The Ayurveda Corner: Celebrate Cinnamon!

Ayurveda Corner: Celebrate Cinnamon!

(Editor's note: Welcome to our new ayurveda column with ayurveda expert Denise Kirpal Kaur Lapides! Many of the teas and herbs on SpiritVoyage.com are ayurvedically-minded, so we're thrilled to have this great column as a resource for our readers!)

Cinnamon is a delightfully aromatic and highly prized spice that dates back as far as 2000 BC! From Biblical stories of ceremonial annointings to lover’s beds being perfumed with myrrh, aloes and cinnamon, this amazing spice has offered numerous ways to be appreciated. Today, we can find several varieties from Vietnam, China, Indonesia and Sri Lanka where Ceylon cinnamon is harvested. The most beneficial for eating is Ceylon, due to its nominal coumarin content. With its long history of trade, use and benefits, the best part of this spice is that it just tastes so delicious. Fragrantly spiced baked apples, hot morning cereals, muffins, and teas offer delicious ways of bringing this healing spice into our diet and enkindling our natural digestive fire!

During winter, the heavy, wet, cold and drying effects come into play in nature and in our body. We have to work harder to keep warm, and our natural digestive fire, or agni, which is high during the warmer months, can diminish now. With a lower agni we are more prone to gain unnecessary pounds and collect aam in our body and mind. Aam or ama is that toxic residue of undigested or non-eliminated wastes which clogs our digestive tract, and left unattended, will move out into our extremities where it can lodge itself and disease begins to set in.

One of our greatest tools to ward off illness is a strong digestive fire, and cinnamon offers a helping hand while adding a sweet, pungent and slightly astringent taste. When we eat a balance of tastes, we crave less of the foods that don’t support good health. The six tastes are sweet, salty, sour, bitter, pungent and astringent. The typical western diet severely lacks bitter, pungent and astringent tastes, which creates a strong craving for more sweet, salty and sour foods, which leads to overeating to satisfy those cravings. Using spices like cinnamon will impact not only your digestive fire, but will make you feel more satisfied, cozy and contented, something that is very needed!

Ceylon cinnamon has a sweet post digestive affect in our body thus it balances Vata and Kapha, which tends to become imbalanced in winter. Cinnamon helps to eliminate toxins, which accumulate in our GI tract, will reduce excess Kapha from our head and chest and promotes healthy circulation in joints and limbs. This powerful little spice works wonders in more ways than you might imagine, as it promotes warmth in extremities, great circulation in kidneys and lungs and keeps our immunity strong in cold weather by preventing the buildup of phlegm and infections!

Cinnamon is also known to help balance our blood sugar thus, putting some in your morning breakfast, whether hot cereal, tea or scrambled eggs will keep you feeling full and calmer, promoting a sense of well being.

Try the Chai or Tummy in Harmony Teas or just include some cinnamon in your winter fare and feel better!