Most Americans don’t think of cinnamon as anything more than a spice to use in cooking and baking. I am here to remove the cinnamon stereotype and tell you why you should be consuming this super spice every day of your life. Loaded with nutrients, cinnamon can help control blood sugar, stimulate digestion, fight inflammation and boost brain function.
1. Cinnamon is loaded with nutrients.
The average person wouldn’t tend to think that cinnamon carries any nutritional value. However, in only two teaspoons of cinnamon you get 11% of your daily value of fiber, 5% of your daily value of calcium, and 46% of your daily value of the trace mineral, manganese (1). Cinnamon is both delicious and nutritious!
2. Cinnamon helps control blood sugar.
Cinnamon helps slow the digestion of carbohydrates saving the body from an intense spike in blood sugar. Without a spike in blood sugar, you will no longer have the dreaded “crash” feeling later. If you suffer from Type 2 diabetes, cinnamon is extremely helpful as it improves insulin receptors to normalize blood sugar levels.
3. Cinnamon aids in digestion and assimilation of nutrients.
Consuming cinnamon can increase the secretion of digestive fluids to not only help your body digest food, but also to absorb the nutrients from the food you are eating. The better your body digests food the less chance you will suffer from gas and bloating.
4. Cinnamon reduces inflammation.
Cinnamon has anti-inflammatory properties that can reduce inflammation in the body to fight off and prevent diseases that are caused by inflammation. Foods like meat, dairy, and sugar produce an inflammatory response in our bodies. Simply by eating cinnamon, you can help reduce the inflammation caused by inflammatory foods.
5. Cinnamon boosts brain function.
Just the scent of cinnamon is enough to stimulate brain activity! Focus and memory are enhanced by cinnamon to reduce mental fogginess that we, as humans can suffer from. Start your morning by lighting a cinnamon candle or sprinkling cinnamon in your breakfast tea.
Cinnamon can be incorporated very easily into the daily diet. I like to add it to smoothies, oatmeal, tea, almond milk, or simply sprinkled on apple slices. When you buy cinnamon, keep in mind that ground cinnamon stays fresh for approximately 6 months and cinnamon sticks can stay fresh for up to one year. The fresher the cinnamon is, the sweeter it will smell. Because cinnamon is so delicious, I guarantee you this will be one of the easiest health foods to add into your diet!
(1) http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=68
In Health,
