There are numerous benefits of losing weight, a major one being that it can improve your entire risk factor profile. Even modest weight loss can reduce the mortality rate by nearly 12%.
Given the numerous fad diets available today, people often tend to ignore the precious knowledge given to us by our ancestors.
Many natural ingredients and commonly found items in the kitchen are actually more effective in helping us lose weight than compared to so many modern, calorie limiting, crash diets. Moreover, majority of the elimination diets available today actually lead to side effects such as fatigue or nutritional deficiencies.
The combination of honey and cinnamon is one such holistic and effective remedy for losing weight. Both ingredients have been used since times immemorial in various folk remedies.
The benefits of both ingredients, individually and combined together, are tremendous. In this guide though, we will cover the benefits of honey and cinnamon for weight loss, and particularly discuss the honey and cinnamon cleanse which is now being hailed as the best cleanse for weight loss.
Honey and Cinnamon for Weight Loss - Does Cinnamon and Honey Diet Work?
Head over to Google or Pinterest and type in “how to detox for weight loss” and the chances are you will get "cinnamon and honey diet" in your search results. Given the popularity of this diet, more and more people are now taking it up to lose weight holistically and naturally without side effects proffered by over-the-counter weight loss supplements.
So, does the cinnamon and honey diet really work? Let us study the health benefits of honey and cinnamon to help answer this question.
Health Benefits of Honey and Cinnamon
So how does honey and cinnamon work for weight loss? Continue reading to find out.
Health Benefits of Honey
Honey is one of the most widely consumed food products that is completely and naturally produced by insects. It is a key ingredient in many folk remedies. It mainly contains natural sugars, oils and water, and despite its sugar content, it does not harm the human body. This is because; its glycemic index is very low.
Therefore, it does not get quickly absorbed into the blood like refined sugar does. This is also the main reason why more and more people are replacing sugar with honey in all their cooking.
Honey has also been scientifically proven to help lose weight and also reduce cholesterol levels. Its combination of natural sugars, enzymes, good oils, and antibacterial and antimicrobial properties make it ideal for all those looking to lose weight naturally and without any adverse side effects posed by other weight loss supplements.
Honey also boosts the immune system as it contains iron, vitamins and minerals in trace quantities making it ideal for every diet and not just the weight loss.
Cinnamon Weight Loss Remedy - Health Benefits of Cinnamon
The fragrance of cinnamon has a rich full bodied aromatic energy about it once it permeates your surroundings and sometimes it will make you sneeze but it has attracted attention of not just alternative therapists but even conventional practitioners all throughout the world, thanks to its numerous health benefits.
From treating IBS, to acting as a natural disinfectant, to reducing the risk of blood pressure, diabetes and even preventing cancers; cinnamon has hundreds of health benefits.
Several studies have established for a fact that cinnamon can help with insulin resistance. It is also known to lower LDL or bad cholesterol by 7-27%, triglycerides by 23-30% and overall cholesterol by 12-26%. It is also extremely nutritious in that; 1 teaspoon of cinnamon powder can give you 833 mg manganese, 19 mg iron, and also 6% of your daily recommended value of calcium.
A meta-analysis of clinical trials in the Journal of Medicinal Food (2011) revealed that "cinnamon extract and/or cinnamon improves fasting blood sugar (FBG) in people with type 2 diabetes or prediabetes".
The good news about cinnamon was reinforced more recently in the Annals of Family Medicine (2013). The authors concluded that, “Based on currently available literature, cinnamon may have a beneficial effect on fasting plasma glucose, LDL-C, HDL-C, and triglyceride levels in patients with type 2 diabetes.”
It is no wonder that more and more weight watchers from around the world have started taking a teaspoon of cinnamon in their morning coffee or tea to kickstart their natural metabolism.
Add Lemon Juice for Additional Health Benefits
Adding lemon juice to cinnamon powder and honey in a cup of water or tea is the best option to help you achieve your weight loss goals.
Lemon is a natural powerhouse of nutrients and one of the best foods for weight loss. It has been scientifically proved that lemon does help in the burning of body fat.
The powerful vitamin C and dietary fibre contained in a lemon, boost body’s immune system, physical repair and helps you get the ideal body shape.
You can find more information about the benefits of lemon juice in another article that I wrote here.
How to Use Honey and Cinnamon for Weight Loss?
