not trying to lose weight, there is no need to drink it every day. Simply adding cinnamon to your water once or twice a week will provide some health benefits.
How can I use cinnamon to get pregnant?
You can sprinkle some freshly ground cinnamon onto your food every morning, or you can take a daily dose of honey and cinnamon to conceive. Other foods such as whole milk have great benefits for fertility, so cinnamon and milk fertility treatment are beneficial for those who like to add milk to their diet.
Their Characteristics, Uses, and Benefits
Lindsey Goodwin is a food writer and tea consultant with more than 12 years of experience exploring tea production and culture.
What Is Cinnamon?
Cinnamon is a spice made from the bark of species of the cinnamon tree. It can be purchased in its reddish-brown ground form or in the form of curled sticks (quills). The word cinnamon can legally be applied to both true cinnamon and cassia in the U.S., while in the U.K.
Varieties of Cinnamon
In North America, the most common spice labeled as cinnamon is actually cassia, also known as Chinese cinnamon. It is harvested from the bark of the evergreen Cinnamomum aromaticum tree, which is native to southern Bangladesh, China, India, Uganda, and Vietnam.
Origins
Cinnamon and cassia have been used as a spice for thousands of years, even utilized during embalming in ancient Egypt and scenting anointing oil in the Old Testament. It was brought to these areas via land and sea spice routes from India and China, but the sources were kept secret by Arab spice traders.
What Does It Taste Like?
Cinnamon has a warm, sweet flavor and pungent aroma. The taste and scent come from cinnamaldehyde, which makes up most of the essential oil of cinnamon, but also 80 additional aromatic compounds. Cassia has a stronger flavor than the more subtle true cinnamon, which can have floral notes.
Cooking With Cinnamon
If you see cinnamon on the ingredient list for recipes in the U.S., you can safely assume it refers to the common cassia cinnamon from the supermarket. Some recipes call for cinnamon sticks (quills) while others call for ground (powdered) cinnamon. Ground cinnamon can be added before cooking or baking as it will maintain its flavor and aroma.
Recipes With Cinnamon
Around the world, cinnamon and cassia are both commonly used to flavor foods and beverages. Although it is often used to flavor sweet foods, cassia can also lend warmth and flavor to savory meat and curry dishes. True cinnamon is sometimes used in savory dishes in the Middle East.
Cassia Cinnamon Vs. "True" Cinnamon
I have about six different packages of cinnamon lying around in my kitchen but only three are labeled with their actual identities based on their place of origin: Korintje (Indonesian cinnamon), Saigon (Vietnamese cinnamon), and Ceylon (Sri Lankan cinnamon).
Cinnamon Health Benefits
Cinnamon contains various flavonoids that have antioxidant properties, with some studies showing it can help lower high cholesterol and blood sugar. Cassia has been used as a dietary supplement far back as 2700 BC. Before it made its way to Europe in the 1700s, it had been a part of many cultures as cooking spice, perfume, and medicine.
Here Come the Recipes
Cinnamon in the United States is often found in sweet recipes, such as sweet glazy cinnamon rolls and snickerdoodle cookies, but coming from a Chinese background, I grew up tasting cinnamon as one of many spices often used in savory dishes, such as my grandfather's braised pork belly.
What is cinnamon used for?
Cinnamon is used mainly as an aromatic condiment and flavouring additive in a wide variety of cuisines, sweet and savoury dishes, breakfast cereals, snackfoods, tea and traditional foods.
Who controlled cinnamon?
This cinnamon eventually competed with Sri Lankan cinnamon, which was controlled by the Portuguese. In 1638, Dutch traders established a trading post in Sri Lanka, took control of the manufactories by 1640, and expelled the remaining Portuguese by 1658.
What is cinnamon used for?
The ancient Egyptians used cinnamon along with myrrh to embalm the dead, and the Romans burned it on funeral pyres.
What are quills used for?
Quills Rolled-up pieces of cinnamon bark are great for steeping in a cup of tea, coffee, or hot cider, or throw them into a slow cooker with meat. The true cinnamon variety of quills are known as Ceylon sticks. More on Coffee and Your Health.
