Cinnamon

Cinnamon

Scientific Name: Cinnamomum zeylanicum

Native to: Southeast Asia

Part Used: Bark

In a word: Spice up your Health!!

Uses: Digestive

Cinnamon was one of the first trade spices of the ancient world. Biblical references indicate that merchants carried the Asian spice all the way from Ceylon to Palestine – that’s a 24-hour airplane trip today – before the pyramids were built. The English word cinnamon derives from the Hebrew word kannamon, and the spice is mentioned in Psalms, Proverbs, Ezekiel, and Revelations. Moses, the patriarch of patriarchs, commanded the children of Israel to anoint the tabernacle, the vessels of the tabernacle, and the priests themselves with ointments made of cinnamon. Let’s remember that the stuff was hauled from beyond India without the help of jet engines, and the Phoenicians and Arabians who hauled it weren’t working for peanuts. Why did Moses specify cinnamon and others pay the price it cost? Because it was, and still is, special. There is something about cinnamon that made it worth any expense.

Moses was not cinnamon’s first admirer, and many others were to follow, agreeing that it was the superlative body splash and more. The ancients Theophrastus, Herodotus, Galen, Dioscorides, Pliny, and Strabo all mention it. Cinnamon ranked in value with gold, ivory, and frankincense, and was among the most costly offerings in the temple of Apollo in Miletus in 243 B.C. The early Egyptians used cinnamon in their embalming mixtures, and Chinese medicinal use of the spice dates back 4,700 years.

Cinnamon gets rid of bad things that hang out in the stomach, calms it down, and makes it stronger.

The Arabians discovered that when you boil out the oils contained in a plant, those oils purvey the scent of said plant, be it roses or cinnamon, and so they imported cinnamon from the Orient, distilled the fragrant oil out, and sold the more easily transported substance to the Europeans. In this form, the spice made its way from Arabia to Venice, and from Venice to all points in Europe. If cinnamon sticks were special, cinnamon oil was considered a ‘bonus deluxe’.

Cinnamon is the bark and twigs of a number of related plants that have one thing in common: cinnamon oil. The plant rarely reaches higher than 30 feet; the leaves are deep green and the blossoms usually white. Once the trees are six or seven years old, the bark is peeled off into so-called cinnamon sticks. Ground into powder, they yield what we find in jars on the grocer’s shelf. Aside from a great tasting dusting for doughnuts, we don’t see cinnamon as being very special any more. This is unfortunate.

Cinnamon is one of the oldest tonic plants on the globe. The world may not agree politically, but in the realm of tonics, all acknowledge that cinnamon is good for health.

The Chinese feel that cinnamon used on a daily basis over a long period of time will improve the complexion, giving the taker a more robust, stronger, and more youthful appearance. One Chinese ancient said that if you took cinnamon with toads’ brains for seven years, you would be able to walk on water, look young forever, and never die. While you may have a problem getting your hands on a pound of toads’ brains, the active ingredient, cinnamon, is readily available.

Where there’s smoke, there’s fire, and behind most folk tales, there’s some measure of truth. The daily use of cinnamon could well improve your health. The Chinese believe that cinnamon heats up a cold body, improves the circulation, and generally gets the blood rushing around, stoking up the waning fire, if you will, and they prescribe it for loss of vigor, whether due to stress, aging, or illness. They believe the spice warms the kidneys and cures impotence, weak legs, and backache. Specifically, cinnamon is held supreme for blood deficiencies that leave one feeling weak.

In India, cinnamon is used to flavor sweet treats, but every villager also knows that chewing on the cinnamon stick is a powerful treatment for the monthlies. The spice, which stimulates the uterine muscles, is also used in difficult deliveries due to inadequate contractions. A painkiller as well as a uterine stimulant, cinnamon is essentially the herbal equivalent of many over-the-counter menstrual medications. The Chinese, who along with other Asians use it as a treatment for PMS, agree that cinnamon promotes regular and easy menstruation.

