Cinnamon for Your Stomach

Cinnamon, spice and everything nice, that’s what the holidays are made of. Lucky for us, this favorite warming spice doesn’t just taste good, it may have health benefits too. A teaspoon or two a day has been shown to help lower cholesterol and triglyceride levels in adults with diabetes. Adding to the list of perks, a 2016 study published in the journal Nature finds cinnamon may also be good for your gut. 

Let’s start with the basics. Your intestinal tract digests the food you eat. As food breaks down, gases are produced, and studies have shown these gases can paint a picture of your gut’s health—there are strong links between intestinal gases and different types of gastrointestinal disorders. 

Australian researchers looked at how cinnamon may effect stomach gas production after eating. The study revealed cinnamon can help decrease stomach acid and pepsin (a digestive enzyme) secretion from the stomach walls after eating, which reduces CO2 gas, raises pH, lowers metabolic heat and cools your stomach down. All this helps maintain the integrity of the stomach wall and could promote overall health. Previous studies have shown cinnamon also has potential anti-inflammatory, antioxidant and free radical scavenging properties in the GI tract. 

While cinnamon is fairly ubiquitous in all things dessert, cookies and cakes are not what we had in mind for improving your health. Try using cinnamon to flavor your oatmeal, popcorn, coffee or fresh fruit—it’s especially tasty sprinkled on pineapple or grapefruit! Our Tangy Pineapple Sweet Potato Casserole is a slightly sweet and nutritious way to bring a little cinnamon to your holiday table.

Published December 1, 2016