Cinnamon and honey for weight loss are being touted as a miraculous formula for losing weight quickly. Many people who have tried the raw honey and cinnamon weight loss cleanse for a week have seen amazing results. Most have lost 2 to 3 pounds in just 3 days along with other nutritious eating and exercise.
Here is a simple cinnamon and honey for weight loss recipe:
- Take a cup of fresh filtered water and boil it in a saucepan or in the microwave.
- Add and dissolve a teaspoon of cinnamon powder or ground cinnamon to this hot water (or use any tea).
- Add two teaspoons of lemon juice for additional benefit and taste.
- Stir and cover the cup, allowing the mixture to sleep for a few minutes.
- Now add a teaspoon of raw, organic honey (this Manuka honey is the best) and unfiltered honey to this cinnamon and lemon water.
If you want, you can filter away the crystallized particles in the raw honey. You can also filter the drink to remove pieces of cinnamon, though they won’t cause you any harm even if you drink them as is.
Note that honey should always be added to the slightly cooler mixture, because adding it to very hot water will destroy its enzymes and nutrients.
Drink this raw honey and cinnamon weight loss tea first thing every morning on empty stomach.
You need not add anything else to this recipe as it is complete in itself for weight loss and can give you many other health benefits. However, some people also like to add honey and cinnamon for weight loss to their green tea.
Green tea is rich in flavonoids and antioxidants and is especially know to curb hunger and stimulate the metabolism when one is trying to lose weight. This property makes green tea ideal for weight loss. Naturally, if you want to follow the cinnamon and honey diet for losing weight, you can also add both these ingredients to your green tea and sip it 3-4 times a day.
You can also take advantage of the raw honey and cinnamon cleanse recipe at night before bed. Honey has a mild laxative effect which can help you prevent constipation and keep you regular. This is very important if you want to lose weight.
If you are incredibly busy and wondering how to get the weight loss benefits of cinnamon and honey, you can also prepare a big batch of this absolutely best cleanse for weight loss recipe discussed here.
Simply make 4-5 cups of this tea in advance and keep it refrigerated. You only have to warm the tea a bit in the microwave or on the stovetop in order to enjoy your warm water honey and cinnamon weight loss tea on empty stomach, half an hour before daily breakfast.
How Much Honey and Cinnamon for Weight Loss to Take? Side Effects of Honey and Cinnamon
There are normally very few side effects of honey and cinnamon. You should never feed honey to new born babies as it can lead to diarrhoea. That being said, raw honey sourced from a reputed consumer is quite safe to be eaten by adults on a daily basis.
The US Department of Health has cautioned dieters to take a pragmatic approach when consuming cinnamon for weight loss. In particular, one must not take more than 6 grams of cinnamon for more than 6 days.
Cinnamon also has a significant amount of coumarin which, when taken in excess can lead to liver damage particularly to people already having liver disease. This is also the main reason why the European flavouring association has placed restrictions on the use of cinnamon for flavouring foods.
So we recommend drinking the aforementioned hot water, raw honey and cinnamon weight loss recipe twice each day for 5 days and then taking a break for a day or two. This can help you prevent adverse side effects of cinnamon, in particular cinnamon accumulation toxicity.
Note that we are also stressing upon the importance of using only raw organic honey in this cinnamon and honey weight loss recipe with. We have already covered the benefits and importance of consuming raw organic Manuka honey, as opposed to commercially packaged inorganic honey.
To summarize them; raw honey is unfiltered so it retains its numerous health benefits and beneficial enzymes that are necessary for weight loss. Inorganic or filtered honey is usually boiled to make it thinner and easier to filter.
Raw Manuka honey does not contain any added sugar and has beneficial bee pollen. It is healthy and full of nutrients and also flavourful and delicious. It is also richer in flavonoids and antioxidants making it useful in aiding and supporting metabolism for weight loss (apart from providing anti-aging benefits).
For more details on the complete list of health benefits of raw organic Manuka honey, please click here.
So Is It Possible to Lose Weight with Cinnamon and Honey?
Yes, weight loss with honey and cinnamon is very much possible. However, the cinnamon and honey weight loss recipe discussed above is not a replacement for exercise, dietary changes and other physician recommended treatments for obesity, cholesterol, diabetes or other lifestyle disorders.
That being said; making honey and cinnamon a part of your daily diet can help you save many trips to the doctor’s office. Additionally, a lot of science-based research is touting both these ingredients as powerful dietary additions that can help improve overall health and wellbeing.
So go on and try the cinnamon and honey diet and start losing weight!
