How is cinnamon sold? Ceylon cinnamon: characteristics and beneficial qualities

Cinnamon is obtained by cutting off the inner layer of the bark of the evergreen cinnamon tree, which grows in Brazil, South. China, India, Indonesia, Egypt, Vietnam, Madagascar, Sumatra, and its homeland is Sri Lanka (Ceylon).

The cut bark is dried, and it is rolled into tubes, which are cut into sticks up to 12 cm long. Cinnamon is sold in the form of sticks or ground into powder.

Also sometimes found on the market are dried flowers or clove-like cinnamon tree buds, which give tea and other drinks a clean, delicate aroma.

How to choose cinnamon:

What stores call cinnamon is not always what it is. The most useful and aromatic species cinnamon is grown in Ceylon.

Cassia (“Indonesian cinnamon”) is often passed off as cinnamon; this is the bark of another variety of cinnamon tree cultivated in China and Indonesia; cassia has slightly different properties. To get high-quality cinnamon, cinnamon shoots that are 2-3 years old are selected, and the thinnest inner layer of bark is cut off.

Cassia is prepared from whole pieces of bark of 7-10 year old trees and quite successfully replaces cinnamon in many cases, but this spice contains 100 times more of a substance harmful to human health - coumarin, which causes headaches and even hepatitis; this substance is used as rat poison . In 1 kg of noble cinnamon the coumarin content is about 0.02 g, in cassia - 2 g.

Knowing what cinnamon is, it will be easy for you to choose a high-quality spice.
How to distinguish real cinnamon from cassia.

1. Most often, it is not the high-grade valuable spice that is sold in ground form, but cassia or other low-grade cinnamon. If you need a good spice, check the country of origin: you should give preference to cinnamon brought from Ceylon rather than from China, Indonesia or Vietnam. It is also not recommended to purchase cinnamon from Germany, the USA, or Israel - local production is not established in these countries, and they do not sell cinnamon from Ceylon.

2. True cinnamon is more expensive; the packaging may be marked “Cinnamomum zeylonicum”. Cassia is sometimes labeled as "Cinnamomum aromaticum".

3. The smell of true cinnamon is softer and more noble - soft, warm, sweet. Cassia smells weaker, but rougher and sweeter.

4. As for cinnamon sticks, a noble spice high grade has a delicate uniform light brown color, the color of cassia is not the same inside and outside and has a reddish-brown or gray-brown tint. Real cinnamon sticks are always curled at both ends, forming “ram's horns,” while cassia sticks may be slightly curved or not twisted at all.

5. The cut of cinnamon tree is thinner, the thickness of the cuts the best varieties comparable to the thickness of a sheet of paper. Cinnamon is easily crushed and is fragile, while cassia is stronger, thicker (3-10 mm), coarser and breaks into fibers.

6. You can check the quality of the spice at home. To do this, drop iodine onto a stick or a pile of cinnamon powder - cassia will turn dark blue with this interaction, and true cinnamon will turn slightly blue.
Storing cinnamon:

Keep the spice in an airtight container at a temperature no higher than 20°C and a relative humidity of no more than 70%. It is better to purchase cinnamon sticks and grind them into powder before use.
Cinnamon shelf life:

In sticks, the spice remains useful for 12 months, optimal time Storage of ground cinnamon – six months.

Useful properties and contraindications of cinnamon.
Therapeutic effect:

Cinnamon stimulates, invigorates, improves mood, relieves depression, restores strength, improves memory, coordination and attentiveness.

It improves the circulation of fluids and thins the blood, lowers cholesterol levels, cleanses the liver and choleretic system.

Cinnamon is used to strengthen the heart and prevent strokes and heart attacks.

Consuming cinnamon relieves a runny nose, cough - dry and with phlegm, removes mucus from the nose, removes congestion and congestion in the sinuses. It can soothe a sore throat, relieve cold headaches, cure flu and bronchial asthma.

Large amounts of cinnamon cause uterine contractions. The spice helps to recover during the postpartum period and increases milk flow. This is a traditional Indian remedy to reduce the risk of recurrent pregnancy immediately after childbirth up to 20 months.

