Cinnamon as an anti-inflammatory?

Franklight · Post by **Franklight** » Mon Feb 21, 2011 10:36 am

Hello,

My doctor told me to stay away from NSAIDs and put me on Tramadol for my arthritic pain. I keep reading about the anti-inflammatory properties of cinnamon. Do any of you know if cinnamon, like NSAIDs, can cause problems for us m.c. folks?

Thanks for your help.

Frank

Post by **tex** » Mon Feb 21, 2011 10:54 am

Hi Frank,

I have no experience with using cinnamon as a treatment, but some folks warn against using it for many digestive system issues:

If you have a fever or diarrhea caused by irritation or stimulation in the intestines, such as with stomach flu, food poisoning, irritable bowel, or colitis, cinnamon may worsen the condition. (Most sudden onset, acute episodes of diarrhea are due to inflammation, irritation, or infection, and a strong dose of cinnamon could further stimulate the bowels.) If you have a severe irritable bowel, a bowl of cinnamon-flavored cereal could have a laxative effect.

http://health.howstuffworks.com/wellnes ... edies1.htm

If you're interested in natural remedies, some members here have tried to use tumeric:

9. It is a potent natural anti-inflammatory that works as well as many anti-inflammatory drugs but without the side effects.

http://www.healthdiaries.com/eatthis/20 ... meric.html

However, I'm not sure that anyone here has had any degree of success trying to use it for MC. Here's an example thread:

http://www.perskyfarms.com/phpBB2/viewt ... ht=tumeric

I don't believe that cinnamon is likely to cause drug-induced colitis, the way that NSAIDs can, but it might cause irritation, which can prolong an existing reaction, or possibly even initiate a flare.

Tex

TooManyHats · Post by **TooManyHats** » Mon Feb 21, 2011 3:59 pm

Cinnamon is one of the spices I'm allergic to along with most of the ones on the histamine list (ginger, curry, cloves, paprika and vanilla, and all the benzoates). It also makes the inflammation on my face worse.

starfire · Post by **starfire** » Tue Feb 22, 2011 5:25 am

I love cinnamon but it always gave me heartburn..... Don't know about anyone else.

Love, Shirley

DianaMT · Post by **DianaMT** » Sun Aug 30, 2015 6:28 pm

For 20 years cinnamon saved my life. It is great help with diarrhea

hollyweb · Post by **hollyweb** » Tue Jul 05, 2016 3:55 pm

Again, such an interesting post. Sounds like spices are very individual, also. Maybe it not only depends upon quantity, but also the food/foods to which they're added?? Cinnamon is something I love and have used for years. It does have blood-sugar lowering properties. I use it now with a little ginger (also supposed to be good for most of us) in a berry/green leaf smoothie. HOWEVER... I'm not able to make/drink the smoothie at all during times of flare-ups, and even when my GI tract is doing well, I can't make them very large at all. I stopped adding any sort of protein powder to these smoothies as there can be a vast amount of ingredients in the proteins.

Unfortunately, turmeric (which is supposed to be so good for us) is something I can't tolerate. Learned that the hard way, and learned it by gradually realizing it was the turmeric and the coconut oil I'd been cooking my chicken in that were causing my MC symptoms ... not the chicken itself.

Hehehe, now that I've ordered my EnteroLabs, I sure hope I won't find chicken on my can't eat list. But if I do, whatever meats I can eat, I'll continue to cook without the other things I know cause me issues, such as the turmeric and coconut oil.

Sure makes me wonder if there are certain foods/ingredients, etc. that can still be tolerated alone, but maybe can't be "in combination" with other foods/ingredients.

Has anyone had any experience with that??

~ Holly