The Truth About Honey And Cinnamon

What is the truth about honey and cinnamon? You may have heard, as I wrote in a previous post, about the many healing power claims of the combination of these two foods. And in that post, I give few of those claims very much credence. The main reason is that I believe that the curative properties either of these foods may have are likely to bring only short-term results. Long-term results come from long-term lifestyle changes, such as changing your eating habits or exercising more.

But all skepticism aside, I want to take a look at each food separately, so we can get a clear picture about what health benefits it may or may not bring to the body.

Honey

There is evidence to the claims that honey contains antioxidants and is anti-bacterial. As for the latter, raw honey has been used for centuries as an anti-septic on minor wounds. The application of honey to a cut seems to reduce the likelihood of infection as well as promote faster healing.

Understanding the healing power of plants in general, I can certainly see how the honey made from flower nectar can also contain some kind of anti-microbial constituent. However, so do a lot of herbs, spices and essential oils which bring many more health benefits to the body than does honey.

If we want to get down to the nitty-gritty truth about honey and cinnamon, we can’t ignore the claim that raw honey contains antioxidant properties. While this does bear out in scientific research as fact, we have to ask why anything contains antioxidant properties.

I recently read an article which revealed that the reason that sweet foods such as fruits and honey are so high in antioxidants is because if they weren’t, free radicals would run rampant in the food and cause it to rot at a much quicker rate.

Therefore, if you don’t consume many foods with sugar – including honey and fruit – you don’t have to worry so much about antioxidants.

In other words, it may be better to skip the honey than to eat it for its antioxidants.

Cinnamon

When digging into the truth about honey and cinnamon, the claims given to the spice have much more credence to me. It has been proven to be anti-fungal, reduce cancer cells, be anti-clotting, improve cognitive function, and – yes, in combination with honey – reduce arthritis pain.

If you are going to use cinnamon for its healing properties, however, I would recommend the essential oil of cinnamon bark, as essential oils tend to be much more powerful than the dried herb when it comes to medicinal properties.

This oil, in addition to having all the properties of the dried spice, is anti-viral and anti-bacterial – and therefore helps to get rid of colds and flus- controls blood sugar, is an astringent, and diminishes digestive problems.

So what is the truth about honey and cinnamon? Take it easy on the honey, and count on a healthy lifestyle to keep you from the maladies that the combination of foods claim to heal. And when you’re sick, cinnamon – especially the essential oil – is probably your better bet.