Cinnamon benefits for health, diabetes prevention, and when to use it ground or as sticks in cooking
- Cinnamon was recently found to improve blood glucose control in people with pre-diabetes and slow the progression to Type 2 diabetes
- It also contains antioxidants, can be used as a substitute for sugar and salt to add flavour to dishes, and is especially comforting in cold weather
It’s one of the world’s most popular spices, and for good reason. Easy to store and versatile enough to use in both sweet and savoury dishes, cinnamon lends flavour, aroma and earthiness to a variety of cuisines, from Indian and Mexican to Chinese and Scandinavian.
At Sangeetha Vegetarian Restaurant in Hong Kong, cinnamon is used in dishes such as Mysore masala dosa, vegetable biryani, chana masala, chapatti vegetable kurma and apple halwa, and drinks such as masala tea.
“I love cooking with cinnamon because it makes dishes more appealing,” says Mahendran Pichaikkani, Sangeetha’s head chef. “Because it’s available in both stick form and ground, it can be used in many ways.”
“Cinnamon is one of the main spices used in garam masala, a spice blend that’s widely used in Indian cuisine,” adds Sangeetha’s manager, Venkatesh Vittal Kuppuswamy. “In Indian culture, cinnamon is considered to have many health benefits, too … We believe that it helps lower bad cholesterol, enhances the skin, aids with weight loss, and guards against various infections.”
Studies have found cinnamon to be effective in regulating blood glucose levels. Most recently, the spice was found to improve blood glucose control in people with pre-diabetes and slow the progression to Type 2 diabetes.
In the study published in July in the Journal of the Endocrine Society, people with pre-diabetes consumed a cinnamon supplement daily for 12 weeks. After the study period, the researchers observed that the supplement lowered abnormal fasting glucose levels, a hallmark of pre-diabetes, and improved the body’s response to eating a meal containing carbohydrates.