Honey and cinnamon are ancient health remedies, a popular sweetener, and a valued spice.
Medical science is catching up with folk wisdom in looking at both honey and cinnamon as medical treatments for a variety of conditions.
You will be amazed at what cinnamon and honey can do, separately and together. However, you may be very depressed by the first miracle cure that has a lot of hype!
And you may be putting honey and cinnamon in your first aid kit after reading this.
Miracle Weight Loss Cure
Take a spoonful of cinnamon and honey a day, steep in hot water, drink on an empty stomach, and watch the weight melt away.
Like most weight loss plans that don’t involve increasing exercise and improving diet, the Cinnamon/Honey diet plan sounds too good to be true. And the evidence is that it probably is.
Try improving your diet by cutting back on sugar, white flour, and processed foods and burn off calories by exercising.
Lower Risk of Heart Disease
This one has scientific proof! Cinnamon and honey fights chronic inflammation, a marker in diseases like heart disease. Honey and cinnamon alone are shown to lower “bad” LDL levels while increasing “good” HDL cholesterol. Eating them together also lowers blood pressure in lab rats.
Both cinnamon and honey are full of antioxidants that improve blood flow to the heart and prevent blood clots. The antioxidants also have other positive health effects.
Healing Wounds
Honey has been used historically to treat wounds and research confirms folklore use. Both honey and cinnamon alone are anti-bacterial and decrease inflammation.
One of the most exciting uses for cinnamon and Manuka honey together are in the treatment of diabetic foot ulcers. These are very difficult to heal and often get infected by antibiotic resistant bacteria.
Research indicate that the combo of honey and cinnamon oil are very effective in helping ulcers to heal while keeping the infections away.
Lowers Blood Sugar
Along with treating diabetic foot ulcers, cinnamon and honey may help prevent diabetes and lowers blood sugar in diabetics. Cinnamon decreases fasting blood sugar and increases insulin sensitivity.
Honey has less impact on blood sugar levels that does sugar. Using the two together as replacement sweeteners may help diabetics and pre-diabetics to control blood sugar.
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Obviously, this combo won’t “cure” it or prevent diabetes if you don’t improve the diet and exercise that are contributing to the condition in the first place.
May Slow Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s
Scary neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s may be slowed by cinnamon.
Cinnamon appears to inhibit protein build up in the brain and protect neurons and other brain functions that are symbols of the diseases. All this is in lab rats, so there is no proof in humans yet.
Anti-Cancer Properties
There are indications in lab animals that cinnamon extracts can prevent the growth of cancer cells and tumors.
Cinnamon may detoxify enzymes linked to colon cancer, protecting against further growth. Since both cinnamon and honey are high in antioxidants, these may protect against colon cancer.
Coughs and Colds
Honey is a more effective cough suppressant than dextromethorphan. Cinnamon also has anti-bacterial and anti-fungal properties, so taking a spoonful of cinnamon and honey may help fight off a cold.
However, since most colds are caused by viruses, it may not be particularly effect.
Conclusion
Honey and cinnamon have definite health effects. Just be aware of several factors. First, there are two varieties of cinnamon, cassia and Ceylon.
Cassia is considered to be of lower quality, is commonly sold in grocery stores, and contains high doses of coumarone. Coumarone can be harmful in high doses. However, cassia is higher in cinnamaldehyde, an oil that may be the important component in these possible cures.
Second, the honey is raw and, in some cases, a specific variety of honey. The honey off the grocery store shelves has been pasteurized and may be adulterated by high fructose corn syrup. This tends to kill the health properties and any weight loss potential. However, do not feed raw honey (or any honey) to children under 12 months.
Honey and cinnamon are a flavorful combination, so enjoy in moderation.
