One popular fad diet involves mixing ground cinnamon with honey, stirring the combination into warm or hot water and drinking it once or twice a day in an effort to lose weight. In truth, neither cinnamon nor honey have any properties that make them conducive to weight loss, but they do have a number of other uses and benefits.
Health Benefits
The December 2007 issue of "Women's Health" magazine reports that cinnamon is rich in antioxidants and may help reduce blood sugar, triglyceride and cholesterol levels. In addition, 2010 research from the University of Maryland found that roundworms who took a cinnamon-based herbal formula experienced a markedly increased life span. As for honey, MayoClinic.com internist James M. Steckelberg, M.D., may be an effective cough suppressant and sore throat soother.
Cooking
Honey and cinnamon are common cooking additions that humans have used for hundreds of years. Honey is particularly helpful in Chinese cooking, when it can form a sweet, glossy sauce for roasted meat and vegetables or help sautéed foods in an appealing way. For its own part, ground or stick cinnamon lends an exotic flavor to curry sauces or slow-cooked casseroles, especially in Moroccan and Middle Eastern cuisine. A drizzle of honey can easily garnish any of those cinnamon-infused dishes for an extra dose of sweetness.
Baking
Honey, as a natural sugar, has a lower glycemic index than processed, refined white or brown sugar, and it makes a flavorful natural sweetener in recipes. In baking, you can substitute about 1/3 cup honey for 1/2 cup granulated sugar. For other liquid sweeteners, substitute in a 1:1 ratio. Honey and cinnamon pair naturally well in baked goods, so if you're making quick bread, cake, cupcakes, muffins, bread pudding, pancakes or waffles, try using honey as your sweetener and adding about a teaspoon of ground cinnamon to the batter.
Considerations
Although cinnamon and honey are common herbal remedies whether used together or separately, there are few conclusive research studies that back up their positive health properties. Before you use the flavorings to treat any health condition or as a weight loss method, speak with your physician or a registered dietitian. When baking or cooking with cinnamon and honey, feel free to substitute at will, but do be aware that they have no guarantee of improving the nutritional profile of the final products.
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