As a spice, cinnamon is common and offers an amazing flavor for food, especially in the winter months.
But, it is also very relevant for health.
While you can get benefits from regular grocery store cinnamon, that's not ideal.
Instead, you should be focusing on Ceylon cinnamon. In this article, we're highlighting where to buy Ceylon cinnamon and why that type matters.
Ceylon Cinnamon vs Cassia Cinnamon
The different types of cinnamon are a reference to the specific tree that the spice comes from.
- Celyon cinnamon comes from the species Cinnamomum vernum.
- Cassia cinnamon is from Cinnamomum cassia
Ceylon cinnamon is considered to be the most legitimate form, but most of the cinnamon in stores is Cassia cinnamon or a combination of the two.
Thankfully, most pure Ceylon cinnamon products will state this, as it is a key selling point.
Appearance and Taste
Powdered cinnamon often looks the same regardless of the type. But, you can easily see the difference in rolls of cinnamon bark.
- Cassia cinnamon has discreet rolls (like in the image above) that are easy to see.
- Ceylon cinnamon tends to consist of many individual layers, which often fill the entire space.
There is also a taste difference between the two.
Ceylon cinnamon tends to have a more subtle flavor, which makes it especially useful in baking and as an ingredient for healthy smoothies. Likewise, it’s easy to see how this type of cinnamon would go great in keto desserts and similar recipes.
Health Differences
Both types of cinnamon contain the compound coumarin. But, it is much more prevalent in Cassia cinnamon.
Coumarin doesn’t offer any significant nutritional benefits. Instead, it is a blood thinner.
- Blood thinners can be useful and even save lives in some situations. However, you shouldn’t be taking a blood thinner if you don’t need one.
- Likewise, this type of action can majorly interfere with some medications. The People's Pharmacy offers additional insight into the interactions that can occur.
Coumarin can also cause liver damage if you’re consuming a significant amount (1,2).
If you’re just using cinnamon as a spice and not very regularly, Cassia cinnamon is probably fine. But, if you’re looking for health benefits, Ceylon cinnamon is the way to go. You certainly shouldn’t be having a teaspoon or more at a time of Cassia cinnamon.
This means that for health and for flavor, Ceylon cinnamon is always going to be the better choice. Realistically, it’s always going to be worth spending the extra money to get Ceylon, rather than simply relying on Cassia cinnamon.
Ways to Buy and Take Ceylon Cinnamon
One of the best answers for where to buy Ceylon cinnamon is to look online. Nowadays, there are so many different products sold online and no shortage of different options for promoting your health and wellbeing.
There are three key ways to buy and use Ceylon cinnamon.
You can get it in the form of sticks, powder or capsules. All options can be good for health and which you choose may come down to how you want to use it.
Cinnamon Sticks
Cinnamon sticks are commonly used in cooking, such as in making mulled wine, flavored water, desserts and stews. In fact, the site Cinnamon Vogue offers an amazing mulled wine recipe.
At the same time, the sticks can be a good way to be certain about the cinnamon you’re getting, as Ceylon and Cassia cinnamon is easy to tell apart.
The sticks tend to be relatively shelf-stable too, especially if you keep them in an airtight jar. You can even make powder from them yourself if you choose to.
Cinnamon Powder
Many people rely on cinnamon powder instead. This form gives you many different options and is exceptionally easy to use. Plus, most people are already familiar with using powdered spices.
For example, you could sprinkle cinnamon on top of coffee (or any hot drink). The spice is an easy way to add flavor without sugar.
You can also check out this post from One Good Thing. It features some less common ways to use cinnamon.
Cinnamon Supplements
Cinnamon supplements are an interesting alternative. More than anything, these offer a way to get the benefits of cinnamon, without having to taste it. They also mean that you don’t have to find ways to include cinnamon in your diet daily.
However, you do need to be a little careful with them.
For one thing, the supplement industry isn’t subject to much regulation. In some cases, this means that the labeling on the bottle isn’t an accurate reflection of what you’re getting.
At the same time, you can have too much cinnamon, even if you’re using Ceylon cinnamon.
- It’s much easier to do so if you’re talking supplements.
- For that matter, you’d probably still be getting cinnamon in your food from time to time as well.
- The best way around this is to follow the manufacturer recommendations and avoid large amounts of cinnamon from other sources.
Best Ceylon Cinnamon Brands and Products
If you’re going to buy Ceylon cinnamon, then one of the very best choices is Organic Wise Ceylon Cinnamon.
This brand is currently a best seller on Amazon, with universally positive reviews.
As users point out, the flavor is somewhat different than regular cinnamon from the store and that difference can take some adjusting to. However, this is the case for any brand of Ceylon cinnamon and becoming accustomed to the flavor is important if you want to use this type of cinnamon for health benefits.
Another great thing is that the cinnamon is organic.
That’s perfect if you’re trying to reduce the chemicals involved in the food that you eat.
There are many other popular options out there. A second one that I recommend is Frontier Natural Products Cinnamon.
This is another organic brand that also does well in terms of reviews. It’s also a good option if you are looking for a smaller container of cinnamon to get you started.
Frontier also offers sticks of Ceylon cinnamon and these may be a good choice if you prefer your cinnamon in that form.
There aren’t nearly as many reviews for the sticks of cinnamon on Amazon but that is hardly surprising. Realistically, relatively few people buy cinnamon sticks when compared to powdered cinnamon.
Finally, there are some good options for where to buy Ceylon cinnamon supplements too. Personally, I recommend sticking with actual cinnamon if you can, as whole foods tend to promote healthier habits than supplements.
