Cinnamon |
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We often may fear dismay of the notion that to give up sugar seems to give up sweetness. Yet there are foods that can still taste and be sweet without any added sugar.  Indeed it a misconception to think that sugar is only those white or sticky brown grains made from cane or beet. Numerous types of sugars are in various foods such as fruit, vegetables, other plant foods and dairy. It is a matter of balance – we need sugar but not too much (as can so easily be supplied by refined white and brown sugar grains). There are numerous foods that can be sweet and not have added sugar. Cinnamon is one spice that can be added to a food to impart sweetness. Sweet cinnamon sprinkled over pancakes. Or decoratively floating as a stick to swizzle your hot beverage, is not all that it’s relegated to be. This wonderful aromatic spice has the need to be used by diabetics! As diabetics often have a sweet tooth they should find this spice palatable. Studies on animals and humans have shown how incorporating just a teaspoon or even less can lower blood sugar. This is great news. It means that cinnamon has the power to enhance the utilisation of sugar. Children often need to be coerced to eat their vegetables. One tool parents have commonly used is the teaspoon of sugar. Try cinnamon rather. It won’t lower their blood sugar! Only improve the body’s ability to handle it. The aroma is claimed to perk up mental functioning, by a study. If indeed so, then that’s another bonus. An interesting basic dish to prepare could be rice and small beans with cinnamon powder. It’s plain and simple. We can add the powder to almost anything, even curries! The curry of your favourite dish can be made far more bearable and flavoursome. Folk remedies linked cinnamon as an aphrodisiac, to spice up the love life. The bark of the cinnamon tree is the part we eat. It’s either available as powder or sticks. The colour often of the sticks is a dark tan hue, while the powder seems to have a touch of red. The barks of trees have had their prime time! From oak tree bark made into corks for glass bottles to the popular past remedy of quinine for malaria, made from cinchona tree bark.  Cinnamon (cinnamonum verum is its correct full name) has its roots all the way back to the East, especially in the Asian area of India. There are two types. Ceylon cinnamon (or true cinnamon), which has a more refined flavour and Chinese cinnamon (or cassia). The sweet smell is from the bark holding fragrant oils. These oils are not just to appease one’s sense of smell. They can act as anti-yeast agents and preservatives! This makes cinnamon a possible spice to apply when one has a yeast infection, especially when there’s a compromised immune system.It’s worth stocking up on this spice. Especially when there are times you want something sweet. Try having bakery products with sprinkled cinnamon instead of sugar, or having tea with it instead of sugar or sweeteners. This spice is reputed to be a warming agent! It’s able to warm the body and has been used as a remedy for diarrhoea. The scientific backing is lacking for such application yet. Enjoy this sweet spice not only with pancakes. It’s a sad waste to not exploit its sweetness. We can exploit its sweetness without having to run up our account with the sugar regulators of the body. Anastacia Sampson D.N. Med |