Why You Should Add Cinnamon to Your Daily Diet

Eating healthy doesn't mean eating bland, boring foods; neither does it mean adding expensive "superfoods" that make your food taste like grass clippings.

Adding spices enhances meals, drinks, and desserts, while giving your body some great benefits. Here's more about my favorite spice.  

Cinnamon

Photo by Simon A. Eugster via Wikimedia Commons 

I love sweets, and I'm terrified of developing diabetes someday. That's why I love cinnamon.

Cinnamon has been proven to help control blood sugar, make insulin work more effectively, and help reduce inflammation caused by high blood sugar. Cinnamon is thought to lower blood sugar, or at least slow the rise in blood sugar from meals, by slowing the breakdown of carbohydrates in your digestive system.

In case giving you some protection from diabetes and helping you reduce your sugar intake isn't enough, here are a few more reasons why cinnamon is amazing:

• Just smelling it boosts your brain power, helping you pay more attention 
• It helps reduce cholesterol, including triglycerides
• It's high in antioxidants
• It contains calcium, mineral manganese, and iron (before being processed)
• It is antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory, helping your body fight off infection
• Recent research is showing that cinnamon may be a powerful tool in helping manage or fight off Alzheimer's Disease, Parkinson's Disease, and other neurodegenerative disorders. 

Tips and Caution

Photo by Chat W via Flickr

Because it's a sweet spice, I can often replace or reduce sugar with cinnamon. I use it in tea, lattes, sweet potatoes, cookies, oatmeal, fruit, spice rubs, smoothies, soups, and so much more.   

You don't need to go overboard adding cinnamon to everything. Just a teaspoon or two a day is enough to reap the benefits. Too much can have harmful effects, particularly for your liver (but you'd have really ingest a lot of cinnamon). Unless your doctor suggests it, there's probably no reason to take a cinnamon supplement.

Splurge and get quality cinnamon, Ceylon and Saigon are two highly recommended types. If you look at the ingredients and see "cinnamon oil," what you're getting is probably stale or highly processed, which is why it needs the oil added. 

Shop at a local spice store or look on Amazon. If you really want to splurge, you can order fresh cinnamon sticks and a grater. When you find good cinnamon, you can see, smell, and taste the difference. 

Do you have any unique uses for cinnamon?