Still, most supplements are simply cinnamon in capsules, so they can still be a good way to get cinnamon health benefits.
One good option comes from the Ceylon Cinnamon Shop and is certified organic.
For this supplement, the capsules contain 500 mg of cinnamon and you are meant to take two per day. So, you would be supplementing 1 gram of cinnamon each day.
That’s in line with what the research suggests.
You could, of course, go higher. But, as mentioned previously, it is important to be careful about how much cinnamon you consume.
An alternative would be Ceylon cinnamon from NutriFlair.
In this case, the supplements contain 600 mg and again you’re supposed to take two per day. So, the serving here is higher but the general idea is identical.
Both brands tend to get good reviews, with most customers being happy with what they get.
In fact, for NutriFlair, there were hardly any negative reviews. Most of the ones that were present came from people who misread or misunderstood the marketing – rather than from any issues with the product.
Additionally, NutriFlair is a particularly good company as they respond to comments on Amazon fairly quickly, often offering to resolve any issues that people have. That type of customer service is always appealing and this alone may be a reason to go with NutriFlair as a brand.
Why Use Cinnamon?
There are significant cinnamon health benefits. These are most strongly associated with Ceylon cinnamon. This isn't too surprising, as other spices are connected to health advantages as well, including ginger, turmeric and even black pepper.
For example, some of the significant health benefits of cinnamon include the potential to improve a person’s cholesterol profile (3,4,5), decrease blood pressure (6), fight inflammation (7,8,9,10) and perhaps even reduce the risk of cancer (11,12,13).
There are also some claims that cinnamon can help with insulin sensitivity or glucose levels in the blood, although the evidence for these claims is inconclusive. In particular, some studies have supported these associations (14,15,16,17,18), while others have not (19,20).
Cinnamon Doses for Health
Research into cinnamon has been varied but individual studies have gone as high as 6 grams of cinnamon per day. However, the most common dose is around 1 to 3 grams per day and you’re likely to get health benefits from that amount.
Estimates vary, for how many grams of cinnamon you get per teaspoon. But, regardless of the precise amount, a good general recommendation is that 1 or 2 teaspoons of cinnamon can offer health benefits.
Additionally, you shouldn’t be taking more than 2 teaspoons of cinnamon per day, regardless of the type.
Want to Improve Your Health?
Better health starts in the kitchen, with the food that you eat and the meals you prepare. Getting the best outcomes involves making good choices about the food and the ingredients that you use.
Check out my recommended products to see where you can get started.
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My Mom has diabetes and has been using cinnamon for years to keep her sugar levels down. It actually worked so well, even her dr started doing it. I love cinnamon in my chai as it gives it a really nice flavor, especially during the holidays. I prefer the powder form myself as. But the sticks if you grind them at home provide a more powerful taste. Great review.
The connection between cinnamon and blood sugar is one of the most well-known impacts of honey and it has a long history. For some people, it seems to be truly powerful. And, as you mention, it is a great flavor anyway.
If nothing else, it’s exceptionally easy to include honey in healthy drinks and this alone is a great way to get benefits.
It’s amazing what natural ingredients can do to your health. I wish we could switch to using them more for treatments, rather than relying heavily on drugs. I didn’t know the benefits of cinnamon until I read this article.
I have some family members who have been diagnosed with cancer. I will definitely consider taking cinnamon as a supplement from now on, after knowing that it can help prevent cancer.
Great article!
It’s a shame that more people don’t realize that foods have so many health properties. There are certainly still cases where medication is needed, of course. But, for many situations, heavily relying on healthy and functional foods can dramatically reduce disease risk and prevalence.
Cinnamon is so good for you. I take it every day for lowering my blood sugar, helping with my blood pressure, and fighting inflammation. I never heard of Ceylon cinnamon before. I like any supplements that can fight cancer and have multiple health benefits. I’m always concerned about taking anything when I’m taking medications so I always check with my doctor first. Cinnamon is a thumbs up!
Good on you.
I entirely agree about checking with the doctor too. People often overlook that step when something is natural but natural or not, the potential for side effects is still significant.
Thanks Vince i feel informed now about where to buy the best Ceylon Cinnamon and what he major benefits are. I’ve always loved Cinnamon, but i didn’t actually realise that Ceylon was the brand with the most health benefits and the fact that it can potentially help to cure certain really serious life threatening conditions just shows how profound food can be at times! My granddad taught me that the seed inside the stone of an apricot is one of the most anti-cancerous things in nature, have you tried one before?
I’m definitely getting me some Ceylon Cinnayummies after reading this 🙂 so thanks buddy!
I wouldn’t ever say that food or supplements can cure life threatening conditions but they can help, especially with symptom management. As for the seed inside an apricot stone, I haven’t personally. However, I’m wary of any anti-cancer claim as there is a large difference between compounds that can fight cancer in a petri dish and foods that we can eat that make a difference.
Well you learn something new every day if you open your eyes to the possibilities. As a Primal-Paleo advocate, I’m a huge fan of cinnamon. I use cinnamon in almost everything: coffee, tea, smoothies, you name it. One thing a didn’t know was that there were different types of cinnamon. I would be very interested in experimenting with Ceylon Cinnamon. Thank you so much for enlightening me on this topic with this article. I have bookmarked it for future reference.
Many people are in the same boat – they’ve heard about the health benefits of cinnamon but not the different types. It’s a critical topic too, because if you’re using cinnamon for health, you may be consuming a large amount of it – making it even more important to use the right type.