Cinnamon (Rou Gui)

Overview

Cinnamon bark, Rou Gui in Chinese, comes from the inner bark of Cinnamomum cassia, a tree native to southern China. It is one of the hottest herbs in the Chinese pharmacopoeia and one of the oldest: it appears in formulas of the Shang Han Lun from around 200 AD, where it drives deep warmth into the kidney and spleen meridians. Ceylon cinnamon is milder; the cassia variety used in TCM is stronger and richer in coumarin.

Traditional Uses in TCM

• Deep warming: for people who feel chronically cold, with cold lower back and knees, pale face and frequent clear urination.
• Circulation: cinnamon warms the blood and is added to formulas for cold-type painful periods and slow-healing ulcers.
• Digestive fire: it supports the spleen yang in patterns of poor appetite, loose stools and cold abdominal pain.

How to Use

In decoctions cinnamon bark is usually simmered briefly or added in the last minutes of cooking (1 to 5 grams). At home, a small stick of cinnamon in tea, porridge or stewed fruit is a gentle way to warm the body in winter. Cinnamon powder can be sprinkled onto oatmeal or coffee. For cold hands and feet, a classic winter drink combines cinnamon stick, a few slices of ginger and brown sugar.

Safety and Cautions

Culinary amounts are safe. Cassia cinnamon contains coumarin, which can stress the liver in large and prolonged doses, so keep daily powder intake moderate (about half a teaspoon). Because cinnamon is strongly warming, it is contraindicated in true heat patterns: fever, sore throat with redness, constipation with dry stool, or hot flashes. Pregnant women should use it only in food amounts. It should be used carefully with anticoagulant medication.