Ceylon Cinnamon Versus Cassia Cinnamon

"Eat only the real Ceylon cinnamon", someone warned me in a discussion about the benefits of honey and cinnamon in our Benefits of Honey Facebook Fan Page. This was when I had my epiphany about cinnamon. Before that, it has never struck me how a familiar spice like cinnamon could possibly be "fake". Much puzzled by that remark, I queried further to get more information and subsequently was rewarded with an enlightenment on this exotic spice through a more intensive search in the world wide web. My subsequent aquiring and tasting of the real cinnamon (both ground and sticks) also confirmed what others have said about the two types of cinnamon. The following will open your eyes to realise that not all cinnamon are equal and to know exactly what kind of cinnamon you have been eating.

Real Cinnamon

Ceylon cinnamon has been hailed as the "true cinnamon" or the "real cinnamon" that possesses outstanding health benefits especially for the diabetics and those challenged by obesity and high cholesterol issues. Unfortunately this cinnamon which is native to Sri Lanka and sourced from the plant Cinnamomum zeylanicum is rather unknown to most people. In the United States and many parts of Asia, what the majority of us have been buying from the Supermarket and groceries and consuming is actually not the real cinnamon but Cassia cinnamon, which comes from a different plant called Cinnamomum cassia, also known as Chinese cinnamon that are mostly cultivated in China and Indonesia. While the two species of cinnamon share certain characteristics such as antimicrobial, and in terms of inhibiting the growth of fungi and yeast, and regulating blood sugar, their contents differ much in terms of the amount of coumarin, which is a naturally ocurring substance with strong blood-thinning properties. The coumarin level in Ceylon cinnamon is negligibly small, while that in Cassia cinnamon is an appalling 1200 times higher. The ingestion of large amount of coumarin or consumption of coumarin over a prolonged period of time can cause serious health damages and a negative impact on the liver and kidney. German FDA has warned against consuming the excessive intake of Cassia bark due to its coumarin content.

Ground Cinnamon

Because there is no way to tell if the cinnamon powder has been made from the Ceylon or true cinnamon versus the Cassia cinnamon, and most bottles of cinnamon we buy (including the bottle I currently have in my kitchen) do not indicate the type of cinnamon tree the cinnamon is sourced from. In many countries this Ceylon cinnamon is just not imported in the country. Check directly with the supplier to ascertain its origin of the cinnamon before buying the cinnamon powder. And my review of the two types of cinnamon powder? When the packages (ground and sticks) were air-freighted to me, I immediately opened one up and took a sniff of the powder. WOW BANG! It was exactly like how others have described it! The aroma was sweet enough to make you fall in love with it immediately. Its pleasant fragrance was a heaven and earth difference from the harsh, pungent Cassia cinnamon I had always known. Never did I ever expect cinnamon could smell so delightful. Immediately I was able to imagine the vast difference in taste it would make for baking pastries and cakes. Before that, I was never able to understand how one could make their own Christmas ornaments with Cinnamon sticks or allow the natural fragrance of cinnamon to fill their home. Now with just one sniff of the Ceylon cinnamon, I could make all those connections straight away. What a lovely discovery!

Cinnamon Sticks

As for the cinnamon sticks, there are several ways of determining whether you are getting the real deal. I've taken a picture of the two types and placed them side by side. Study the following table and check the cinnamon sticks in your kitchen right away to find what you have been eating all this time. 

Ceylon Cinnamon	Cassia Cinnamon
A highly valued culinary and medicinal spice. Price can be 10 times or more than the Chinese cinnamon.	Commonly available and very cheap.
Tan brown in colour.	Reddish dark brown.
Thin and paper-like textured bark that forms multiple layers when rolled up.	Uneven thick bark that forms only a few layers when rolled up.
Fragile, easily broken.	Tough, difficult to grind to powder.
Delicate, sweet with subtle notes of clove.	Pungent, full-bodied taste.