Cinnamon is the spice that can transform a kitchen in a second. The scent alone — warm, sweet, slightly spicy — evokes something that feels like home. But cinnamon is much more than a flavoring for your apple pie or chai. It is one of the oldest and best-researched medicinal spices in the world, and science confirms what herbalists have known for thousands of years.
Cinnamon has been used for more than 4,000 years — in ancient Egypt as a preservative, in the Bible as a sacred oil, in Chinese medicine as a remedy for cold and digestive issues. Arab traders kept its origin secret for centuries to protect its value. A pound of cinnamon was once worth more than a month’s wages. Today cinnamon just sits in your kitchen cupboard — but its power has not disappeared.
What exactly is cinnamon?
Cinnamon comes from the inner bark of trees in the genus Cinnamomum. There are two main types you’ll encounter:
Ceylon cinnamon (Cinnamomum verum) — also called true cinnamon or Sri Lanka cinnamon. Milder