Cassia Cinnamon - A "Royal" Medicinal Plant

Cinnamon is one of the most important medicinal herbs in well-known traditional Chinese medicine. There are different types of cinnamon for different uses. Thanks to its special properties, cassia cinnamon (Cinnamomum cassia) has proven particularly useful for external use and is considered one of the “50 basic herbs in traditional Chinese medicine” (“Cinnamomum cassia”, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki /Cinnamomum_cassia, December 8, 2016) .

The most important properties of this type of cinnamon include antibacterial, temperature-regulating and blood circulation-promoting.

Cinnamon powder

“The medical effects are mainly: promoting mobility, antibacterial, fungistatic, lipid and blood sugar lowering. Applications for loss of appetite, indigestion, flatulence…” (“Cinnamon Cassia”, https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zimtkassie, November 14, 2016) . Cassia cinnamon can also be found in many traditional Asian herbal recipes for diabetes and rheumatism as well as applications for lowering cholesterol.

There are rumors that cassia cinnamon is harmful to health due to the high coumarin content and is even considered inferior - no need to worry! A health risk can only be expected if cassia cinnamon is consumed excessively over a long period of time . With normal consumption , no harmful effects from cassia cinnamon have been proven, both in the thousands of years of experience in the art of medicine and in current studies.

Loud BfR (Federal Institute for Risk Assessment), an adult with a body weight of 60 kg can consume up to 2 g of cassia cinnamon (equivalent to 0.1 mg coumarin per kg of body weight per day) every day for the rest of their life without any health risk being expected. This also applies to particularly sensitive consumers.

“Animal experiments have led to the suspicion that coumarin is carcinogenic in very high quantities. However, several studies on human cell lines do not indicate such effects in the human organism” (“Cumarin”, https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cumarin, August 17, 2017) . “However, there is no clear evidence of the alleged danger of coumarin during the normal use of spices containing coumarin.” (“Cumarin”, https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cumarin, August 17, 2017) .

The recommendation to prefer Ceylon cinnamon for cinnamon insoles is also unfounded. With its mild properties, this type of cinnamon is ideal for consumption, for example as a spice. For external applications, however, cassia cinnamon has the optimal effect due to its high intensity and has therefore been used in medicine for thousands of years. The two types are as different in use as tea tree oil (for the skin) and olive oil (for salad).