Health Benefits of Cinnamon

Credit: Flickr / Shaheen Peerbhai

Cinnamon bark is ground up to create the powdered spice

There’s more to this popular spice than its flavour and aroma

Derived from the dried inner bark of a tropical evergreen tree, cinnamon is a good source of manganese, fibre and iron.

An active component in cinnamon’s essential oils, called cinnamaldehyde, gives cinnamon its apparent anti-clotting properties preventing blood platelets from clumping together.

Cinnamon reportedly also has antimicrobial properties, stopping the growth of bacteria and yeast, including Candida albicans, which lives in 80 percent of humans with no harmful effects as long as no overgrowth occurs.


A dash of cinnamon may also help keep blood glucose levels in check. A 2007 study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition reported that adding cinnamon to rice pudding significantly lessened the rise in blood sugar levels after eating.

Further, a 2003 Diabetes Care study found that consuming as little as one gram of cinnamon per day was found to reduce blood sugar, triglycerides, LDL (bad) cholesterol and total cholesterol among people with type 2 diabetes.

Originally published in Wellness Matters, Canada Wide Media’s quarterly newsletter on health and wellness.