Cinnamon

Cinnamon in a supplement is the dried inner bark of a Cinnamomum tree, ground to powder or concentrated into an extract. Two species fill almost every shelf. Cinnamomum verum, sold as Ceylon or true cinnamon, comes mainly from Sri Lanka. Cinnamomum cassia is the darker, cheaper bark behind most supermarket cinnamon. Inside a capsule the two look identical, so the Latin name on the label is your only reliable clue. You will find both here, next to the rest of our herbs and plant extracts.

Bark powder and extract are not the same product

A capsule of plain bark powder usually holds a few hundred milligrams of ground cinnamon. An extract works differently. Its label shows a ratio such as 10:1 or 30:1, which means 100 mg of a 30:1 extract stands for 3 g of bark. That is why a tablet advertised as 2000 mg often contains well under 100 mg of actual extract. Neither approach is wrong, but the big number on the front of two packs is rarely comparing the same thing. Read the bark equivalent, not the headline figure. Extracts also tend to carry less coumarin than raw cassia powder, because much of it stays behind during extraction.

Coumarin is the reason the species matters

Coumarin is a natural compound in cinnamon bark. Cassia contains far more of it than Ceylon does. The European food safety authority (EFSA) has set a tolerable daily intake of 0.1 mg of coumarin per kilogram of body weight, a level meant to be safe every day for life. Sprinkling cassia on your porridge stays well below that. Taking two or three grams of cassia powder in capsules every day for months is a different situation. If you plan to use cinnamon daily, Ceylon or a low-coumarin extract is the calmer choice.

How we choose the cinnamon we stock

We judge cinnamon on three things: the species, the form and the dose you actually receive. We prefer labels that name Cinnamomum verum or Cinnamomum cassia, because the words "cinnamon bark" alone tell you nothing about coumarin. With extracts we want the ratio and the bark equivalent printed, not just a large number on the front. Combinations only earn a place when the second ingredient is dosed at a level that means something. Every product passes our compliance team, we test products ourselves, and independent labs spot-check batches. See how we select brands and products.

Who it suits and what to expect

Cinnamon is a food supplement, not a medicine. EFSA has approved no health claim for cinnamon itself, so we do not attach one to it. Where a product also contains added chromium at a meaningful dose, that mineral does carry an approved claim: chromium contributes to the maintenance of normal blood glucose levels. Cinnamon on its own does not, and we would rather say so plainly. If you take anticoagulants such as warfarin, or medication for blood sugar, speak to your GP or pharmacist before you start.

People weighing up cinnamon often compare it with berberine capsules, a stronger and pricier plant extract with cautions of its own. Cinnamon is the gentler, lower-cost place to start, and it sits easily in a daily routine taken with meals.