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It’s worth remembering the other downside of Cassia cinnamon. It causes liver damage in higher doses. The amount it starts becoming unsafe at is something like

It’s worth remembering the other downside of Cassia cinnamon. It causes liver damage in higher doses. The amount it starts becoming unsafe at is something like 1 teaspoon a day, which is a lot, but not that much when I consider how much I might put in an apple crumble or cinnamon bun recipe. For this reason I always make sure I’m buying Ceylon.

locallost 5y ago
How realistic is it really though? One teaspoon is a lot and even if I use it, I will not eat everything myself in one day. I guess the only real issue is with kids. I also don't eat cinnamon every day. Our small package of cinnamon lasts for months, and it's around 10 tea spoons.
- hammock 5y ago
  I could easily use a teaspoon on two bagels with some butter and sugar
  - OJFord 5y ago
    The cinnamon is just one reason not to do that daily.
  - locallost 5y ago
    To each his own of course. But that's a lot of cinnamon.
- gremloni 5y ago
  The only way I have cinnamon is in the bark form that gets added whole to flavor dishes. The bark itself doesn’t get eaten. I wonder what the problematic amount that way is.
Tomte 5y ago
Ceylon seems much, much weaker to me. Like I use three times the amount of Ceylon, compared to Cassia, and it still tastes not much like cinnamon. Is it just because my taste buds have been de-sensitized to cinnamon? Or is the specific brand bad? Because right now I wouldn't buy Ceylon again (and I bought it specifically because it has less cumarin).
- hazza_n_dazza 5y ago
  It is the quality of the spice you are getting. I have a nice fresh ceylon cinnamon and it is floral, aromatic, sewwt and punchy cinnamon smell. Very nice and puffs up the house with aroma when cooked.
- nate_meurer 5y ago
  They are very different spices. I don't care for cassia. I'll use it, no problem, but I much prefer Ceylon cinnamon. I grind sticks in a coffee grinder (you can't do this with cassia, it's too tough) and the freshly ground stuff is full of woody and citrus notes. Sometimes it smells like a threw in some orange peel, it's that noticeable.
- hn_throwaway_99 5y ago
  Everything I could find about the difference between the two says that Ceylon cinnamon has a much "milder" and "subtle" flavor than Cassia, and that Cassia tastes much hotter/spicier, so this would seem to be in line with your experience. Ceylon cinnamon essential oil is only 50-65% cinnamaldehyde, while Cassia is about 95% according to an article I read, which explains much of the difference.
thomasahle 5y ago
It's been an issue in Denmark for a while that cinnamon buns have too much cinnamon https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2013/12/danish-cinnamon-rolls-are-dangerously-cinnamony-says-eu/356523/ https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2013/12/da...
cinntaile 5y ago
This article [0] has a pretty good overview of the possible side-effects one can have. The substance toxic to the liver (hepatotoxic) is believed to be coumarin. An article that specifically looks at coumarin in food can be found here. [1] It confirms what the parent comment says. Cassia is also the form commonly used in pastries according to the article. [0] https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clnu.2018.03.013 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clnu.2018.03.013 [1] https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodchem.2007.12.068 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodchem.2007.12.068
interestica 5y ago
Well damn. Cinnamon tea is something I've made often -- and I presume it's the equivalent to a lot?
- dghughes 5y ago
  Chai tea would also have a lot on cinnamon in it. I think it's the main spice.
  - jimmyed 5y ago
    It's one of the spices. There is no ISO-like standard for making chai and there is variation, but cinnamon is most often not added at all. (Disclaimer: I spent 12 years operating a tea stall in Shimla)
  - AdmiralAsshat 5y ago
    Most homemade Chai tea recipes I'm familiar with tend to drop a cinnamon stick into the pot to infuse, rather than dissolving ground cinnamon into it. I'm not sure how much realistically leeches out when you drop a stick in, but I'd assume less than a "dissolved" teaspoon (which rarely actually "dissolves", in my experience--usually it just floats on top of the liquid).
  - hazza_n_dazza 5y ago
    cinnamon, cardamom, star anise, cloves, ginger. grind then dry fry on pan then add water and milk (and tea leaves if you want). it's a really great high. there are of course many local and regional variations.
  - samarthr1 5y ago
    I don't know about others, bit at home for my daily tea(or is it bi daily now), I use an eighth of a teaspoon of cinnamon, some cardamom, and ginger. I boil the ginger in water, add tea leaves, add milk bring to a near boil and then finally add in the other spices
rajup 5y ago
You would think That’s a lot to consume until you find that something like this exists: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinnamon_challenge https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinnamon_challenge

locallost 5y ago

How realistic is it really though? One teaspoon is a lot and even if I use it, I will not eat everything myself in one day. I guess the only real issue is with kids. I also don't eat cinnamon every day. Our small package of cinnamon lasts for months, and it's around 10 tea spoons.