In addition, cinnamon freshens breath, relieves muscle spasms, relieves colic, helps with indigestion, facilitates digestion, removes gas accumulation, and helps normalize weight. By the way, it is recommended to use cinnamon with ginger for those who want to lose weight - the product normalizes the functioning of the gastrointestinal tract, calms nervous system and reduces appetite.
What are the benefits of cinnamon and honey?

When combined with honey, cinnamon reveals its useful qualities to a greater extent. The main thing is to choose truly healthy, high-quality honey.

These components of the flu remedy: 1 tbsp. Boiled water needs to be brewed 0.5 tsp. with a pinch of black pepper, let it brew, consume internally with honey.

For colds, coughs and congestion respiratory tract Take orally a mixture of half the volume of cinnamon with 1 volume of honey.

For weight loss, it is recommended to drink an infusion of spices with honey and water on an empty stomach, upon waking up and at night.

By mixing honey and cinnamon in a 4:1 ratio, you get a natural mask to treat skin rashes.
Contraindications:

You should avoid using the spice if you have bleeding, epilepsy, nervous exhaustion, or high blood pressure. Cinnamon should absolutely not be consumed by pregnant women.
Dosage:

Add half to 1 tsp to dishes and drinks. per 1 kg or 1 liter.

How to use cinnamon?

It is best to grind cinnamon sticks into powder immediately before use: lightly fry them in a dry frying pan, grind them in a coffee grinder or mortar and then add them to dishes and drinks - this way the sticks will crumble better and give more taste and aroma. Another way is to lightly fry the sticks in a properly selected vegetable oil until the aroma appears.

It is best to grind cinnamon sticks into powder immediately before use: lightly fry them in a frying pan with or without oil, grind them in a coffee grinder or mortar and then add them to dishes and drinks - this way the sticks will crumble better and give more taste and smell.

Add cinnamon 7-10 minutes before a hot dish, such as buns, is ready. In cold dishes, such as salads or curd masses the spice is added before serving.

The sweet warm taste and aroma of cinnamon makes it ideal for use in widest spectrum dishes, including preserves and jams, compotes and jelly, liqueurs, punches, coffee, tea and chocolate drinks, sweet pilafs, jellies, mousses, pies, curd spreads. The spice is great for salads made from carrots, cabbage, corn, cucumbers, spinach, quince, pears, vegetable side dishes and marinades, for example, with zucchini, tomatoes, red pepper.

Cinnamon perfectly emphasizes the taste of apples, balancing the natural sourness inherent in their taste in pies, salads, and when baked. The aroma and taste of the spice combine perfectly with citrus fruits such as tangerines, lemon, orange, creating a holiday mood.

Cinnamon with kefir:

Kefir, being a nutritious dietary fermented milk product, perfect for fasting days. By adding cinnamon to it - half a teaspoon per glass - you make this drink more beneficial for digestion and promoting weight loss. Kefir with cinnamon is great for fasting days or as a snack.

Residents Ancient Greece nicknamed cinnamon impeccable spice“, and they knew a lot about striving for the ideal. In addition to the Greeks, the Egyptians were fans of the spice, including it in the mixture for embalming the bodies of departing pharaohs. IN eastern countries Cinnamon gained popularity as a valuable medicine more than 4,000 years ago, and until the 19th century Europeans used it only in cooking and as a sweetener for bitters. The Portuguese who conquered Ceylon liked cinnamon so much that they obliged the local population to pay an annual tribute with it. Today this spice is a full-fledged component aromatic dishes and drinks, some medicines, and it is also a gentle, warm and natural room scenter.

The cut bark is dried, and it is rolled into tubes, which are cut into sticks up to 12 cm long. Cinnamon is sold in the form of sticks or ground into powder.

Also sometimes found on the market are dried flowers or clove-like cinnamon tree buds, which give tea and other drinks a clean, delicate aroma.

How to choose cinnamon

What stores call cinnamon is not always what it is. The most useful and aromatic types of cinnamon are grown in Ceylon.

Knowing what cinnamon is, it will be easy for you to choose a high-quality spice.