Did you ever notice that after eating a cinnamon-powdered doughnut you can’t help but love the whole world? And you thought it was your blood sugar reaching an acceptable level! Cinnamon has been used as a tranquilizer since before Western civilization became civilized (that is to say if it ever did).  The source of this sedative effect is the cinnamaldehyde contained in cinnamon powder and, more powerfully, in cinnamon oil, which has been proven to tranquilize both animals and human beings. In some interesting Chinese research, scientists discovered that they were able to neutralize the effects of phenobarbital and methamphetamine in mice with a matching dose of cinnamaldehyde. The same chemical was found to relieve pain in mice. Since overcharged nerves do present a threat to life and, as they say, stress kills, a hot cup of relaxing cinnamon tea may be just what the herbalist ordered.

The folk treatment for bronchial asthma in various parts of Asia, this same cinnamon tea has been found by researchers to stop most sufferers’ attacks. More and more, asthma is being linked to emotional upset, and the calming nature of the substance may be at the root of this cure.

In days gone by and even today, a high fever can be the end of you – if nothing else, elevated body temperature can make you feel out of whack. One of the Chinese treatments for fever is a dose of cinnamon, and indeed, research has shown that after being injected with salmonella and typhoid, mice, the poor creatures, had a reduction in temperature when treated with cinnamaldehyde. This may be due to cinnamon’s ability to open up the blood vessels. Scientific validation aside, the news to you is that if you have a fever, cinnamon is likely to reduce it.

The world we live in is filled with disease. Let’s face it, everywhere you look you see people sneezing and coughing, and usually on you. When you only get two weeks off a year, who wants to spend that precious time in bed watching reruns? The main folk use of cinnamon has been fighting infection, and following the custom of taking it after exposure to an illness in the aim of not getting sick yourself might not be a bad idea.

Here are some facts, not theories, facts. Cinnamon oil has exhibited antifungal, antiviral, bactericidal, and larvicidal activities. Specifically, ingredients in cinnamon kill escherichia coli, staphylococcus aureus, salmonella, the Asian flu virus A, and echo virus. What does this mean? These are all nasty bacteria that can make you exceptionally ill.

Salmonella causes food poisoning, escherichia coli causes Montezuma’s revenge, and staphylococcus aureus causes lesions, pustules, and boils that can be terminal if they spread to the organs. Not a pretty picture, but the good news is that cinnamon has been proven to suppress their growth, and the growth of several other gram-positive bacteria.

Not surprisingly, the folk belief that cinnamon can stop bacteria, fungus, and viruses from attacking food or persons is absolutely true. From now on, whenever you come in contact with snot-nosed children harbouring all of the above, have yourself a cup of hot cinnamon tea.

Could there be more from this all-in-one pharmacy plant? Yes. "For pe stomak. Dis driep vp pe ille humoure of pe stomak, and hit comfortep it and strength it." A Middle English translation of a famous Latin herbal called Macer Floridus de viribus herbarum, written somewhere around the ninth century, asserts in its easy-to-read style that cinnamon gets rid of bad things that hang out in the stomach, calms it down, and makes it stronger.

As a stomach remedy, cinnamon hails supreme, and Macer’s claim is actually quite in keeping with the research done of late. If your stomach is upset by a bug of sorts, cinnamon will kill it (the bug). If your stomach is all in a knot, cinnamon will relax it. People in the ninth century knew more about cinnamon than we do! And we think of ourselves as so worldly.

You know where to get cinnamon. The plant isn’t grown much in the United States, although several locales would suit it fine. A hot-weather plant, it would have to be grown in a greenhouse or in the sunnier parts of the country. Though the plant isn’t especially appropriate for the garden, ground cinnamon and cinnamon sticks are easy to find in any grocery or health food store. An herbal hint – the best cinnamon comes from the Chinese pharmacist. The extra-good news is that unlike many of our tonic plants, this one actually tastes nice and adds a pleasant flavor to a homemade cure-all.

Prescription:

Cinnamon tea is a great tonic when feeling run down. Take four cinnamon sticks, or two teaspoons of cinnamon, and add to two cups of boiling water. Let it boil for ten minutes, then sweeten to taste.