5 Benefits of Cinnamon (Cinnamon) in the Health Sector
Tuesday, March 10, 2020
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5 Benefits of Cinnamon (Cinnamon) in the Health Sector - The benefits of cinnamon as a cooking spice have long been known. Cinnamon is a spice extracted from the genus Cinnamomum tree bark which is included in Indonesia's largest export commodity.
However, it is not only used as a mixture of food and drinks, this herb is also used in the pharmaceutical and cosmetics industry because it has been proven to have various health benefits. One species of cinnamon that has an important role in health is cinnamon native to Indonesia, namely Cinnamomum burmannii, which is also believed to be useful for preventing nausea, reducing muscle spasms, releasing gas, and preventing infection.
In the world of human health, cinnamon has quite a large number of roles, including being an antioxidant and antimicrobial when dealing directly with oxidants or microbes, as well as acting as an anti-inflammatory, anticancer and antidiabetic indirectly through mediated receptor mechanisms. The role of cinnamon in health is supported by active ingredients found in essential oils in the wood, including cinnamaldehyde, cinnamyl acetate, and cinnamyl alcohol.
Benefits of cinnamon for health
1. Anti blood clotting
The content of the active ingredient in cinnamon, cinnamaldehyde, has been investigated to have an effect on blood platelets, which is the part of the blood that has a role in the process of blood clotting during injury. However, under certain conditions, platelets also have a tendency to clot blood under normal circumstances. In addition to inhibiting blood flow, blood clots in the blood circulation by platelets will affect the process of transporting oxygen and nutrients to all body cells and increase blood pressure.
Cinnaldehyde in cinnamon can help prevent blood clots when unwanted by inhibiting the release of arachidonic fatty acids from platelets and reducing the formation of thromboxane A2 molecules from platelets. This has also been proven through research by a team from Chiba University, Japan.
2. Increase sensitivity to the hormone insulin
chromium and polyphenols in cinnamon are proven to increase sensitivity to the hormone insulin, given that these compounds have effects similar to insulin signaling and glucose control. The increasing sensitivity to insulin in a person's body, the less amount of insulin needed by that person to make blood sugar stable. With increased sensitivity to the hormone insulin, the risk of high blood pressure, type two diabetes, and cholesterol can be minimized.
3. Role in neurodegenerative diseases
Neurodegenerative or nerve cell death is a trigger for various neurological diseases, such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, Huntington's disease, and the like. These neurodegenerative diseases are related to damage to nerve cells and affect motion control, processing sensory information, to memory retrieval.
The benefits of cinnamon have long been believed in the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases, one of which is Alzheimer's disease. Cinnamaldehyde and epicatechin compounds contained in cinnamon can prevent the collection of protein tau (τ) in the brain. These compounds have been proven to prevent clots from occurring and possibly prevent Alzheimer's disease.
4. Antioxidants
Among the spices, cinnamon has been shown to have high antioxidant activity. Cinnamon contains antioxidants, one of which is polyphenols (hydroxycinnamic acids), which can protect the body from oxidative damage from free radicals. Polyphenols in cinnamon can also be useful for maintaining and maintaining other human health, including protecting the skin from UV radiation, reducing the signs of aging, reducing inflammation, maintaining brain health and protecting from dementia, protecting the heart system and blood vessels, and inhibiting tumor growth and cancer cells.
Antioxidants from food is one thing that is needed by humans today, especially those who have to deal with pollution in big cities, to maintain health, and the consumption of cinnamon sufficiently is one solution to this problem.
5. Antimicrobial
Cinnamon has the ability to stop the growth of bacteria and fungi, one of which is from the Candida type. Candida is an infectious microorganism that can be found in the mouth, intestine, and vagina, which causes diseases of the skin and mucous membranes. Candida infections in the inside of the body can be reduced or even stopped by consuming cinnamon. This role is supported by the cinnamaldehyde content found in cinnamon oil.
In addition to treating infections caused by the fungus Candida, another benefit of cinnamon is that it can treat Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) diseases caused by bacterial gastroenteritis.