How to distinguish real cinnamon from cassia

2. True cinnamon is more expensive; the packaging may be marked “Cinnamomum zeylonicum”. Cassia is sometimes labeled as "Cinnamomum aromaticum".

3. The smell of true cinnamon is softer and more noble - soft, warm, sweet. Cassia smells weaker, but rougher and sweeter.

4. As for cinnamon sticks, the high-grade noble spice has a delicate, uniform light brown color; the color of cassia is not the same inside and outside and has a reddish-brown or gray-brown tint. Real cinnamon sticks are always curled at both ends, forming “ram's horns,” while cassia sticks may be slightly curved or not curled at all.

5. The cut of cinnamon wood is thinner; the thickness of the cuts of the best varieties is comparable to the thickness of a paper sheet. Cinnamon is easily crushed and is fragile, while cassia is stronger, thicker (3-10 mm), coarser and breaks into fibers.

Storing cinnamon

Cinnamon shelf life

In sticks, the spice remains useful for 12 months; the optimal shelf life of ground cinnamon is six months.

Useful properties and contraindications of cinnamon

Therapeutic effect

Cinnamon stimulates, invigorates, improves mood, relieves depression, restores strength, improves memory, coordination and attentiveness.

It improves the circulation of fluids and thins the blood, lowers cholesterol levels, cleanses the liver and choleretic system.

Cinnamon is used to strengthen the heart and prevent strokes and heart attacks.

In addition, cinnamon freshens breath, relieves muscle spasms, relieves colic, helps with indigestion, facilitates digestion, removes gas accumulation, and helps normalize weight. By the way, it is recommended to use cinnamon if you want to lose weight - the product normalizes the functioning of the gastrointestinal tract, calms the nervous system and reduces appetite.

What are the benefits of cinnamon and honey?

When combined with honey, cinnamon exhibits its beneficial qualities to a greater extent. Main -

These components of the flu remedy: 1 tbsp. Boiled water needs to be brewed 0.5 tsp. with a pinch of black pepper, let it brew, consume internally with honey.

For colds, coughs and congestion in the respiratory tract, take orally a mixture of half the volume of cinnamon with 1 volume of honey.

For weight loss, it is recommended to drink an infusion of spices with honey and water on an empty stomach, upon waking up and at night.

By mixing honey and cinnamon in a 4:1 ratio, you get a natural mask to treat skin rashes.

Contraindications

You should avoid using the spice if you have bleeding, epilepsy, nervous exhaustion, or high blood pressure. Cinnamon should absolutely not be consumed by pregnant women.

Dosage

Add half to 1 tsp to dishes and drinks. per 1 kg or 1 liter.

How to use cinnamon

Add cinnamon 7-10 minutes before a hot dish, such as buns, is ready. In cold dishes, such as salads or curd masses, the spice is added before serving.

The sweet warm taste and aroma of cinnamon allows it to be added to a wide range of dishes, including preserves and jams, compotes and jelly, liqueurs, punches, coffee, tea and chocolate drinks, sweet pilafs, jellies, mousses, pies, and curd spreads. The spice is great for salads made from carrots, cabbage, corn, cucumbers, spinach, quince, pears, vegetable side dishes and marinades, for example, with zucchini, tomatoes, red peppers.

Cinnamon with kefir

Kefir, being a nutritious dietary product, is perfect for fasting days. By adding cinnamon to it - half a teaspoon per glass - you make this drink more beneficial for digestion and promoting weight loss. Kefir with cinnamon is great for fasting days or as a snack.

Which is widely used in cooking. It has been valued since ancient times for its healing properties. Many people associate the aroma of cinnamon with comfort and warmth, delicious homemade cakes. Therefore, most housewives constantly buy this spice. But do they only buy cinnamon? Most likely, almost no one knows that there are two identical spices - cassia and cinnamon. You need to figure out how to distinguish them. After all, the most widely sold spice is cassia - a low-quality and often harmful substitute for this spice.

Benefits of cinnamon

It is no coincidence that this spice has been known and popular since ancient times. It was used not only in cooking, but also in medicine. It was believed that cinnamon calms and gives peace, warms and cures colds. In addition, this spice invigorates, gives good mood and improves memory. It contains a lot of manganese, calcium, iron and fiber. And the special substance eugenol helps accelerate tissue regeneration and wound healing.

