Grinding Cinnamon Sticks

[chiang mai]

Most people who turn to Cinnamon as a supplement tend to do so because they already have diabetes or cholesterol problems, they are therefore not 100% functioning fit from the outset. It's those people for whom large doses of Casia can be very dangerous, aka toxic, the average healthy body is likely to tolerate Casia in their coffee or sprinkled on a roll without difficulty. But one only has to do a quick search on the internet to realize that there's an ample supply of alternative medicine advocates out there who suggest that a "couple of scoops of Cinnamon per day" could bring health benefits, if a person is going to follow that advice and many appear to do so, they had best understand the risks also the difference between Casia and Cinnamon..

[northernjohn]

Use Thai or Chinese Cinnamon sparingly, it's heavily toxic, far better to get Cinnamon from Ceylon if you intend to consume in any quantity above a sprinkling. Google coumarin for further info.

How would I know the origin? I'm sure I bought cassia bark in Australia once and it looked different, although it was a long time ago. I always buy cinnamon sticks and grind my own as it's fresh and I know what's in it. I cook a lot of Indian, Middle Easten and Greek food so we go through quite a bit of it.

Check the link I posted above - it shows photos and tells how to identify the four main types of cinnamon (http://cinnamonvogue.com/Types_of_Cinnamon_1.html) - 3 bad (to various degrees) and one (on the right in the photo) is good

Simple test though - Ceylon is light in colour (not dark brown), usually in many layers like a rolled cigar as it is very thin (Cassia and other types are thick and hard and dark coloured), touch your tongue to it for a moment (good way to do this is break a bit off and touch tongue to either fresh cut edge), if it burns the tongue slightly like acid, is bitter and/or spicy, it is probably not Ceylon. Any type is OPK for normally healthy people in small quantities - which in the EU is marked at about one 150mg per adult per day max (there is a legal EU limit for food set at 15mg per item - with exceptions for Christmas/seasonal specials up to 50mg - as it is unlikely one person will eat several Christmas Puddings in a day!).

Coumarin itself (a precursor anti-coagulant and Vitamin K antagonist) has an average lethal dose of about 275 mg/kg which is very high (in other words it is not a very toxic substance to a healthy person at all - you would probably die of blood-glucose levels in the cinnamon before liver damage!). Used in Warfarin (a drug prescribed for blood clots and stroke patients). It should be avoided for vitamin K deficient people (such as haemophiliacs, Von Willebrand/Bernard-Soulier Syndrome/Factor V/X/XII deficient/Uremia/Thrombocytopenia/Aflibrinogenemia/Glanzmann's Thrombasthenia/C1INH deficient/Vitamin K deficient/dissimilated intravascular coagulation/ (and perhaps Leiden's Factor V Thrombophillia especially if taking Warfrin etc) sufferers and of course people with Liver Damage (including alcoholics) especially end-stage ).

According to Wikipedia, "1 kg of cassia cinnamon powder contains approximately 2.1 to 4.4 g of coumarin. Powdered cassia cinnamon weighs 0.56 g/cm³,so a kilogram of cassia cinnamon powder equals 362.29 teaspoons. One teaspoon of cassia cinnamon powder therefore contains 5.8 to 12.1 mg of coumarin, which may be above the tolerable daily intake value for smaller individuals."

By the way coumarin is also in Strawberries, cherries, apricots, black currents, vanilla grass, etc naturally - and in a lot of fruit based alcoholic drinks and vanilla essence/flavouring (artificial kind).

Two great posts. Lots of information. I my self use ground cinnamon I buy in the Tops store. The bottle is clearly marked Ingredients cinnamon.

I picked this up in Wikipedia.

How can consumers distinguish between Ceylon cinnamon and cassia cinnamon?

"It is almost impossible for consumers to distinguish between Ceylon cinnamon and cassia cinnamon in cinnamon powder. The situation is different in the case of cinnamon sticks. Whereas in the case of cassia cinnamon a relatively thick layer of the bark has been rolled into a stick, the cross-section of a Ceylon cinnamon stick looks more like a cigarette - several thin layers of bark have been rolled up into a cinnamon stick resulting in a comparatively compact cross-section. The origin of the cinnamon is not normally declared on the packaging; sometimes false information has been supplied in the past."

So I suppose people using it for what ever check their blood out.. For myself it is safe as I don't use mountains of it. I have my blood checked regularly and every thing is OK except the uric acid. I was unaware that irt would help with cholesterol.

I am still not clear on taking it when using Warfarin. I know that vitamin K is not a good thing to take with Warfarin.

