Self Help

Cinnamon – a tasty treat – is also known as: Cassia, Ceylon cinnamon, Saigon cinnamon. The parts used are the dried inner bark. We sprinkle it on toast, add it to cookie batter, stir it into hot apple cider, and find it in toothpastes and candies. But cinnamon is more than a sweet treat. It’s one of the world’s oldest healers. And modern science has confirmed its value for prevention of infection and indigestion.

Cinnamon grew originally in southern Asia. Ancient Chinese herbals mention it as early as 2700 B.C. as a treatment for fever, diarrhea, and menstrual problems. India’s ancient Ayurvedic healers used it similarly. When ancient travelers introduced the aromatic herb to the Egyptians, they added it enthusiastically to their embalming mixtures. Egyptian demand for cinnamon (and other Asian spices) played a major role in ancient trade. The Biblical Hebrews, Greeks, and Romans adopted cinnamon as a spice, perfume, and treatment for indigestion.

After the fall of Rome, trade with Asia came to a virtual halt, but somehow cinnamon still made it to Europe. The 12th-century German abbess/herbalist Hildegard of Bingen recommended it as “the universal spice for sinuses,” and to treat colds, flu, cancer, and “inner decay and slime.”

By the 17th century, Europeans considered cinnamon primarily a kitchen spice. In healing, they used it only to mask the bitterness of other healing herbs. But as time passed, cinnamon slowly regained its former reputation as a healer. America’s 19th-century Eclectic physicians prescribed it for stomach cramps, flatulence, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, infant colic, and especially for uterine problems.

Modern herbalists recommend cinnamon to relieve nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and indigestion, and as a flavoring agent for bitter-tasting healing- herb preparations. They can’t quite agree about how it affects the uterus. Some say it stimulates uterine contractions. Others say it calms the uterus. Of course, cinnamon delights the taste buds. But it benefits other parts of the body as well.

A sound scientific reason for “flavoring” toothpastes and mouthwash with cinnamon does exist. Like many culinary spices, it’s a powerful antiseptic. It kills many decay and disease-causing bacteria, fungi, and viruses. Try sprinkling some on minor cuts and scrapes after they’ve been thoroughly washed.

Perhaps toilet paper should be impregnated with cinnamon. One German study showed it “suppresses completely” the cause of most urinary tract infections (Escherichia coli bacteria) and the fungus (Candida albicans) responsible for vaginal yeast infections.