Lauraceae · inner bark
True cinnamon
Cinnamomum verum
Inner bark mapped as a culinary spice with conflicting human data on fasting glucose. This entry is C. verum, not cassia.
Safety first
Culinary true cinnamon is food-like and is lower in coumarin than cassia (C. cassia / C. burmannii). High-dose 'cinnamon pills' are often cassia and can add a coumarin-hepatotoxicity burden. Glycemic trial evidence is conflicting.
Tradition vs trials
Traditional record. Ayurveda (tvak) and Western kitchen medicine use the bark as a warming digestive. TCM cinnamon is usually C. cassia (rou gui / gui zhi), a different official drug.
Trial literature. Meta-analyses of cinnamon for glucose are conflicting and often pool cassia with true cinnamon. NCCIH notes inconsistent results.
Practical ranges
Educational ranges — not a prescription. Culinary use is not an extract.
culinary bark
Culinary amounts (about 1–3 g) are the traditional food range. Supplement 'grams of cassia' used in some glucose trials are not automatically C. verum ranges
NCCIH — Educational range only — not a prescription. A licensed clinician individualizes product, dose, and duration.
Pregnancy, nursing, children
- Pregnancy. Culinary spice is food-like; concentrated oils and high-dose extracts lack adequate pregnancy data.
- Nursing. Culinary spice is food-like; concentrated products lack robust data.
- Children. Culinary spice is food-like; essential oil is not a children's product.
Contraindications
- known cinnamon allergy
- do not ingest essential oil as if it were spice
Key interactions
- antidiabetes drugs · caution
If a product had a real glucose-lowering effect, additive hypoglycemia is possible; evidence is conflicting.
- hepatotoxic burden (if cassia mis-sold) · caution
Coumarin load is a cassia problem.