Modern medicine has proven the medicinal value of cinnamon. This spice has the following properties:

How to use cinnamon correctly

This spice is most often used in cooking. Everyone is familiar with the smell of baking with cinnamon, which is associated with comfort and tranquility. But this seasoning is also successfully added to desserts, drinks, salads, and main courses. Coffee with cinnamon is especially popular, Apple pie or baked chicken.

There are several recipes for using cinnamon to treat various diseases:

Brew half a teaspoon of powder and a pinch of black pepper with a glass of boiling water, cool slightly, add a spoonful of honey and drink for flu or cold;
if you mix a spoonful of honey with half a spoonful of cinnamon, this mixture helps with nasal congestion and cough;
an infusion of cinnamon with honey, consumed on an empty stomach, helps reduce weight;
a glass of kefir with a teaspoon of cinnamon in the morning helps improve digestion and normalize arterial pressure.

Cinnamon can also be used in cosmetology. When mixed with honey, the powder brightens the skin and makes it softer. When added to hair masks, it accelerates hair growth.

Types of cinnamon

This spice is highly valued and widely distributed. But the process of obtaining real cinnamon is very labor-intensive, and the trees whose bark is taken to produce it grow only in a few places. Therefore, both cassia and cinnamon are most often found on sale. Few people know how to distinguish them from each other. Usually people do not realize that there are 4 types of cinnamon, of which only one is truly valuable:

Ceylon cinnamon, or quinamon, is a real expensive spice;
Indonesian or Chinese cassia;
Malabar brown, or tree cinnamon, also called “cassia vera”;
cinnamon, or spicy cinnamon.

In addition, cinnamon substitutes are often used commercially and in food production: Burmese or bay cinnamon, as well as cinnamon extract.

Ceylon cinnamon

Both cassia and true cinnamon have spicy aroma and make baked goods more delicious. But only spice from a tree growing in Ceylon, on the island of Sri Lanka and in South India brings benefits. This is the most valuable type of cinnamon - Ceylon. She's rich delicate aroma and light brown tint. These cinnamon sticks are thin and fragile and crumble easily.

For its production, young trees 1-2 years old are used. A thin layer of inner bark is removed from them. It is dried in the sun and hand-wrapped into tubes. Then it is cut into sticks about 12 cm long or ground into powder.

Characteristics of Cassia

Despite the fact that this particular spice is presented on the shelves of our stores in 90% of cases, few people know this name. What cassia is is known mainly by culinary specialists and those who are seriously concerned about their health. This seasoning is made from trees related to cinnamon, but with slight differences. They grow in Vietnam, Indonesia and China. To produce cassia they take whole pieces bark from trees at least 7 years old. That is why the sticks of this seasoning turn out to be so hard and rough, and its smell is sharp and bitter.

Why is cassia dangerous?

There would be no need to try to find out whether you bought real cinnamon, because the aroma of the fake is still pleasant. But in fact, constant consumption of cassia is dangerous to health. It contains very a large number of tannins, and most importantly - coumarin. Its content exceeds the permissible limit by 1200 times. In cassia it is present in quantities of more than 2 g/kg.

Coumarin is also known as rat poison and is quite poisonous to humans. At frequent use it accumulates and damages the liver and kidneys. A person begins to experience headaches, indigestion, and dizziness. It became known that dangerous dose coumarin for children preschool age contained in 4 cinnamon cookies. For an adult, 6-7 mg of cassia, that is, a fifth of a teaspoon, is toxic.

The main differences between cinnamon and cassia

At first glance, these spices are not different, which is why there is such confusion. Most people don't realize that both cassia and cinnamon are commercially available. What is the difference between them can be understood by studying their characteristics in detail. Since people most often buy powder, you need to know how they differ. Real cinnamon is lighter in color, has a subtle pleasant aroma, a little sweet. Cassia, on the other hand, is dark, even with a reddish tint, smells more sharply, and leaves a bitter aftertaste.

