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Cinnamon Supplements and Spices Review

CAUTION: Some Cinnamon Products High in Toxin. See Which Passed or Failed and our Top Picks!

Latest Update

Try Taking Cinnamon This Way

Medically reviewed and edited by Tod Cooperman, M.D.

Updated November 04, 2024 ⓘ Published December 11, 2020

Cinnamon Supplements and Spices Tested by ConsumerLab.com

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In addition the results of its expert testing, ConsumerLab uses only high-quality, evidence based, information sources. These sources include peer-reviewed studies and information from agencies such as the FDA and USDA, and the National Academy of Medicine. On evolving topics, studies from pre-print journals may be sourced. All of our content is reviewed by medical doctors and doctoral-level experts in pharmacology, toxicology, and chemistry. We continually update and medically review our information to keep our content trustworthy, accurate, and reliable. The following sources are referenced in this article:

Summary

Does cinnamon help control blood sugar or blood pressure?
Cinnamon may modestly help control blood sugar levels. The evidence is less clear regarding blood pressure (See What It Does).
What is the correct dose of cinnamon?
A dose of 1 gram (1,000 mg or about 1/2 teaspoon) of cinnamon bark powder per day may be sufficient to lower blood sugar levels in people with type 2 diabetes or prediabetes. With some extracts, smaller doses (as little as 120 mg) may be sufficient (See ConsumerTips™).
Which cinnamon supplement provided the most PACs?
In the supplements tested, PACs ranged from less than 5 mg to over 40 mg per daily serving. Interestingly, the most expensive products provided the least PACs, and there was a 15-fold difference in the cost to obtain PACs across the products (for amounts of PACs, see the Supplements Results Table).
Is cinnamon safe? What did ConsumerLab find?
A concern with cinnamon is that it may contain significant amounts of coumarin — a naturally occurring compound that may cause liver toxicity and is a potential carcinogen. Coumarin can be high in cassia cinnamon (the most common type of cinnamon), but should be low in Ceylon cinnamon — also called "true" cinnamon or Cinnamonum verum — which is, typically, more expensive. However, ConsumerLab found that a "Ceylon" cinnamon product contained 4 mg of coumarin per serving — more than any other cinnamon supplement, suggesting that it is mislabeled. None of the products, however, exceeded the tolerable daily intake limit of 7 mg for an average-sized adult, but two exceeded the limit for children (see coumarin amounts in the Results Tables for Supplements and for Spices.
One of the cinnamon spices had a particularly high concentration of lead — right at ConsumerLab's limit. Lead in cinnamon is an issue of growing concern based on government reports of even higher levels in some products. Another cinnamon spice had higher concentration of coumarin. We would not recommend either for frequent use. No spice exceeded limits for filth and none (including bark powder supplements) was contaminated with Salmonella.
Which cinnamon supplement is best?
One supplement stood out among the others for providing a high amount of PACs, a safe amount of coumarin, passing all contamination testing, and being relatively inexpensive. It was chosen as our Top Pick among cinnamon supplements.
Which cinnamon spice is best?
We chose three products as our Top Picks for spices. Two were chosen because they had no detectable lead and relatively low amounts of coumarin. The third was chosen because it had no detectable coumarin.

Make sure you're choosing the best cinnamon supplements or spices approved in our tests!

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Alphabetical list of cinnamon supplements and spices compared in this review

365 Cinnamon Ground

Badia Cinnamon Powder

FGO Organic Ceylon Cinnamon Powder

Finest Nutrition Cinnamon

Mason Natural Whole Herb Cinnamon Alpha Lipoic Acid

McCormick Ground Cinnamon

Natural Factors WellBetX CinnamonRich

Nature's Answer Fluid Extract Cinnamon Bark

Nature's Bounty Cinnamon 2,000 mg

Nutriflair Ceylon Cinnamon

Oregon's Wild Harvest "True" Cinnamon (Ceylon)

PipingRock.com Ceylon Cinnamon 2,000 mg

ProCaps Laboratories Cinnamon 350

Puritan's Pride Cinnamon with High-Potency Chromium

Simply Organic Vietnamese Cinnamon

Swanson Cinnulin PF Cinnamon Extract

Trunature Advanced Strength CinSulin

You must be a member to get the full test results along with ConsumerLab.com's recommendations and quality ratings for cinnamon supplements and spices. You will get results for 12 cinnamon supplements selected for testing by ConsumerLab.com as well as for two others that passed the same testing in CL's voluntary Quality Certification Program. You will also get results for five popular five spices used for cooking and baking.

In this comprehensive review, you'll discover:

Which cinnamon supplements failed testing and which passed
Direct comparisons and quality ratings of cinnamon supplements, as well as ground cinnamon spices
Amounts of potentially beneficial PACs found in cinnamon supplements — information you won't find on most labels!
Amounts of the potentially toxic compounds coumarin and lead found

Evidence and dosage for specific uses of cinnamon, including lowering blood sugar, cholesterol, blood pressure
Side effects of cinnamon supplements
Cautions and potential drug interactions for cinnamon
How safe are cinnamon sticks?

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