"I can't tell you enough about cinnamon.
Cinnamon is an awesome spice to use ..."
-- Emeril Lagasse
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| Coffee with cinnamon sticks in a handmade cup 3-22-14 |
"Cinnamon may help reduce chronic inflammation,
which is linked with neurological disorders such as
Alzheimer's Disease, Parkinson's Disease, Multiple Sclerosis and Meningitis."
-- Deepak Chopra, What Are You Hungry For?
You know how you fall in love with something -- you get hooked, you become obsessed -- and then the bastards who make that certain something coldly, cruelly discontinue it and just rip it away from you.
That's what happened to me and my beloved Starbucks cinnamon roast coffee.
When I finished my last bag of it, I penciled it on the grocery list so my husband would pick me up some more.
He said he couldn't find it.
He checked another store. Still, nothing.
So I went to actual Starbucks and checked there. Stymied again. I asked the barista if there might be some in the back that just hadn't made it out onto the shelves yet.
Nope.
And then those dreaded words: "I don't think we make that one anymore."
I searched online. My husband searched online. Nobody carried it. I did find a few in "limited quantities order now" from a third party seller on Amazon -- with a 2011 expiration date. I may be desperate, but I definitely ain't about that life. Every real coffee drinker knows that freshness is everything.
So yesterday in a last-ditch effort I tried an experiment.
I use one of those Keurig one-cup brewers with the refillable filter, and I filled the little mesh basket with my usual decaf espresso dark roast but sprinkled about a quarter teaspoon of cinnamon powder on top the grounds.
I could tell by the aroma that I was onto something good.
Maybe it's because I'd gone without for so so long, but this black magic tasted even more delicious than the pre-flavored stuff.
I typically don't go for flavored coffees. I find them cloying and overpowering. I just want to taste the coffee.
And that's what's so great about cinnamon. It doesn't really make the coffee taste like cinnamon, it somehow makes the coffee taste even more like coffee.
By day's end, I'd greedily consumed five or six cups of it -- enough that I had to pencil "cinnamon" onto the grocery list so my husband will pick me up some more. Enough that I Googled "health risks of too much cinnamon" just to make sure I wasn't poisoning myself with hot deliciousness.
Turns out there are way more health benefits to cinnamon than there are potential dangers.
Ding! Ding! Ding!
Which brings us to the "One Good Thing Spice Up Your Life" list of cinnamon's health benefits. Did you know doctors actually prescribe cinnamon for certain patients, particularly people with diabetes, high cholesterol and arthritis because it:
- regulates/lowers blood sugar
- reduces LDL cholesterol
- is effective against ulcer-causing H. pylori bacteria
- reduces pain linked to arthritis
- is a natural anti-inflammatory
- may reduce the proliferation of cancer cells
- is effective for menstrual pain and fertility
- is a natural food preservative
- contains fiber, calcium, iron and manganese
Did I already mention that it is also super tasty in coffee? Oh right, I did.
Did I also mention that I need a refill?
Sometimes you've just gotta get it yourself.