hammock 5y ago
I could easily use a teaspoon on two bagels with some butter and sugar
- OJFord 5y ago
  The cinnamon is just one reason not to do that daily.
- locallost 5y ago
  To each his own of course. But that's a lot of cinnamon.
gremloni 5y ago
The only way I have cinnamon is in the bark form that gets added whole to flavor dishes. The bark itself doesn’t get eaten. I wonder what the problematic amount that way is.

Tomte 5y ago

Ceylon seems much, much weaker to me. Like I use three times the amount of Ceylon, compared to Cassia, and it still tastes not much like cinnamon. Is it just because my taste buds have been de-sensitized to cinnamon? Or is the specific brand bad? Because right now I wouldn't buy Ceylon again (and I bought it specifically because it has less cumarin).

hazza_n_dazza 5y ago
It is the quality of the spice you are getting. I have a nice fresh ceylon cinnamon and it is floral, aromatic, sewwt and punchy cinnamon smell. Very nice and puffs up the house with aroma when cooked.
nate_meurer 5y ago
They are very different spices. I don't care for cassia. I'll use it, no problem, but I much prefer Ceylon cinnamon. I grind sticks in a coffee grinder (you can't do this with cassia, it's too tough) and the freshly ground stuff is full of woody and citrus notes. Sometimes it smells like a threw in some orange peel, it's that noticeable.
hn_throwaway_99 5y ago
Everything I could find about the difference between the two says that Ceylon cinnamon has a much "milder" and "subtle" flavor than Cassia, and that Cassia tastes much hotter/spicier, so this would seem to be in line with your experience. Ceylon cinnamon essential oil is only 50-65% cinnamaldehyde, while Cassia is about 95% according to an article I read, which explains much of the difference.

thomasahle 5y ago

It's been an issue in Denmark for a while that cinnamon buns have too much cinnamon https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2013/12/danish-cinnamon-rolls-are-dangerously-cinnamony-says-eu/356523/ https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2013/12/da...

cinntaile 5y ago

This article [0] has a pretty good overview of the possible side-effects one can have. The substance toxic to the liver (hepatotoxic) is believed to be coumarin. An article that specifically looks at coumarin in food can be found here. [1] It confirms what the parent comment says. Cassia is also the form commonly used in pastries according to the article. [0] https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clnu.2018.03.013 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clnu.2018.03.013 [1] https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodchem.2007.12.068 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodchem.2007.12.068

interestica 5y ago

Well damn. Cinnamon tea is something I've made often -- and I presume it's the equivalent to a lot?

dghughes 5y ago
Chai tea would also have a lot on cinnamon in it. I think it's the main spice.
- jimmyed 5y ago
  It's one of the spices. There is no ISO-like standard for making chai and there is variation, but cinnamon is most often not added at all. (Disclaimer: I spent 12 years operating a tea stall in Shimla)
- AdmiralAsshat 5y ago
  Most homemade Chai tea recipes I'm familiar with tend to drop a cinnamon stick into the pot to infuse, rather than dissolving ground cinnamon into it. I'm not sure how much realistically leeches out when you drop a stick in, but I'd assume less than a "dissolved" teaspoon (which rarely actually "dissolves", in my experience--usually it just floats on top of the liquid).
- hazza_n_dazza 5y ago
  cinnamon, cardamom, star anise, cloves, ginger. grind then dry fry on pan then add water and milk (and tea leaves if you want). it's a really great high. there are of course many local and regional variations.
- samarthr1 5y ago
  I don't know about others, bit at home for my daily tea(or is it bi daily now), I use an eighth of a teaspoon of cinnamon, some cardamom, and ginger. I boil the ginger in water, add tea leaves, add milk bring to a near boil and then finally add in the other spices

rajup 5y ago

You would think That’s a lot to consume until you find that something like this exists: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinnamon_challenge https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinnamon_challenge