Where does cinnamon come from?
Cinnamomum verum, also known as true cinnamon or Ceylon cinnamon, comes primarily from Sri Lanka.
What is soft cinnamon?
It is also sometimes called soft cinnamon because of its soft texture. If you hear the term Mexican cinnamon, this is often what it refers to. "It's more herbal and savory, not super sweet," says Frisch. 2. Cinnamomum burmannii (Korintje Cinnamon) Sometimes called Korintje cinnamon, this one is generally milder.
What is cinnamon used for?
Cinnamon is used widely in both sweet and savory dishes. If you are looking for a savory application, Frisch recommends Ceylon cinnamon ( Cinnamomum verum) as it lends itself to savory dishes. "Cinnamon in rice, in tomato sauce — so good," he says.
Where does cinnamon come from?
Believe it or not, cinnamon actually comes from the inner bark of a tree. When harvested, it is very light in color and turns dark brown as it dries. It is then ground into a powder. The various species of cinnamon come from different types of cinnamon trees, all originating from the Cinnamomum genus.
Overview
Cinnamon is a spice obtained from the inner bark of several tree species from the genus Cinnamomum. Cinnamon is used mainly as an aromatic condiment and flavouring additive in a wide variety of cuisines, sweet and savoury dishes, breakfast cereals, snack foods, teas, and traditional foods. The aroma and flavour of cinnamon derive from its essential oil and principal component, cinna…
Etymology
The English word "cinnamon", attested in English since the 15th century, deriving from the Ancient Greek κιννάμωμον (kinnámōmon, later κίνναμον : kínnamon), via Latin and medieval French intermediate forms. The Greek was borrowed from a Phoenician word, which was similar to the related Hebrew word קנמון (qinnāmōn).
The name "cassia", first recorded in late Old English from Latin, ultimately derives from the Hebre…
History
Cinnamon has been known from remote antiquity. It was imported to Egypt as early as 2000 BC, but those who reported that it had come from China had confused it with Cinnamomum cassia, a related species. Cinnamon was so highly prized among ancient nations that it was regarded as a gift fit for monarchs and even for a deity; a fine inscription records the gift of cinnamon …
Cultivation
Cinnamon is an evergreen tree characterized by oval-shaped leaves, thick bark and a berry fruit. When harvesting the spice, the bark and leaves are the primary parts of the plant used. Cinnamon is cultivated by growing the tree for two years, then coppicing it, i.e., cutting the stems at ground level. The following year, about a dozen new shoots form from the roots, replacing those that were cut. …
Production
In 2020, four countries accounted for 98% of the world production of cinnamon, a total of 222,122 tonnes: Indonesia, China, Vietnam, and Sri Lanka.
Cinnamon sticks are harder to counterfeit than cinnamon powder, that without reliable certification can be mixed with cassia and falsely marketed as authentic. For example, in one analysis authentic Ceylon cinnamon bark contained 143 mg/kg but marked samples contained 3…
Food uses
Cinnamon bark is used as a spice. It is principally employed in cookery as a condiment and flavouring material. It is used in the preparation of chocolate, especially in Mexico. Cinnamon is often used in savoury dishes of chicken and lamb. In the United States and Europe, cinnamon and sugar are often used to flavour cereals, bread-based dishes such as toast, and fruits, especially apples; …
Characteristics
Ceylon cinnamon may be crushed into small pieces by hand while Indonesian cinnamon requires a powerful blender.
The flavour of cinnamon is due to an aromatic essential oil that makes up 0.5 to 1% of its composition. This essential oil can be prepared by roughly pounding the bark, macerating it in sea water, and then quickly distilling the whole. It is of …
Health-related research
Cinnamon has a long history of use in traditional medicine as a digestive aid, however, contemporary studies are unable to find evidence of any significant medicinal or therapeutic effect.
Reviews of clinical trials reported lowering of fasting plasma glucose and inconsistent effects on hemoglobin A1C (HbA1c, an indicator of chronically elevated plasma glucose). Four of the revie…