Cinnamon and cassia sticks

It is in this form that this spice is more useful. Flour or starch is often added to the powder to make it more crumbly. In addition, during storage, ground spice loses its aromatic and taste qualities. And the sticks make it easier to compare cassia and cinnamon.

How to choose real cinnamon

In most cases, people purchase this spice in sealed bags, so they cannot determine the color, much less smell it. In this case, you first need to look at the name and country of manufacture. Real Ceylon cinnamon is produced in Sri Lanka. China, Vietnam, Indonesia, and even more so other countries are producing cassia. A conscientious manufacturer will also correctly indicate the name of the product: Cinnamomum zeylonicum is real cinnamon, and Cinnamomum aromaticum is fake.

In addition, it would not hurt to pay attention to the price: real cinnamon cannot be cheap, it is usually 5-10 times more expensive than cassia. The expiration date is also important. After all, after a year of storage, cinnamon loses its properties and aroma.

How to Test the Quality of Cinnamon at Home

What should those who just found out that cinnamon and cassia exist? How to distinguish a fake product at home from an already purchased product? You can look at the color so that it is not very dark, and smell it. But the most informative way is to take a little powder and drop a drop of iodine into it. Real cinnamon will hardly change color, but cassia will turn dark blue. You can also determine it by taste. Cinnamon is sweetish-spicy, has soft taste and delicate aroma. Cassia smells more strongly, bitter and pungent. And if you pour boiling water over a little powder, the cinnamon residue will become jelly-like and red-brown.

Now you know that cassia and cinnamon are very similar. How to distinguish them? If there are sticks in front of you, then you need to try to break them. Ceylon cinnamon is fragile and breaks easily, while cassia is dense and rough. The fake will be a strip of thick bark, slightly curled, often only on one side.

Now you know that both cassia and cinnamon are available for sale. It’s quite easy to remember how to distinguish them. Therefore, you can take advantage of all the beneficial properties of real noble cinnamon.

It happens that life goes on as usual, in everyday work, household chores, everyday chores and responsibilities - in a word, in a measured routine. And suddenly, unexpectedly and out of the blue, something subtle, but so familiar, almost forgotten, smells on you and makes your heart beat faster and more joyfully. And now you are already captivated by the happy memories of carefree youth and those rare moments of life that stay with you forever and give strength in its most difficult moments.

This is the aroma of the magical spice, familiar to everyone from childhood, for the possession of which many centuries ago battles and battles were fought, people lost their heads because of it, they took it as an assistant, winning the hearts of unapproachable beauties. Nowadays, its sweet, woody, enchanting smell of Christmas is an indispensable attribute of the European winter holidays.

It is believed that the aroma of the bark of this plant warms the body and soul, drives away feelings of loneliness, constriction and fear, gives inspiration, awakens creative imagination, and envelops you in the homely warmth of a family hearth.

We think many have already unraveled the intrigue. Of course, this is real cinnamon.

Where does cinnamon grow?

An evergreen, elegant tree growing in the Asian tropics, the bark of which has long been used by the local population to obtain this spice, aroused the coveted interest of European sailors and spice hunters back in the Ancient World. In the Middle Ages, it only strengthened, and the area of cinnamon production expanded significantly.

The highest quality real cinnamon is now obtained from. By the way, it was here, in the 16th century, that Portuguese travelers discovered dense cinnamon forests along the shores of the Ceylon Islands and became a monopoly in the trade of precious spice. But not for long - the Dutch, followed by the British, laid claim to the cinnamon island.

Sri Lankan real cinnamon, also called “noble” or true, is made from the finest soft bark of yellowish or Brown, has pleasant aroma and an unusually sweet, warm and pleasant taste.

Now these trees are for commercial purposes grown in Sumatra, Brazil, Egypt, even Vietnam and many other places. But Ceylon cinnamon remains unsurpassed to this day.

Her name can be found in the Bible. Cinnamon is one of the most ancient spices ever known to people. It is mentioned several times in the Bible.

Cinnamon is also mentioned in Chinese manuscripts from 2800 BC. It is still used in this country special respect as a symbol of immortality.

