Which Cinnamon Is Better for Blood Sugar?

Justine Lee is a food writer, recipe developer, and culinary consultant based in New York City. In her free time, she is actively on a hunt for a good almond croissant. It’s the obvious choice when you’re making Cinnamon-Streusel Coffeecake or Apple Cinnamon Baked Oatmeal, where cinnamon is the headlining act.
It has a spicier but sweeter taste and a mid-golden brown color. Saigon cinnamon or Cinnamomum loureiroi has a finer texture than Chinese cinnamon or Cinnamomum cassia. Similarly, another study found that taking 250 mg of cinnamon twice daily for 2 months improved insulin sensitivity in 137 people with high  blood sugar levels . A single teaspoon , the average serving size of cinnamon, doesn’t contain a lot of vitamins or minerals. But many recipes call for more than just 1 tsp, and larger amounts of cinnamon do contain a high amount of vitamins and minerals.

When it comes to the best type of cinnamon for baking, Indonesian cinnamon captures the crown. This Java and Sumatra cultivated cinnamon comes from the Cinnamomum Burmannii tree. Besides nostalgia and potency, it’s two to three percent oil allows a wild and earthy spice to build.
It can either be sold in a dried powder or as rolled quills, known as cinnamon sticks. If you have a bread machine, this cinnamon rolls recipe is for you. Then you need only let it rise a bit before you add the filling ingredients and roll the dough into spirals. The addition of instant pudding mix is unique, but it helps lend flavor and moisture to the dough.

For this reason, it can cure various ailments such as diabetes, parkinson’s, alzheimer’s, and even heart diseases. It is used mainly as an aromatic ingredient and to enhance flavor in a wide variety of cuisines. "However, Ceylon contains the least amount of this compound when compared to other species of cinnamon," Brockner says. Ceylon cinnamon only contains traces of coumarin, about 0.004 percent compared to cassia's 1 percent, states ​The Scientific World Journal​ article. But when it comes to picking a healthier variety, "It's difficult to make that distinction," says dietitian Brittany Brockner, RD. "Both Ceylon and cassia have demonstrated a variety of health benefits."
Cinnamon  is also found in Indian cooking, where it's often layered with aromatics to form the base for stews and curries. Cinnamon oil nanoemulsion can be made with Polysorbate 80, cinnamon essential oil, and water, by ultrasonic emulsification. It's definitely recognizable as cinnamon, but it's also significantly less sweet. In cooking, they make a great alternative to bay leaves in dishes such as stew, chili, and similarly slow-cooked meals.
Apples, peaches, pineapple, blueberries … our ground cinnamon brings out the natural sweetness of all kinds of fruits. Whether the fruit is sautéed in a bit of butter, whipped into a smoothie or baked into a pastry or pie, we find that cinnamon is a perfect mate. For Ceylon cinnamon, the trees are usually harvested when they are three years old, twice a year right after the rainy season. Meanwhile, Cassia cinnamon is ready for harvesting 8 to 10 years after being planted, but 15 years is the most ideal age as the cinnamon bark will be in its prime quality. In this stage, farmers will chop off branches and cut down the entire tree.

Both diabetes and high blood pressure are risk factors for heart disease. There is limited evidence to support claims for using cinnamon to control blood pressure. A 2021 review of eight trials including a total of 582 people found that cinnamon supplements might help reduce diastolic blood pressure. Cinnamon is a sweet spice from the bark of an evergreen tree native to southeast Asia. Today, cinnamon is an essential baking ingredient and can be found in just about every pantry in America—but its history extends far beyond the invention of cinnamon rolls, snickerdoodles, and spiced chai lattes. In fact, the use of cinnamon as a spice can be traced back thousands of years—as far as Ancient Egypt, where it was rare and almost exclusively given to kings and other important people as a gift.
Cinnamon or dalchini is a favourite kitchen staple in Indian households, and for good reason. But if you want to fully reap its benefits, you must pay attention to the variety of cinnamon you’re consuming. Orally administrated cinnamon extract reduces β-amyloid oligomerization and corrects cognitive impairment in Alzheimer’s disease animal models.

Hu says that because cinnamon is a heat-generating substance in nature, it is effective at warming the kidneys and nourishing qi and blood. They circulate around the body, nourish the organs and tissues, and maintain all vital physiological activities of the human body. Cinnamon, an ancient plant that was once as valuable as gold, has been widely used both as a culinary spice and in traditional herbal medicine for centuries. If you do want to add cinnamon to yourdiet, however, the best way to do it is to sprinkle it on your oatmeal or cook with about one-half teaspoon to one teaspoon daily.
Poison control centers are full case reports of this happening. Cinnamon bark is harvested straight from the tree – McCormick provides high quality whole cinnamon which reduces the risk of ingredient cinnamon and cassia difference addition and contamination during processing and maintains a leading product. I switched to Costco’s Saigon Cinnamon a while back and have been using it daily thinking it is a healthy spice.

Cinnamon is one of the world’s favorite spices, used for centuries by cultures around the globe. While the Runage family has been successful in building a lucrative cinnamon business, their biggest challenge in the international trade has been cassia that masquerades as Ceylon cinnamon in the market. De Silva is not the only one in the cinnamon tourism business. As foreign arrivals started increasing, more and more cinnamon growers organised tours for visitors.
In Denmark they are well known as Berliner van kuchen or just Berliner. The irresistible smell of cinnamon makes every kitchen feel homey. And these savory recipes take the beloved pantry staple beyond simple cinnamon rolls. Another great overnight recipe, these red velvet cinnamon rolls are pretty and filled with flavor.
The aroma and flavour of cinnamon derive from its essential oil and principal component, cinnamaldehyde, as well as numerous other constituents including eugenol. Given that Ceylon cinnamon contains little to no coumarin, it would be considered the healthiest type of cinnamon to have if you plan to consume it regularly compared to cassia. Research shows that cinnamon may be beneficial for people with diabetes by helping to increase insulin sensitivity for steadier blood sugar levels, but it should still be consumed with caution.