Scientific name: Cinnamomum verum J. Presl. Common names: cinnamon, cinnamon bark, cassia cinnamon. Family name: Lauraceae Part(s) of the plant used: dried inner bark Native region and environment: the cinnamon tree is a small evergreen tree native to Sri Lanka and the Indian subcontinent. It principally lives in the tropical rain forest. The inner bark is harvested after slow-growing for at least 4 years– when the tree is typically over 18 feet.
This cinnamon monograph provides basic information about cinnamon—common names, usefulness and safety, and resources for more information. Browse more monographs.
Cinnamon played a major role in colonial expansion. In 1536, Portugal invaded what was then Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) to monopolize the cinnamon trade. By 1770, the Dutch were cultivating cinnamon and the Dutch East India company dominated the world trade in cinnamon from 1796 to 1833. Most commonly, cinnamon is a spice used to flavor food from savory to sweet. It is an ingredient in many recipes including curry, tea blends, and chewing gum! Cinnamon is popular in Spanish-speaking countries like Mexico (it’s known as canela) where it is added to chocolate and also in China where it is one of the ingredients of the 5-spice blend. “Cinnamon, along with other spices and fruit, is used in making mulled wine which is often used as an apéritif to aid digestion.”[1]
Cinnamon constituents & diabetes
Cinnamon contains many constituents including essential oils (like coumarin), diterpenes, polysaccharides, and phenolic acids. The polyphenols in cinnamon display insulin increasing and antioxidant activity. Cinnamon’s phytochemicals have also been shown to increase insulin sensitivity by improving glucose transport to cells and reducing fasting blood sugar. Cinnamon extract may offer partial protection against insulin resistance and diabetes by rapidly inducing the expression of the anti-inflammatory genes in fat cells.
The consumption of cinnamon supplements used in combination with standard hypoglycemic medications or other lifestyle therapies can improve T2DM. In clinical trials it has been shown to modestly reduce fasting blood sugar especially in patients with a BMI over 27.[2] Results on HbA1c. and other body measures have been more conflicted. In vitro (in a petri dish) and in vivo (in body) evidences indicate that cinnamon may have benefits in improving insulin sensitivity and glycemic control. It has been suggested that cinnamon’s effects on blood glucose can be attributed to one of its active constituents: cinnamaldehyde.
Safety and contraindications
With a safety rating of 2b and interaction class A, cinnamon is generally a safe herb to take, but women should avoid it in large amounts while pregnant. Cinnamon supplements appear to be safe for most people for short-term use. Some people may have allergic reactions to cinnamon. Cassia cinnamon (C. cassia) contains varying amounts of a chemical called coumarin, which might cause or worsen liver disease. In most cases, C. cassia doesn’t have enough coumarin to make you sick. However, for some people, such as those with liver disease, taking a large amount of C. cassia might worsen their condition. Grocery stores often carry C. cassia, so you may need to find a specialty retailer for the verum cinnamon (C. verum).
Potential Drug Interactions
Moreover, the long-term consumption of coumarins have been demonstrated to cause hepatoxicity in humans and the European Food Safety Authority confirmed maximum daily intake for coumarins to 0.1 mg/kg. Considering the potential toxicity of coumarins in C. cassia, it can be speculated that C. verum may be safer for clinical application in chronic diseases requiring prolonged treatments, such as T2DM.
Cinnamon preparation & dosing
Whole cinnamon bark is available at most grocery stores, however if you are interested in using it to modulate your blood sugar levels make sure you buy the C. verum. If you are interested in working with a tincture of cinnamon, I would recommend you buy this product from a trusted supplier like Mountain Rose Herbs.
Daily Dosage Table: Cinnamon[3]
Format
Dosage
Preparation
Infusion
2-6g
Infuse in 8oz boiling water for 10 min
Tincture
1.5-3.0 mL
1:1 liquid extract
References
[1] https://www.herbalgram.org/resources/herbalgram/issues/95/table-of-contents/herbalgram-95-herb-profile-cinnamon/
[2] Namazi et al 2019 Complementary Therapies in Medicine 43 (2019) 92–101
[3] Braun & Cohen (2015) Herbs & Natural Supplements Vol 2. , Elsevier, Sydney Australia
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PubMed Articles About Cinnamomum verum
Source: National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI)[Internet]. Bethesda (MD): National Library of Medicine (US), National Center for Biotechnology Information; [1988] – [cited 2018 Apr 5]. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/
Cinnamon is a spice that has been used in various cultures for centuries for its potential health benefits. While there are health claims for a variety of health conditions, it has continuously been explored for its ability to improve glucose handling in diabetes. Cinnamon is a very popular supplement used by patients with diabetes to help normalize blood glucose levels. A systematic review of the literature was conducted to assess the available evidence evaluating effects on diabetes and glucose handling with the use of various species of cinnamon. The intention was to summarize the existing evidence for cinnamon's effects on blood glucose, both for safety and efficacy, to help guide providers and consumers alike. Reviewing the available literature for the different types of cinnamon and their effects on the diabetes disease process, there are multiple proposed mechanisms for how cinnamon could improve diabetes, including increasing insulin sensitivity by multiple receptor signaling pathways, reducing inflammation, enhancing glucose uptake by effects on glucose transporter proteins, and effects on gastric emptying, and blocking glucose absorption. There appears to be conflicting evidence on whether cinnamon produces any significant effect on glucose parameters, and the extent of these effects. There are several variables that could explain these conflicting data, such as patient sample size, doses and formulations of cinnamon used, baseline patient characteristics, and study duration. A more in-depth evaluation and rating of the available evidence could help clarify this, but data suggest that in some circumstances, cinnamon may have modest effects on improving glucose handling in adults. The safety profile also has been demonstrated to be extremely favorable, with very few adverse events reported in the active treatment groups across all studies. Based upon these data, clinicians should consider cinnamon to be a potential adjunctive therapy to traditional diabetes treatments, and should be open to discussing this with patients expressing interest in the supplement.
Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) and diabetes are the leading causes of death worldwide, which underlines the urgent necessity to develop new pharmacotherapies. Cinnamon has been an eminent component of spice and traditional Chinese medicine for thousands of years. Numerous lines of findings have elucidated that cinnamon has beneficial effects against CVDs in various ways, including endothelium protection, regulation of immune response, lowering blood lipids, antioxidative properties, anti-inflammatory properties, suppression of vascular smooth muscle cell (VSMC) growth and mobilization, repression of platelet activity and thrombosis and inhibition of angiogenesis. Furthermore, emerging evidence has established that cinnamon improves diabetes, a crucial risk factor for CVDs, by enhancing insulin sensitivity and insulin secretion; regulating the enzyme activity involved in glucose; regulating glucose metabolism in the liver, adipose tissue and muscle; ameliorating oxidative stress and inflammation to protect islet cells; and improving diabetes complications. In this review, we summarized the mechanisms by which cinnamon regulates CVDs and diabetes in order to provide a theoretical basis for the further clinical application of cinnamon.
Species of Cinnamomum exhibit excellent economic and medicinal value, and have found use in traditional medicine, are consumed as a spice, as well as being cultivated as landscape plants. Investigations into the pharmacological activities of the genus Cinnamomum revealed that it manifested a wide range of pharmacological properties including antimicrobial, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and analgesic, antitumor, anti-diabetic and anti-obesity, immunoregulation, insecticidal and acaricidal, cardiovascular protective, cytoprotective, as well as neuroprotective properties both in vivo and in vitro. In the past five years, approximately 306 chemical constituents have been separated and identified from the genus Cinnamomum, covering 111 terpenes, 44 phenylpropanoids, 51 lignans, 17 flavonoids, 53 aromatic compounds, 17 aliphatic compounds, four coumarins, two steroids. This article highlights the traditional uses, phytochemistry and pharmacological properties of the few studied taxa of Cinnamomum through searching for the pieces of literature both at home and abroad, which would provide a reference for the pharmaceutical research and clinical application of this genus.
The seed of Senna obtusifolia (L.) H. S. Irwin & Barneby (Cassiae semen, CS) also known as Jue ming zi in China, has been traditionally used for weight management by purging the liver and improving the liver functions to support digestion. In the past decades, it has been used for hepatoprotection and treatment of overweight and other metabolic disorders such as hyperlipidaemia and diabetes.
is a renowned traditional Unani medicinal herb and belongs to the family Lauraceae. It has therapeutic applications in various ailments and prophylactic properties to prevent flu-like epidemic symptoms and COVID-19. This comprehensive appraisal is to familiarize the reader with the traditional, broad applications of camphor both in Unani and modern medicine and its effects on bioactive molecules. Electronic databases such as Web of Science, PubMed, Google Scholar, Scopus, and Research Gate were searched for bioactive molecules, and preclinical/clinical research and including 59 research and review papers up to 2022 were retrieved. Additionally, 21 classical Unani and English herbal pharmacopeia books with ethnomedicinal properties and therapeutic applications were explored. Oxidative stress significantly impacts aging, obesity, diabetes mellitus, depression, and neurodegenerative diseases. The polyphenolic bioactive compounds such as linalool, borneol, and nerolidol of have antioxidant activity and have the potential to remove free radicals. Its other major bioactive molecules are camphor, cineole, limelol, safrole, limonene, alpha-pinene, and cineole with anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, anxiolytic, analgesic, immunomodulatory, antihyperlipidemic, and many other pharmacological properties have been established in vitro or in vivo preclinical research. Natural bioactive molecules and their mechanisms of action and applications in diseases have been highlighted, with future prospects, gaps, and priorities that need to be addressed.
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PubMed Articles About Cinnamomum verum
Source: National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI)[Internet]. Bethesda (MD): National Library of Medicine (US), National Center for Biotechnology Information; [1988] – [cited 2018 Apr 5]. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/