In Egypt, this spice was known back in 1500 BC. Researchers discovered that it was added to embalming mixtures because it has high antibacterial properties.

Cinnamon and Cassia

In fact there are four types of cinnamon. But the most frequent guest on our shelves is cassia, and therefore we will compare these two species.

Ceylon real cinnamon(cinnamomum zeylanicum) is quite expensive and very high quality. It has an unusually sweet, warm taste, with a slight burning aftertaste and a pleasant aroma. Experts define it as the best among the types of this spice; it is also called kinam or noble (true) cinnamon. She is the most expensive.

Chinese cinnamon or cassia(cinnamomum cassia), although it has an identical composition, is not exactly cinnamon, but rather its closest relative, which is extracted from the Chinese cinnamon tree. It has a more pronounced taste, sharper and hotter, which is why it is also called aromatic.

Cassia should be treated with caution. She contains coumarin(Cumarin), which is large quantities substance hazardous to health. Real cinnamon also contains it, but the scale is different. In Ceylon cinnamon it is only 0.02 g/kg, in Chinese cinnamon it is 2 g/kg. That's why Cassia should not be abused.

How to distinguish cinnamon from cassia

Cassia is usually darker and harder than the real thing, since in its production not only internal, delicate layer bark of Chinese cinnamon, but also the outer one, which is cut off from the real one. The tubes are correspondingly thicker – 2–3 mm. And the structure of such cinnamon will be more reminiscent of dried wood.

How to test cinnamon with iodine

In supermarkets, cassia is often passed off as noble cinnamon. But it's easy to check at home. Actually, the presence of starch is revealed. When true cinnamon is exposed to iodine, you will get a slight bluish effect, while cassia powder or sticks will turn a dark blue color.

How to choose cinnamon

It is also worth keeping in mind that real cinnamon is often counterfeited, taking advantage of its popularity throughout the world. Therefore, it is better to buy cinnamon in tubes rather than ground into powder. And one more tip - read who produces this spice. Cinnamon produced in England, France and Holland most often meets quality requirements.

Where do you add cinnamon?

It will not be an exaggeration to say that nowadays it can be found in any kitchen. And the uses for cinnamon are incredibly varied.

Let's say Portuguese and Mexicans can't imagine strong coffee without cinnamon stick in a cup. They are absolutely sure that coffee will invigorate much more effectively if you add a cinnamon stick and half a teaspoon of grated chocolate.

IN Spain the same stick can be found in gin and tonic.

Classically prepared stuffed eggplants or Greek Lamb stew is simply unthinkable without cinnamon.

In countries Middle East and Southeast Asia cinnamon is used when cooking meat instead of black pepper.

Well French Christmas is associated with the warm aroma of cinnamon gingerbread.

Few people know, but Russia milk soups, pancakes, porridges and jellied fish(!), V Transcaucasia put in soups (for example, in kharcho) and in lamb pilaf. IN Belarus flavored soaked lingonberries, and on Ukraine used for pickling cucumbers and pickling watermelons.

Nowadays we use cinnamon to flavor drinks, marinades, cookies, buns and sweet dishes made from cottage cheese and fruits, and add them to vegetable and fruit salads, in poultry, pork and lamb dishes.

Cinnamon powder is added only at the very end of cooking (no more than 10 minutes before the end), since with prolonged heat treatment cinnamon will give the dish an unpleasant bitterness.

Very interesting taste cinnamon adds flavor to curdled milk, fermented baked milk, and kefir.

Cinnamon: contraindications

Real cinnamon cannot be used during pregnancy, this can cause a miscarriage. In addition, the tendency to allergic reactions it should be used with caution.

Cinnamon in medicine

And again let's throw back the curtain of times. In medieval Europe there was no best medicine for impotence and anemia, than hot wine with cinnamon, this drug was boiled in an iron vessel and over a fire made of special wood.

The Hindus used a mixture of cinnamon and pomegranate juice How effective remedy from poisons.

Chinese traders medicinal herbs Cinnamon has been prescribed for centuries to relieve bloating and improve digestion. Use it to make home remedies for diarrhea and morning sickness.

