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If you’re wondering whether Cinnamon is good for high blood pressure, then you’ve come to the right page. Cinnamon has lots of health benefits and one of which is lowering your blood pressure.
A Quick Overview of Cinnamon
Cinnamon, as we know it, is the household spice that we commonly have at home. This spice originated from Asia, specifically China and Sri Lanka. It’s a very aromatic spice with a pretty delicate flavor.
It adds flavor to the dishes and baked goodies when it is added.
It produces a relaxing aroma that puts your mind at peace when you inhale it. This is why other people use Cinnamon for Tea.
This spice is known for its health benefits. In fact, cinnamon is good for blood pressure, blood sugar regulation,
There are currently two major types of Cinnamon. These are the Cassia Cinnamon and Ceylon Cinnamon.
2 Types of Cinnamon
Cassia Cinnamon
Cassia Cinnamon, which is also known as Chinese Cinnamon, is the most common type of Cinnamon. From the name itself, this type of Cinnamon originated from China. Cassia Cinnamon is the cheaper variant of Cinnamon and is often found in your local supermarket and grocery store.
Identifying Cassia Cinnamon is pretty easy. Suppose you’re looking for a Cassia Cinnamon Stick. It has a reddish-brown hue, and its stick is pretty thick. For Cinnamon Powder, you just have to look for the ones with a reddish-brown color with a pretty strong spicy aroma.
Ceylon Cinnamon
Also known as True Cinnamon, Ceylon Cinnamon is the milder and much tamer version of Cassia Cinnamon. Ceylon Cinnamon originated from Sri Lanka, which is why the country is also known as the biggest Ceylon Cinnamon Exporter.
Flavor-wise, Ceylon Cinnamon is sweeter and much milder than Cassia. Its aroma is also much tamer than the previously discussed cinnamon, which makes it an ideal Cinnamon for dishes, baked goods, and teas.
It’s fairly easy to identify Ceylon Cinnamon. For Ceylon Cinnamon Sticks, just look for the ones with thinner, almost paper-thin, rolls of Cinnamon Sticks. Its color is also paler and is leaning more into the yellowish-tan hue. For Ceylon Cinnamon Powder, just search for the ones with tan-colored powder with a mildly sweet aroma.
What is High Blood Pressure?
This is the condition where one’s blood pressure becomes too high. The blood pressure is written as 2 numbers. The first number is the systolic number. It represents the pressure within your blood vessels whenever your heart beats or contracts. The second number that you get represents the pressure inside the vessels whenever your heart rests in between beats.
It often occurs whenever specific changes happen in your body. It can also be caused by specific health conditions.
People with the following condition can be affected by Hypertension:
- underactive or overactive thyroid
- kidney disease
- lupus
- type 2 diabetes
- type 1 diabetes
- obstructive sleep apnea
- obesity
- gestational diabetes
- scleroderma
Aside from that, hypertension can also be caused by the food that you eat and your lifestyle. People who excessively drink alcohol and smoke are at high risk of Hypertension. Additionally, people who have a high-fat diet are also at high risk for this condition.
The Link Between Diabetes and Hypertension
As mentioned earlier, High Blood Pressure, also known as Hypertension, can be caused by certain conditions. One of these conditions is diabetes— specifically gestational diabetes, type 1, type 1, and 2 diabetes.
Another thing that connects High Blood Pressure and Diabetes is it being a part of conditions such as cardiovascular disease and obesity. To add to that, both of these conditions can make the symptoms of the other condition worse.
Does Cinnamon Lower Blood Pressure?
Only a few research has been conducted regarding this matter since most research is more unto Cinnamon as an alternative treatment for diabetes. However, according to this research, people who have diabetes and hypertension have lower blood pressure after a short term consumption of Cinnamon.
It’s still subject to further research; however, according to the research, it has a strong potential when it comes to reducing high blood pressure.
Can Cinnamon Lower BP? Cinnamon and Hypertension certainly can be linked together.
