Cinnamon

>Q. Cinnamon is toxic to the liver. I ended up in the emergency room after taking 1,200 mg of cinnamon daily for several weeks. I’ll never do that again.


A. Cassia cinnamon, the type you normally find on the spice shelf in the supermarket, contains variable levels of coumarin (Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, Oct. 13, 2010). This compound can harm the liver (Molecular Nutrition & Food Research, February 2010).

Anyone who wants to use cinnamon to lower cholesterol or blood sugar would be well advised to stick with an aqueous extract, because coumarin is not water-soluble. A person could purchase this in capsule form and avoid coumarin.

Another option would be to use Ceylon cinnamon (true cinnamon or Cinnamomum zeylonicum). This is a different species that does not contain significant amounts of coumarin. It is more expensive, however. There is some preliminary evidence that it too can help lower blood sugar and cholesterol (Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, November 2016). People who include spices or dietary supplements in their regimen should monitor their progress with regular blood-sugar tests.

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