Economic Importance and Public Health Significance of Cinnamon Plants

Summary

Cinnamon has been used as a spice and as traditional herbal medicine for centuries. The available invitro and animal in vivo evidence suggests that cinnamon has anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, antioxidant, antitumor, cardiovascular, cholesterol lowering, and immunomodulatory effects. In vitro studies have demonstrated that cinnamon may act as an insulin mimetic, to potentiate insulin activity or to stimulate cellular glucose metabolism. Furthermore, animal studies have demonstrated strong hypoglycemic properties. However, there are only very few well-controlled clinical studies, a fact that limits the conclusions that can be made about the potential health benefits of cinnamon for free-living humans.