Since this matter is still subject to further studies, as of the moment, it shouldn’t be used as the main treatment. However, you can still use it to help you regulate your blood pressure.
How Does Cinnamon Lower Blood Pressure?
Cinnamon is rich in vitamins and minerals such as calcium, Vitamin K, Iron, dietary fibers, and manganese. These vitamins and minerals are known to help people reduce high blood pressure.
The Calcium within Cinnamon acts as a regulator that relaxes and dilates your blood vessels. If your Calcium is significantly lower, it could lead to having high blood pressure.
Aside from that, Cinnamon also contains a blood-thinning agent, which is great for regulating your blood pressure. This, combined with how Cinnamon can relax and dilates your blood vessels, your blood pressure will significantly be reduced.
If you’re wondering what effect does Cinnamon have on blood pressure, the answer is simple. It relaxes and dilates your blood vessels to help you manage and regulate your blood pressure.
Benefits of Cinnamon that's Good for High Blood Pressure
1. Cinnamon Reduces High Blood Pressure
2. Cinnamon Lowers Cholesterol and the Risk of Heart Diseases
Aside from high blood pressure’s connection to diabetes, it’s also greatly linked to heart diseases. After all, your heart is responsible for pumping blood and distributes it all throughout our body.
To make things clear, Cinnamon cannot cure Heart Diseases. However, it can help prevent this condition. It reduces your triglyceride level as well as ‘Bad’ Low-Density Lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol levels. High Cholesterol levels can also contribute to increasing your high blood pressure.
So if you’re watching out for your blood pressure, you should also keep an eye on your cholesterol level as one can affect the other.
What Spice is Good for High Blood Pressure?
Other than Cinnamon, there are other spices that are good for high blood pressure.
1. Cinnamon
Cinnamon is good for high blood pressure as it is rich in vitamins and minerals that can help you manage your high blood pressure. Aside from high blood pressure, it’s also used to prevent heart disease. To add to that, it can also lower your cholesterol and blood sugar levels.
Cinnamon has shown exceptional results in reducing high blood pressure for people with Diabetes. So if you’re working on using cinnamon as a good alternative treatment for high blood pressure, you should start incorporating Cinnamon on your everyday diet.
2. Cardamom
Cardamon is a spice that originated from India. This spice is often found on dishes from South Asia. A research was conducted where participants who consumed cardamom daily saw significant changes in their blood pressure. These people were observed to have lower blood pressure as compared to those who didn’t take cardamom.
3. Garlic
Garlic is known as a spice with a pretty strong scent. However, the great thing about garlic is that these pungent spices can help you reduce your blood pressure. It does this by increasing nitric oxide in your body, which causes your blood vessels to dilate and relax.
With your blood vessels dilated and relaxed, your blood can freely flow without increasing your blood pressure.
4. Turmeric
They’re also known as Curcumin. It’s a potent antioxidant that has anti-inflammatory properties. This spice comes from India and is commonly used as a spice for their dishes. It’s known to lower your blood pressure by reducing your platelet aggregation. Platelet aggregation commonly occurs on blood that is sticky and clot-forming ones.
5. Cayenne Pepper
Cayenne Pepper contains capsaicin. Capsaicin is a substance that heats up your body by creating a thermogenic effect. It boosts your body temperature and regulates your blood circulation. Just like the rest of these spices, Cayenne Pepper is great for reducing your blood pressure.
6. Black Pepper
This spice gives you an antibacterial effect and also contains antioxidants. Aside from that, it also stimulates lipid metabolism, where it mobilizes fatty acids. At also contains vanadium, which promotes functional recovery for your heart during heart attacks and thickens up heart muscles due to stress overload from blood pressure.
7. Ginger
Ginger can also reduce your high blood pressure. It does this by relaxing the muscles that surround your blood vessels. If the muscles that surround your blood vessels are relaxed, it also dilates your blood vessels. This allows your blood to flow better without increasing your blood pressure.
