A hit of cinnamon may help you cool down, a new study shows
Lower your body temperature with cinnamon. In other news, taking a ride on a roller coaster can help dislodge kidney stones; and new findings reveal a link between obesity and faecal bacteria
Cinnamon cools your stomach
Here’s a nifty way to combat hot weather: adding cinnamon to your diet can cool your body by up to two degrees Celsius, finds a new study by Australian researchers. The study in pigs, published in Scientific Reports, found the spice may also contribute to a general improvement in overall health.
Project leader Kourosh Kalantar-zadeh, from RMIT’s School of Engineering, says the results of the study seemed to show that cinnamon maintained the integrity of the stomach wall. “When pigs feed at room temperature, carbon dioxide (CO2) gas increases in their stomach. Cinnamon in their food reduces this gas by decreasing the secretion of gastric acid and pepsin from the stomach walls, which in turn cools the pigs’ stomachs during digestion,” he explains.
“When the pigs are hot, they hyperventilate, which reduces CO2 production. With cinnamon treatment, CO2 decreases even further. This not only cools the pigs but leads to a significant improvement in their overall health.”
The research is part of a bigger study at RMIT into gut health using swallowable gas sensor capsules or smart pills, developed at the university.
“No wonder cinnamon is so popular in warm regions as taking it makes people feel better and gives them a feeling of cooling down,” says fellow researcher Dr Jian Zhen Ou.