Latin Name
Cinnamomum cassia

General Description
A popular stimulant in Chinese medicine, cinnamon is harvested from trees usually after they have reached 7 years of age. Its outer bark is the common spice; the inner bark contains more oil and has stronger medicinal effects. Cinnamon bark is used to treat abdominal disorders, menstrual pain, infertility and some forms of asthma. Characterized as hot, acrid and sweet according to traditional Chinese medicine, the best quality has a thick skin and is oily and fragrant.

Target Ailments

• Poor digestion, lack of appetite, diarrhea with undigested food and abdominal spasms.
  
• Excessive urination, impotence and lack of sexual desire.
  
• Menstrual pain, lack of menstruation and infertility.
  
• Wheezing from asthma caused by exposure to cold.

Preparations
Cinnamon bark is available fresh or dried at Chinese pharmacies, Asian food markets and some Western health food stores. It is normally taken in the form of powder, pill or tincture, in which the crushed bark is mixed with alcohol.
Combinations: Chinese herbalists prescribe cinnamon bark together with the roots of Asian ginseng and of Chinese foxglove cooked in wine to treat palpitations of the heart and shortness of breath. A Chinese medicine practitioner can advise you on dosages and additional herbal combinations.

Special Information

• WARNING: Use this herb cautiously if you are pregnant.
  
• WARNING: Do not use the herb when there is fever, inflammation or hemorrhaging.
  
• In a clinical trial, an alcohol-based preparation of the bark, injected at an acupuncture point associated with the lung, seemed to have a beneficial effect on bronchial asthma.
  
• Cinnamaldehyde, a major constituent of cinnamon bark, has shown tranquilizing and pain-relieving effects in mice.