Other Combinations with Cinnamon That's Good for High Blood Pressure
Cinnamon and Honey for High Blood Pressure
Honey, just like Cinnamon, is also proved to lower your blood pressure. However, there is still no research that has been conducted that studies both Cinnamon and Honey together. As mentioned earlier, Cinnamon lowers triglyceride levels and LDL or ‘bad’ cholesterol. Just like Cinnamon, Honey also has this property.
This is why, theoretically, if Cinnamon and Honey are combined, it would have a potent effect in reducing your blood pressure.
To add with that, both Cinnamon and Honey contain antioxidants. Antioxidants improve your blood flow as well as preventing blood clots from happening. This reduces the risk of having a heart attack or even stroke.
Cinnamon and Magnesium for High Blood Pressure
As mentioned earlier, Cinnamon dilates your blood vessels to allow your blood to flow better. Magnesium, on the other hand, is the mineral that your heart greatly relies on to keep it regularly beating. To add with that, it also relaxes your arteries, which allows your blood to flow easily.
Because Magnesium has the same effect as Cinnamon, when these two are combined, it can greatly help you relax your blood vessels—allowing your blood to flow easily.
Types of Cinnamon That's Good for High Blood Pressure
Cinnamon Sticks for Blood Pressure
If you want to use Cinnamon Sticks for your blood pressure, you can add them to your baked and cooked dishes. Not only will you be reducing your blood pressure, but you’ll also be adding more spice and aroma to your dishes.
Cinnamon Powder for Blood Pressure
Cinnamon Powder is much easier to incorporate into your baked and cooked dishes. You can even sprinkle Cinnamon Powder on your drinks, and it will still have the same effect on your blood pressure.
Cinnamon Tea for Blood Pressure
You can also drink Cinnamon Tea daily to help you reduce your blood pressure.
Creating a Cinnamon Tea out of a Cinnamon Stick is fairly easy.
For this, you need the following.
1 Ceylon Cinnamon Stick
2 Teabag (any kind)
1 Cup of water
Step 1: Add your cinnamon stick in a mug
Step 2: Pour boiling water on the mug and let the cinnamon stick steep for 10 minutes.
Step 3: Add your tea bag and let it steep for 2 more minutes
Step 4: Remove the cinnamon stick and teabag
Step 5: Add your preferred sweetener and serve!
Precautions Before Using Cinnamon for High Blood Pressure
Before you decide to buy the first thing you see on the shelf or page (if you’re ordering Cinnamon online), take time to find out what type of Cinnamon you are going to buy. There are two types of Cinnamon, one is beneficial for your health, and the other is toxic to your liver.
It’s highly recommended that you choose Ceylon cinnamon for blood pressure as it’s the safest Cinnamon type. Cassia Cinnamon, on the other hand, contains coumarin, which can damage your kidney, lung, and liver.
Identifying Cassia from Ceylon is fairly easy.
Cassia is reddish-brown in color. It has a strong aroma and taste. Ceylon, on the other hand, is the milder variant. It has a tan-brown color with a mild scent. It also tastes mildly sweet as compared to Cassia.
Ceylon cinnamon for blood pressure
Frequently Asked Questions About Cinnamon, That's Good for High Blood Pressure
All types of Cinnamon can lower blood pressure. However, it's highly recommended that you take Ceylon Cinnamon (True Cinnamon) as taking Cassia Cinnamon on a daily basis can damage your lungs, liver, and kidney.
You can take Ceylon Cinnamon daily as it can help you lower your blood pressure. However, it's also highly recommended that you do the following:
- Exercise regularly
- Avoid salty foods
- Don't drink alcohol
- Increase your potassium intake
- Avoid caffeine
- Eat cocoa and dark chocolates
- Reduce your weight
- Don't smoke
- Avoid refined carbs and added sugar
- Eat food that is rich in Calcium such as Cinnamon
- Eat foods that are rich in Magnesium
Takeaways
Cinnamon is certainly good for your blood pressure. So, if you want to lower your blood pressure, consume Cinnamon everyday. See to it that you’re using Ceylon or True Cinnamon or else, your lung, liver, and kidney will be at risk.