If you’re one of those people who love the distinct smell and flavor of cinnamon, then you’ll love this recipe! Cinnamon is a commonly used spice known for its distinct flavor and beneficial properties to both health and beauty. Cinnamon contains cinnamaldehyde, the compound mainly responsible for its flavoring and most of its benefits.
One of the best ways to reap the best benefits of cinnamon is by drinking it in the form of cinnamon milk. It is not just delicious, but also super healthy too!
Benefits of drinking cinnamon milk:
1. For weight loss:
A lot of people contain high-fat foods in the daily diet and consuming cinnamon milk could help in reducing the effects of it.
2. Can help lower blood sugar levels:
Cinnamon milk has properties known to lower blood sugar levels. It can help decrease the amount of glucose (a simple sugar) that enters your blood stream after a meal. It can also help breakdown carbohydrates in your digestive tract. It can act on the cells by mimicking insulin (the hormone that lowers the level of glucose in the blood).
3. For symptoms of cold, cough and sore throat:
Cinnamon milk can help relieve the symptoms of cold, cough and sore throat as it is rich in antioxidant polyphenols and proanthocyanidins which can help boost body immunity.
3. To aid sleep:
Consuming cinnamon milk before bed can help promote sleep, as it relaxes the muscles and removes tension from the body, in turn allowing one to soon drift off to sleep.
4. To boost immunity:
Since cinnamon is loaded with antioxidants, it can boost one’s immunity by preventing free radical (unstable molecules that damage the other healthy molecules and healthy cells in the body) damage.
5. For heart health:
Cinnamon milk can help raise the levels of HDL (good) cholesterol and reduce one’s blood pressure, triglyceride and LDL (bad) cholesterol levels.
6. Reduce bad breath and prevent tooth decay:
Cinnamon contains the compound cinnamaldehyde which have antibacterial and antifungal properties that can help reduce bad breath and prevent tooth decay.
7. Beneficial for skin health:
Cinnamon can help promote collagen (a protein) formation and promote skin hydration and skin elasticity and can also reduce and decrease the signs of aging. Cinnamon has properties that can help fight bacteria causing acne.
How to make cinnamon milk at home?
Ingredients:
1cup milk ( almond or oat milk )
1/4 tsp cinnamon powder
(Or coarsely ground 2 one-inch sticks of cinnamon)
dash of nutmeg powder
Honey or date syrup to taste
Method:
Into a heating pot, add in the milk and bring it to a boil. Then, add in the cinnamon powder (and nutmeg powder, optional) or the coarsely ground cinnamon stick powder and stir well and let it simmer for 3 to 4 minutes. Turn of the flame, add in honey to taste, stir well and it is ready to consume.
Note: In case you have used ground cinnamon sticks, then make sure to strain the cinnamon milk drink before consuming.