Weight Loss With Cinnamon & Honey

Honey is the perfect sweetener for a cup of hot tea, and the fragrant aroma of cinnamon adds a pleasant and spicy flavor of cinnamon can be a complement to oatmeal or coffee. While they aren't miracle weight loss foods, cinnamon and honey can also help you reach your weight loss goals, if you correctly use them.

Misconceptions

There are some strange ideas about cinnamon and honey floating around out there. Some people seem to believe that these foods burn fat or increase metabolism. However,, there isn't any such thing as a magic weight loss food. In order to lose weight, you have to eat fewer calories than you burn, according to the Mayo Clinic, and the only way to increase metabolism is to increase your lean muscle mass, according to the American Council on Exercise.

Types and Calorie Counts

There are several types of honey available. If a honey is labeled with the name of a plant, it means the nectar used to produce that honey came primarily from that specific plant. Clover honey, for example, contains mostly nectar from clover flowers. All honey has 60 calories per tbsp. Cinnamon, which comes in several varieties, is much lower in calories than honey, clocking in at 18 calories per tbsp., according to Fat Secret. Cooks Illustrated magazine recommends looking for “Cylon” cinnamon, which tends to have a more complex flavor than generic cinnamon.

Benefits of Cinnamon

One way cinnamon may be help you lose weight is by helping control your blood sugar. Cinnamon seems to be able to help move glucose, the primary sugar present in food, into cells, according to Julie Garden-Robinson, a professor working in North Dakota State University's Department of Health, Nutrition and Exercise Sciences. This effect may help prevent blood-sugar spikes and subsequent hunger-producing crashes, reports "Good Housekeeping" magazine. Use it on oatmeal and in coffee, not in high-calorie dishes like cinnamon rolls.

Benefits of Honey

Honey, while a form of sugar, also happens to contain all the vitamins and minerals necessary to digest sugar, according to nutritionist Janet Moccoro, quoted in "The Doctors Book of Food Remedies." That could help prevent blood-sugar spikes. However, be aware that honey is high in calories; it has 14 more calories per tbsp. than white sugar. However, it also happens to be 20 percent sweeter than white sugar, so you may need less of it.

Healthy Cooking

You can add cinnamon to a wide array of healthy dishes, such as smoothies, coffee, oatmeal, whole-grain pancakes and spiced apple cider. Because honey is so high in calories, avoid eating to much of it. "The Doctors Book of Food Remedies" recommends drizzling a small amount of honey over fresh fruit for a nutritious, sweet treat. You can also use honey as a glaze for meat or use it to make fat-free honey mustard salad dressing.