Widely used as a spice, cinnamon, or more correctly, cinnamon bark is primarily employed as a sweet and pungent condiment in cooking or baking. In actual fact, cinnamon is a small evergreen tree about 10 – 15 meters tall and native to Sri Lanka. Nowadays, cinnamon trees are commercially grown in southern India, Bangladesh, Brazil, Vietnam, Madagascar, Zanzibar and Egypt. Apart from being a spice, cinnamon is traditionally used as a herb by many ancient cultures.
In medicine, the volatile oils of cinnamon are effective in treating colds, diarrhea and other problems of the digestive system. Cinnamon is high in antioxidant activity and its essential oils also have microbial properties, making it a preservative for certain foods. As a herb, cinnamon bark is indicated for a variety of ailments including gastrointestinal problems, urinary infections and relieving symptoms of cold and flu. Some studies have also shown that cinnamon helps people with diabetes metabolize sugar better, although this is restricted to certain genus of cinnamon only. Records of Traditional Chinese Medicine as far as 4,000 years ago have noted the use of cinnamon as a herbal remedy for treating diarrhea, rheumatism and certain menstrual disorders.
It is recommended to consume ½ – ¾ teaspoon (2 – 4 grams) of cinnamon powder each day to treat any of the conditions mentioned above. A tea may also be produced by boiling the powdered herb for 10 – 15 minutes. If using a tincture, no more than a few drops of the volatile oil should be used daily and only for a few days at a time. However, it should be noted although cinnamon bark is generally safe to use, allergic reactions may occur. An excess amount of cinnamon bark could cause dangerous nervous system reactions. Do not use cinnamon if pregnant of suffering from stomach or intestinal ulcers.
References: (1) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinnamon
(2) http://www.herbwisdom.com/herb-cinnamon.html
(3) http://www.puritan.com/pages/healthnotes.asp?languri=eng&org=nbty&ContentID=2069003
