Health & Fitness: Spices

Cinnamon

China has been exporting cinnamon since 2000 BC.  It means, literally, “sweet wood” because it comes from the inner bark of the tree.  The sticks you are used to seeing are actually strips of this inner bark, which have dried and curled into pretty quills.  A whopping 90% of the world’s cinnamon is produced by Sri Lanka, followed by China, India, and Vietnam.

Whilst cinnamon is commonly used as a spice in both sweet and savoury dishes, its desirability doesn’t stop there.  A 2000 published study showed 16 species were effective against HIV-1 and 4 species against HIV-1 and HIV-2.  An oil, which comes from the leaves of the cinnamon bush, has antiviral properties against Oral and Genital Herpes.  And a 2011 study has isolated a substance {extracted from the bark} that has already treated Alzheimer’s in mice.  Not to mention the therapeutic properties which are acknowledged, worldwide.

So whether you’re killing mosquito larvae, providing antioxidants to your colon or just baking an apple pie…you’d better have a little cinnamon in your pantry. 

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