In Arabic medical treatises you can find recipes for lotions with cinnamon decoction for nervous tics, convulsions, and weakness.

Benefits of cinnamon

Modern Research Says Real Cinnamon Can Be Wonderful a prophylactic against such a disease of the century as diabetes. It is believed to improve the body's ability to respond to insulin and normalize blood sugar levels, as well as improve blood circulation.

In general, this wonderful plant has useful action for a whole range of ailments.

Well, for example, cinnamon water wash eyes for conjunctivitis, inflamed wounds. A five-minute steam inhalation of cinnamon and sage will cope with a cold, and gargling with a toothache or sore throat. A mixture of cinnamon, ginger and honey added to black tea will speed up.

Cinnamon infusion with honey is good for recovery after childbirth, and some women in labor even feel increased flow of breast milk.

Cinnamon helps with most gastrointestinal problems, and with complex treatment it can even help cope with ulcers.

IN aromatherapy she has no equal. If you are depressed, your confidence in your own perfection has evaporated somewhere and you have become lonely and uncomfortable, inhale the magical cinnamon aroma - and hope and self-confidence will return again and give you new creative energy and vitality.

Cinnamon: use in folk medicine

Pour a cinnamon stick with a glass of boiled water (in order not to calculate the degrees, but they should be 92 Celsius, you can simply remove the water from the heat as it boils and count to twenty), leave for half an hour, remove the cinnamon, add a spoonful of honey. Drink in small sips after meal. This recipe is considered in the east universal remedy from all diseases.

How to lose weight with cinnamon

Healthy slimness is today's brand. There is no such young beauty who would not like to lose a couple of kilograms, or even more. How many recipes and tips, what a variety of diets, special programs and healthy products offered on TV screens! There is only one goal - to make us even more beautiful and attractive.

Recently, the list of weight loss products has been supplemented with cinnamon. Nutritional studies have shown that just a quarter teaspoon of real cinnamon, eaten with meals, helps metabolize sugar more efficiently and reduce blood sugar levels.

This is important because high level blood sugar leads to the formation of more and more fat deposits. Cinnamon can also be used instead of sugar because it has a naturally sweet taste.

Cinnamon is an amazing spice that has captivated people with its properties since ancient times. The evergreen tree gives us bark, which is dried in the sun, rolled into sticks and only then eaten. People preserved and passed on their knowledge of how to prepare cinnamon from the bark of a young cinnamon tree from generation to generation. It took a lot of effort to make real cinnamon. Spice was an expensive pleasure and not everyone could afford it. It was used in cooking, medicine, and as a flavoring agent.

Today, the popularity of cinnamon has not decreased, but it has become more accessible. Buying this spice is not difficult now. It is sold in stores, markets, online stores, supermarkets, and any grocery store. However, not everyone realizes that there are four types of cinnamon and only one of them is a truly valuable spice.

Types of cinnamon

There is such a variety of cinnamon on the shelves that you don’t know how to decide what to buy.

Kinamon or Ceylon cinnamon - this spice comes first as the most valuable and therefore always expensive (if the price is low, do not trust the manufacturer, this cinnamon cannot be cheap);
Indonesian or Chinese cassia is the most common spice sold under the guise of real cinnamon;
Spicy cinnamon or cinnamon;
Cassia vera or tree or Malabar brown cinnamon;
Bay cinnamon (cinnamon substitute);
Burmese cinnamon (surrogate);
Cinnamon extract (cinnamon substitute).

Let's take a closer look at a very popular spice, often passed off as cinnamon - Chinese or Indonesian cassia. Many sellers take advantage of our illiteracy and offer to buy cassia instead of real cinnamon. And this is not only offensive, but also very dangerous to health.

Cassia.

I also call it Chinese or fake cinnamon– also a spice, very similar to Ceylon cinnamon, but has a sharper aftertaste.

It is made from the bark of mature trees, Chinese cinnamon, or rather, most of the bark is taken. Therefore, sticks Chinese cinnamon hard and coarse-fibered, they are difficult to roll (that's why cassia sticks are curled on one side or slightly rounded). They are very difficult to crumble by hand. The bark is up to 3 mm thick; at home it is very difficult to grind this spice into powder. Accordingly, the seasoning turns out to be harsh, with a tart aroma and a sharp, bitter taste. It is these characteristics that are typical of cassia and make it possible to distinguish it from real cinnamon.