[wolf5370]

Use Thai or Chinese Cinnamon sparingly, it's heavily toxic, far better to get Cinnamon from Ceylon if you intend to consume in any quantity above a sprinkling. Google coumarin for further info.

How would I know the origin? I'm sure I bought cassia bark in Australia once and it looked different, although it was a long time ago. I always buy cinnamon sticks and grind my own as it's fresh and I know what's in it. I cook a lot of Indian, Middle Easten and Greek food so we go through quite a bit of it.

Check the link I posted above - it shows photos and tells how to identify the four main types of cinnamon (http://cinnamonvogue.com/Types_of_Cinnamon_1.html) - 3 bad (to various degrees) and one (on the right in the photo) is good

Simple test though - Ceylon is light in colour (not dark brown), usually in many layers like a rolled cigar as it is very thin (Cassia and other types are thick and hard and dark coloured), touch your tongue to it for a moment (good way to do this is break a bit off and touch tongue to either fresh cut edge), if it burns the tongue slightly like acid, is bitter and/or spicy, it is probably not Ceylon. Any type is OPK for normally healthy people in small quantities - which in the EU is marked at about one 150mg per adult per day max (there is a legal EU limit for food set at 15mg per item - with exceptions for Christmas/seasonal specials up to 50mg - as it is unlikely one person will eat several Christmas Puddings in a day!).

Coumarin itself (a precursor anti-coagulant and Vitamin K antagonist) has an average lethal dose of about 275 mg/kg which is very high (in other words it is not a very toxic substance to a healthy person at all - you would probably die of blood-glucose levels in the cinnamon before liver damage!). Used in Warfarin (a drug prescribed for blood clots and stroke patients). It should be avoided for vitamin K deficient people (such as haemophiliacs, Von Willebrand/Bernard-Soulier Syndrome/Factor V/X/XII deficient/Uremia/Thrombocytopenia/Aflibrinogenemia/Glanzmann's Thrombasthenia/C1INH deficient/Vitamin K deficient/dissimilated intravascular coagulation/ (and perhaps Leiden's Factor V Thrombophillia especially if taking Warfrin etc) sufferers and of course people with Liver Damage (including alcoholics) especially end-stage ).

According to Wikipedia, "1 kg of cassia cinnamon powder contains approximately 2.1 to 4.4 g of coumarin. Powdered cassia cinnamon weighs 0.56 g/cm³,so a kilogram of cassia cinnamon powder equals 362.29 teaspoons. One teaspoon of cassia cinnamon powder therefore contains 5.8 to 12.1 mg of coumarin, which may be above the tolerable daily intake value for smaller individuals."

By the way coumarin is also in Strawberries, cherries, apricots, black currents, vanilla grass, etc naturally - and in a lot of fruit based alcoholic drinks and vanilla essence/flavouring (artificial kind).

Two great posts. Lots of information. I my self use ground cinnamon I buy in the Tops store. The bottle is clearly marked Ingredients cinnamon.

I picked this up in Wikipedia.

How can consumers distinguish between Ceylon cinnamon and cassia cinnamon?

"It is almost impossible for consumers to distinguish between Ceylon cinnamon and cassia cinnamon in cinnamon powder. The situation is different in the case of cinnamon sticks. Whereas in the case of cassia cinnamon a relatively thick layer of the bark has been rolled into a stick, the cross-section of a Ceylon cinnamon stick looks more like a cigarette - several thin layers of bark have been rolled up into a cinnamon stick resulting in a comparatively compact cross-section. The origin of the cinnamon is not normally declared on the packaging; sometimes false information has been supplied in the past."

So I suppose people using it for what ever check their blood out.. For myself it is safe as I don't use mountains of it. I have my blood checked regularly and every thing is OK except the uric acid. I was unaware that irt would help with cholesterol.

I am still not clear on taking it when using Warfarin. I know that vitamin K is not a good thing to take with Warfarin.

Cassia cinnamon (coumarin) to very high levels. Although it is not a direct anti-coagulant in itself, it can be made so (dicoumarol - spelling?) - I think with mould (so if not stored properly, getting wet/damp and then left to dry naturally etc). Dicoumarol is a natural anticoagulant (and Vitamin K depleter) just like Warfarin. Taking Warfarin AND dicoumarol can cause INR tests to be inaccurate and difficult to dose properly - thus should be avoided like most other natural anti-coagulants. My mother is on Warfarin for life (quite high doses with very curious and flip-flopping, hard to control, INR readings) - she has to avoid any such food stuffs. Powdered form is probably safer than open sticks from Macro though as drying/manufacturing process would probably kill any mould (assuming drying happens early enough to mitigate mould activating dicoumarol).

