ALBAWABA - Cinnamon has long been used around the world in all kinds of dishes and drinks. But a new TikTok trend claims adding a teaspoon of cinnamon to your daily coffee (and some cocoa to make it more palatable) for one week can help you burn fat. Is there truth to this?
Not all cinnamon is the same
There are two types of cinnamon, both of which cann come from grinding bark of the cinnamomum tree and may have several naturally occurring active ingredients.
Cassia cinnamon is the most common type available in grocery stores. It has a bitter taste and contains higher levels of one of the active ingredient cinnamaldehyde, a compound that gives cinnamon its flavour and odour. About 95% of cassia cinnamon is cinnamaldehyde. The other is Ceylon cinnamon, which tastes sweeter. It has about 50-60% cinnamaldehyde.
Does cinnamon burn fat?
A review of 35 studies examined if consuming cinnamon could affect waist circumference, which is linked to increased body fat levels. It found cinnamon doses below 1.5 grams per day (around half a teaspoon) decreased waist circumference by 1.68cm. However, consuming more than 1.5g/day did not have a large effect.
Another umbrella review, which included meta-analyses, found a small effect of cinnamon on weight loss. Participants lost an average of 0.67kg and reduced their BMI by 0.45kg/m².
So overall, the weight loss we see from these high-quality studies is very small, ranging anywhere from two to six months and mostly with no change in body composition.
The studies included people with different diseases, and most were from the Middle East and/or the Indian subcontinent. They were also conducted over different lengths of time from two to six months. The supplements were different, depending on the study.
How can cinnamon result in small amounts of weight loss?
There are several possible mechanisms. It appears to allow blood glucose (sugar) to enter the body’s cells more quickly. This lowers blood glucose levels and can make insulin work more effectively. It also seems to improve the way we break down fat when we need it for energy. Finally, it may make us feel fuller for longer by slowing down how quickly the food is released from our stomach into the small intestine.
What about the coffee and cocoa?
Some people may think coffee can also help us lose weight. However there isn’t good evidence to support this yet. A study found that drinking one cup of regular coffee was linked to a reduction in weight that is gained over four years, but by a very small amount: an average of 0.12kg.
A cocoa and dark chocolate of good quality have also been shown to reduce weight. But again, the weight loss was small, and only after consuming it for four to eight weeks.
Conclusion
Using cinnamon may have a very small effect on weight, but it’s not likely to give any meaningful weight loss without other lifestyle adjustments.
It should be kept in mind that these trials used products that differ from the cinnamon we buy in the shops. How we store and how long we keep cinnamon might also impact or degrade the active ingredients. And consuming more isn’t going to provide additional benefits. In fact, it could increase your risk of side effects.
So if you enjoy the taste of cinnamon in your coffee, continue to add it, but given its strong taste, you’re likely to only want to add a little. If you want to lose weight, there are some other evidence-backed approaches you should consider instead.