And what is the problem, you tell me. Yes, it is not as tender and does not have such a subtle aroma as Ceylon cinnamon, but it is fragrant and spicy in its own way. And it has its unique properties only as a spice inherent in it. Everything would be fine, only if conscious manufacturers and sellers honestly indicated on the packaging that it was cassia, no questions would arise. But cheap cassia is sold as high-quality cinnamon. External similarity is actually not so simple and harmless. Very similar products, but one spice is extremely beneficial, while the other is not entirely safe for health (because it has a different chemical composition).

Why is cassia dangerous, why is it so feared?

The harm to cassia is in its chemical composition.

This spice contains a lot of tannins and unsafe coumarin, also called rat poison. Its content in spice exceeds the norm by 1200 times. Toxic substance, causes headaches, dizziness and digestive disorders. Coumarin is especially dangerous for children. Currently, various diets using cinnamon are very popular. For those who want to lose weight, using cassia instead of cinnamon is very dangerous. With frequent use, cassia tends to accumulate in the body and disrupt the functioning of the liver and kidneys.

What's the difference between cinnamon and cassia?

The main differences between cinnamon and cassia. For most people, these two seasonings are no different from each other. To understand their differences, you just need to understand how they differ from each other.

How to distinguish between these two seasonings?

Ceylon cinnamon (real)	Cassia (Chinese cinnamon)
Cinnamomum zeylanicum	Cinnamomum aromaticum
The color is light yellowish, brown both outside and inside.	Uneven dark red-brown color
The cinnamon stick consists of many very thin (less than 1 mm) inner layers of bark, rolled into a tube. The stick breaks easily with your hands.	Very hard, the entire bark is used, up to 3 mm. Rough grainy texture. The stick is difficult to twist and even more difficult to break. Very hard, grinding can even ruin the coffee grinder.
Very subtle sweetish taste and spicy delicate aroma.	It has a tart and sharper aroma, a bitter-sweet astringent taste.
Insignificant content of coumarin (0.02 g/kg).	Cassia contains coumarin (2 g/kg), which is why it is considered unsafe. Especially for children!
Manufacturer Sri Lanka. It is considered the highest quality producer of Lankan cinnamon.	Produced in: China, Indonesia, Vietnam, Brazil, India, Egypt, Madagascar, etc.
The price is not cheap.	Ten times cheaper than the price of real cinnamon.

Quality of cinnamon

How to check the quality of cinnamon purchased in powder at home. You need to compare the color, smell it, taste it. Real cinnamon has a light brown yellowish color, a sweetish-spicy taste, with subtle aroma. Cassia is a dark brown spice, slightly bitter and pungent in taste and with a sharp tart odor. The most common way to test cinnamon is to place a drop of iodine on the powder. High-quality Ceylon cinnamon will retain its color almost unchanged, but cassia powder will turn dark blue.

Cinnamon sticks

Ground cinnamon is more practical and easier to use, that’s for sure. Especially in weight loss diets, the powder is used much more often and more readily. But it’s better to buy cinnamon spice with sticks. Cassia and cinnamon sticks are visually easily distinguished from each other, it is easier to compare them and make sure that you make the right choice when purchasing. It can be twisted from several thin layers of bark into a tube or be a stick twisted on both sides (cassia, due to its roughness, twists only on one side or can simply be curved). Cinnamon sticks retain their properties longer beneficial features and fragrant. Sticks are easy to distinguish by color and texture. Real cinnamon sticks are always light brown in color both inside and out; it crumbles easily with your hands. Cassia sticks are dark red-brown in color, the color is always uneven and they are always very hard.

Now you know how to distinguish between these two spices, cassia and cinnamon, so easily and confidently buy and add it to your diet, as a seasoning or aromatic additive. Use it as rejuvenator. Don't forget that it lowers blood pressure and lowers sugar! It can also be used as an antipyretic or antimicrobial agent. Cinnamon is a wonderful spice!