[scotinsiam]

use a hammer

[Konini]

I put a stick of Ceylon in my coffee each day (same stick in each cup) and nibble at it from time to time too.

Eeeewwww!

(Of course , I will now start sticking a stick of it in my coffee on a rolling basis to see if it alters the taste of the coffee)

[wolf5370]

I put a stick of Ceylon in my coffee each day (same stick in each cup) and nibble at it from time to time too.

Eeeewwww!

(Of course , I will now start sticking a stick of it in my coffee on a rolling basis to see if it alters the taste of the coffee)

Yeah it does - I like it, but I have strange taste in most things

By the way your avatar scares the bajeebers out of me - I used to have nightmares over that when it was on TV when I was like 5 years old

[Konini]

By the way your avatar scares the bajeebers out of me - I used to have nightmares over that when it was on TV when I was like 5 years old

Hahaha, When I was 5 I wanted her blackboard. Or maybe a bit older?? Still wanted it.

My brother used to get nightmares from the Dr Who Theme. We would watch it OK, but mam had to remember to jump up really quickly when it was finishing and turn it down before the music started. I didn't even tease him about it (it was a real fear).

Edited March 19, 2014 by Konini

[Oscar2]

Use Thai or Chinese Cinnamon sparingly, it's heavily toxic, far better to get Cinnamon from Ceylon if you intend to consume in any quantity above a sprinkling. Google coumarin for further info.

How would I know the origin? I'm sure I bought cassia bark in Australia once and it looked different, although it was a long time ago. I always buy cinnamon sticks and grind my own as it's fresh and I know what's in it. I cook a lot of Indian, Middle Easten and Greek food so we go through quite a bit of it.

Cinnamon on the left, Casia on the right.

Also, Cinnamon from Ceylon usually states where it's from and is easily distinguishable by price.

just checked the sticks we have here, sold in bulk from kad luang as cinnamon in a package with only Chinese labeling and they are identical to the one on the right in the photo. just tossed them in the bin!

[NancyL]

Wow, I've learned a lot from this thread. Here I'd thought I was doing Hubby and me a favor by encouraging the liberal use of cinnamon on our breakfast fruit & yogurt and in our tea. It's on our breakfast table. Incidentally, it's pretty good in coffee, too. Sounds like some people really try to consume it large quantities. Glad we never did. We'll cut back to just a light sprinkle. Thanks, folks!

[Cobragold]

I do take cinnamon to help control diabetic sugar level. I take NOW brand tri-chromium capsules as it contains 500 mcg of chromium and 250 mg of cinnamomum cassia. It helps and can be ordered from iHerb. Recently I saw a YouTube video on cinnamon and it states that Ceylon cinnamon does nothing for blood sugar.

Please share what you all think about it, I bought Ceylon cinnamon on-line, cost is very high as compared to the cheaper version.

[chiang mai]

Here's what the Mayo Clinic says on the subject:

http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/diabetes/expert-answers/diabetes/faq-20058472

The short answer is that it "may" help lower blood glucose levels but there is as yet insufficient proof.

Another answer is that whilst Cinnamon "may" be effective, Casia "is" also dangerous in large quantities. So combining that "may" with an "is" seems not sensible.

[beau thai]

I've come a little late to this party and the topic has moved from 'how to grind' to 'should you grind'. An education for me as I always thought cinnamon was pleasant-and safe. I will ensure I have the right sort in future.

But to answer the initial question, thanks to some other TV members who educated me about burr grinders for coffee beans, I bought a very good manual one from Hilkoff recently for less than 1000 bht. I add part of cinammon stick and some cardamom pods to the beans and the grinder does the job just fine. Not everyone's taste I guess but I like my coffee that way.

[heybruce]

Use Thai or Chinese Cinnamon sparingly, it's heavily toxic, far better to get Cinnamon from Ceylon if you intend to consume in any quantity above a sprinkling. Google coumarin for further info.

How would I know the origin? I'm sure I bought cassia bark in Australia once and it looked different, although it was a long time ago. I always buy cinnamon sticks and grind my own as it's fresh and I know what's in it. I cook a lot of Indian, Middle Easten and Greek food so we go through quite a bit of it.

Cinnamon on the left, Casia on the right.

Also, Cinnamon from Ceylon usually states where it's from and is easily distinguishable by price.

The cinnamon sticks I've seen in Chiang Mai all look like the casia. Is there any place in Chiang Mai that sells Ceylon cinnamon?

[chiang mai]

I've not found anywhere although one poster reports buying them at Makro.