Hey, moms, we have a secret for you. It’s time to start adding this delicious and nutritious spice to your weekly menus.
Most of us may associate cinnamon with a flavored bun or a great coffee now and then. But maybe it’s doing a whole lot more than many of us realize for our well-being and maybe it should make a more regular appearance in our diets.
According to evidence-based research, cinnamon has various health benefits for both moms and kids that mean we should try to incorporate it into our everyday diets. The plus side, children love cinnamon! And we’re sharing different ways to infuse it into bites every member of the family can enjoy.
Mexican cuisine often uses cinnamon to add extra flavor to chocolate and one company cites a whole range of cinnamon-based delicious goodies. Deliveroo‘s niche cinnamon category proves that the spice is so popular in both the sweet and the savory. It’s so widely used in cakes, pastries, tarts, baked with apples, added to drinks, curries, various Far Eastern dishes and so on. So, how about you add a dash or two to those that batch of brownies or even some to a cup of hot chocolate at night or coffee in the morning?
This sweet and savory versatility gives cinnamon its unique appeal across the planet, but it isn’t a recent development. The spice’s use has been recorded as far back as ancient Egypt in cooking but has also always been prized for its unique medicinal properties in many cultures.
The spice is derived from the inner bark of Cinnamomum trees whose stems are cut, the inner bark taken and dried. As the bark dries it rolls up into what we know as cinnamon sticks, which can be used as they are or alternatively ground into cinnamon powder for a stronger flavor.
So What Does It Actually Do For Our Health?
Well firstly, cinnamon is most certainly a good source of antioxidants. How antioxidants help the body is complex but, suffice to say, without them free radicals could destroy our bodies pretty quickly. Anything that boosts antioxidants is good news.
Other studies have demonstrated that cinnamon may well be useful in reducing inflammation in our bodies – that’s great news for the kids’ sports injuries, moms! Anytime you can use it in some after school or in-between game snacks is an absolute bonus.
Cinnamon may also cut the risk of developing heart disease and it can help manage diabetes.
For people with type 2 diabetes, a gram of cinnamon each day has beneficial effects: it reduces the bad cholesterol and fats (LDL cholesterol and triglycerides) while allowing the so-called “good cholesterol” (HDL cholesterol) levels to remain stable. Finally, studies that gave animals doses of cinnamon have demonstrated that it helps reduce blood pressure.
The bottom line is that cinnamon taken regularly is not only delicious but good for us all as well – and we don’t need huge quantities of it to enjoy the benefits. So next time you tuck into a cinnamon bun or a Moroccan tagine, delight in the good you’re doing for you and your kids’ health!
