We may not know this, but several herbs and spices that we use in everyday cooking actually have excellent medicinal properties. For example, ginger is a decongestant and turmeric has anti-cancer properties. Likewise, cinnamon is one favorite spice that comes with a host of health benefits. Can you imagine an apple pie without cinnamon?
The reasons why some people recommend cinnamon capsules or tablets over the raw, ground form are twofold. For one, cinnamon capsules contain a much larger dose of cinnamon than food can offer. A typical cinnamon capsule contains 1 gram of ground cinnamon, which is more than what you would add to an entire pie. Second, spices are unprocessed plant derivatives, and if they don’t come from trusted sources, the impurities in them can do more harm than good. On the contrary, a capsule or a tablet is a medicinal product that adheres to your country’s medicine quality standards.
Health Benefits Of Cinnamon
1. Helps Manage Blood Sugar Levels
In people with diabetes type 2, insulin production is hampered as a result of which they have high blood sugar. Cinnamon, in several controlled trials, has demonstrated the ability to reduce blood sugar by 30 percent!1 Some studies show that the required daily dose is one gram of cinnamon, which is why a capsule makes more sense.2
2. Has An Antioxidant Effect
If you thought blueberries were superfoods, we wonder how you’ll feel about knowing that cinnamon has five times the antioxidants present in blueberries. Research even shows that cinnamon reduces the growth of cancer cells in leukemia patients.3 In otherwise healthy individuals, cinnamon significantly reduces oxidative stress on the body due to the presence of antioxidant chemicals called cinnulin.4
3. Helps Promote Heart Health
In people with chronic metabolic disorders such as diabetes mellitus, other organs such as the kidneys, heart, and blood vessels often face the brunt. From clogged arteries to excess LDL (low-density lipoprotein) levels in the blood stream leading to blocked heart valves, mismanagement of diabetes can have severe consequences. Cinnamon in adequate doses is shown to decrease the LDL cholesterol levels in the body by up to 25 percent from current values. Once the bad cholesterol is out of the picture, heart health can be maintained more effectively in diabetics.5
4. Helps Prevent Brain Degeneration
Alzheimer’s disease is a debilitating medical condition often associated with advancing age. Protein binding plays a role in the progression of the disease by causing nerve cell damage. Cinnamon extracts, in lab studies, have shown promise in eliminating these harmful protein deposits around the nerve cells, thus restoring some nerve function.6 Further studies are required to conclusively prove this, but it is safe to assume that cinnamon in adequate quantities has a neuroprotective effect.
5. Has Anti-Microbial Effects
As bacteria get more resistant to antibiotics, and viral diseases depend on immunity for a cure, we are looking to natural medicine for solutions to diseases of an epidemic scale. In this aspect, cinnamon plays a significant role. Extracts of cinnamon have excellent antibacterial and antiviral properties. They also help fight inflammation in the body.7This in itself is a good reason to use cinnamon capsules as immunity boosters. Furthermore, cinnamon capsules can also be crushed and used on skin afflictions such as boils and acne to help destroy the microbes and aid in faster healing.
We bet you’re never going to look at cinnamon bark the same way again! If you haven’t already, consider adding cinnamon capsules to your daily health regimen.
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