Friday 14 June 2013

Cinnamon: The Wonder Spice

Cinnamon Sticks and powder - both have their uses
There's quite a buzz around Cinnamon at the moment. It's the current 'must-use' spice and has been identified as having a number of qualities that make it great for weight loss and improving your health as well as for spicing up your food. We've been used to using Cinnamon in baking for a long time, but there are a number of other ways you can use it.

Why use Cinnamon?

Studies have shown that Cinnamon can lower LDL cholesterol, and you don't need large quantities of it to achieve this. Just 1/2 a teaspoon a day can have this effect and that can be an easy amount to add into your daily diet.

From a weight loss point of view Cinnamon is the wonder spice because of it's effect on Insulin resistance. A number of studies have now shown that Cinnamon can improve Insulin sensitivity and help regulate blood sugar levels. Again, just 1/2 a teaspoon a day can achieve this. Improved Insulin resistance and regulated blood sugar levels can help with weight loss, and can help people like me to process carbohydrates better. This means that the carbs will be used as energy instead of stored, and by regulating your blood sugar levels you will be less prone to 'between meal' hunger and snacking. For the last 8 months I've been using Cinnamon in my workout drink 4 days a week, and it does seem to help me resist snacking after exercise and may have played a part in the loss of my love handles - and keeping the fat off.

Amongst it's other health benefits Cinnamon has anti-bacterial qualities which means that it can be used as a natural preservative and can help fight some bacteria such as H. Pylori, which is the most common cause of Duodenitis and Duodenal ulcers.

And on top of this, Cinnamon is very low in carbohydrates. You need to use such a small amount of it that if you are using it as a sweetener it's a much better option than sugar or other sweeteners. This means that Cinnamon is what I would consider to be the Paleo sweetener.

How can I use Cinnamon?

Cinnamon can be used in a number of ways, in sweet and savoury dishes and in drinks. Both Cinnamon powder and Cinnamon sticks are handy to keep in your store cupboard. I use Cinnamon solely in sweet dishes and cold drinks, but I enjoy the occasional Spiced Chai Latte, a traditional Indian tea spiced with Cinnamon. If you look at Moroccan recipes, many of these use Cinnamon to spice them and it also acts as a preservative.

Cinnamon sprinkled over a pudding of fruit, nuts & natural yogurt
My first use of Cinnamon was in making Cinnamon Water, which I add to Orange squash for my workout drinks. I tried Cinnamon Water on its own, but it has quite a kick to it and can have a strong aftertaste which I found unpleasant. Cinnamon can be an acquired taste, and I know more people who dislike Cinnamon than those who like it. More recently I've been using Cinnamon as a sweetener. I sprinkle it on natural or Greek style yogurt which is a little bitter for my tastes. This gives me a delicately spiced and sweetened yogurt without adding huge amounts of carbs and sugar. I've been known to add it to cheap coffee, rather than sugar, to take the edge off the flavour. In these instances I just use a dash of Cinnamon powder. Even using it daily for the last 4 weeks my bottle of Cinnamon powder has barely been touched.

Further Reading

There is a lot of information online about the health benefits of Cinnamon, here are a selection of articles if you want to know more:

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