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Key takeaways
- Both brown sugar and cinnamon contain calories and nutrients.
- Some research suggests that cinnamon or brown sugar may help with certain health conditions, but the evidence is scant and these claims have not been verified.
- It’s important to check the nutrition label of brown sugar or cinnamon products because they are often combined with other flavors or sweeteners.
Cinnamon and brown sugar are both popular in desserts and affect your health differently. Some research suggests that cinnamon or brown sugar may be beneficial for certain health conditions, but there are no approved or proven medical uses for brown sugar or cinnamon.
Where do cinnamon and brown sugar come from?
Brown sugar and cinnamon can add flavor, color, fragrance and texture to foods and drinks. They are often added to drinks, desserts and soups, as well as recipes for other dishes. Their sources are:
- Ground cinnamon comes from cinnamon trees.
- Brown sugar is created by combining table sugar with molasses. Molasses comes from sugar cane or sugar beets. All sugar, including brown sugar, is broken down into glucose, which the body uses for energy.
What are their calories and nutrients?
Both sugar and cinnamon contain calories and nutrients. Your body converts calories into energy. But consuming more calories than your body needs leads to weight gain.
Calorie and Nutrient Comparison Between Sucrose and Cinnamon:
| Calories and nutrients in 100 grams (g) of brown sugar or 100 g of cinnamon | ||
|---|---|---|
| Brown sugar | Cinnamon | |
| Calories | 380 | 247 |
| Milligrams of calcium (mg) | 83 | 1,000 |
| Iron (mg) | 0.71 | 8.32 |
| Magnesium (mg) | 9 | 60 |
| Phosphorus (mg) | 4 | 64 |
| Potassium (mg) | 133 | 431 |
| Sodium (mg) | 28 | 10 |
| Vitamin C (mg) | 0 | 3.8 |
| Zinc (mg) | 0.03 | 1.83 |
Keep in mind that many cinnamon or brown sugar products are not just pure cinnamon or brown sugar: they may contain other ingredients as well. So, the calories and nutrients of spice blends vary. If calories and nutritional content are important to you, be sure to read the label.
How much energy does each provide?
Brown sugar provides more energy than cinnamon, which also means that too much brown sugar is more likely to cause weight gain than too much cinnamon:
- The calories in brown sugar come from carbohydrates that turn into glucose, which your body either uses for energy or stores as fat.
- The calories in cinnamon include glucose, but also indigestible fiber, which doesn’t provide as much energy or cause as much weight gain.
How can they affect diabetes?
Diabetes is a medical condition that affects blood sugar balance. Managing diabetes involves carefully monitoring your carbohydrate intake, taking medications, or using insulin.
Replacing brown sugar with white sugar provides no health benefits if you have diabetes.
Many studies have looked at the effects of replacing sugar with cinnamon in people with diabetes:
- Although results are inconsistent, cinnamon may help improve fasting blood sugar levels in people with prediabetes.
- Cinnamon does not appear to affect glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c), a blood test that measures how well diabetes has been controlled over the previous two months. Additionally, cinnamon does not appear to affect cholesterol levels.
- A scientific review examined the effects of cinnamon on blood sugar levels in people without diabetes or prediabetes. The results were similar to those in people with diabetes: cinnamon improved fasting blood sugar but did not affect glycosylated hemoglobin.
If you have diabetes, managing your diet is important, and it’s still unclear whether cinnamon could have an impact, even in the short term.
Health Effects of Brown Sugar and Cinnamon
Research is underway into the potential health benefits of brown sugar and cinnamon. Each of these sweeteners has shown promising results in experimental settings, but the research has not been replicated or translated into practical use:
- Antibacterial effects: Some research suggests that cinnamon may have antibacterial effects.
- Anti-inflammatory: Cinnamon may have anti-inflammatory properties, which could potentially be beneficial in helping manage immune disorders.
- Good flora: Brown sugar may affect gut flora (the microbes in your digestive tract), an important aspect of digestion and immunity.
- Cancer: There is a possible association between brown sugar consumption and a lower rate of cancer.
- Antioxidant: Brown sugar could have antioxidant activity. Antioxidants protect against chronic diseases.
Risk of metal contamination: cinnamon
There have been recent reports of lead contamination in some cinnamon products. This is believed to be due to the production process and several products have been recalled. Overall, lead contamination is not an inherent problem with cinnamon products.
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