As a healthy eater, it’s important to turn to herbs and spices to flavor your meals without always adding fat and calories. If you eat bland boring food day after day, you really miss and start to crave cakes, pies, cookies, and things like that. Spices really help. Do you like cinnamon?
Source: http://www.indocinnamon.com
Cinnamon happens to be one of my favorite spices to turn to in just about any situation. I used to buy a huge container of it at Costco until I wandered into a spice store and found that there are numerous varieties of cinnamon and each has a different flavor and potential use. Yes, there are different forms like stick or ground, but different flavors too!
Ceylon cinnamon is mild with a slight citrus flavor and can be used like your average cinnamon. It’s also great in sauces or lemon flavored dishes for a kick. Korintje Indonesia is slightly sweet and is the cinnamon that is found most often when buying cinnamon in the stores. You can use it on oatmeal, toast, in breads, and baking.
China Tung Hing cinnamon is strong and has more of a kick to it. It goes great in cinnamon rolls, waffles, and things where there aren’t a lot of other spices used to conflict with it. Vietnamese cinnamon is the strongest of them all. Use it in dishes you really want to spice up. Cinnamon sticks can be ground into dishes with a grater or even steeped on the stove to make your kitchen smell good.
I’ve used cinnamon on just about everything for flavor. Sprinkled on my coffee, toast, oatmeal, yogurt, wheat berries, quinoa, in sauces like BBQ sauce or stir fry. The possibilities are endless. But did you know that it doesn’t only taste good, it’s also good for you.
Cinnamon can help lower and regulate your blood sugar so that you don’t have those spikes and drops throughout the day. Those ups and downs are what can lead to irresistible cravings. Studies have shown that it can also help with cholesterol and triglycerides. Alternative medicine practitioners have been known to use it to treat indigestion and colds. You’ll find it as an ingredient in chai tea for this purpose.
In a study published in a medical journal called Diabetes Care, 60 people with type 2 diabetes were divided into three groups that took 1/4 to 1 teaspoon of cinnamon daily. After 40 days, all 3 groups reduced their fasting blood glucose by 18 to 29%, triglycerides by 23 to 30%, LDL cholesterol by 7 to 27%, and total cholesterol by 12 to 26%.
Of course I’m not an expert in any way, and am not suggesting that you use it to treat your medical conditions. Make sure to check with your doctor before using it for anything other than for flavor. I just found the research interesting and I like the way cinnamon tastes. If it regulates my blood sugar and keeps the cravings away, that’s an added bonus. 🙂
What’s your favorite spice?
Source
Khan A, Safdar M, Ali Khan MM, Khattak KN, Anderson RA. Cinnamon improves glucose and lipids of people with type 2 diabetes. Diabetes Care. 26.12 (2003): 3215-3218.
I have to say cinnamon is my favourite! 😀
I think it’s my favorite too although I have been using nutmeg lately to change things up. It’s a very different taste though. I also got the planks we were talking about the other day to grill my salmon, and some mesquite smoking chips for burgers and things. I’m thinking a variation of cedar plank salmon with a cinnamon glaze. Mmmmmm.