15 April 2022

Talks from week 5, Spring 2022: Hardiness: Women’s Health and Heart

Click on the links to play audio recordings of lectures:
   Marcia Boehlke Focus Talk
   Mary Rose Muti Main Lecture
Click on the links to play Youtube videos of TED talks:
   Noel Bairey Merz — The single biggest health threat women face 
   Paula Johnson His and hers ... healthcare


A note on cinnamon:
Cinnamon comes in different varieties depending on the species of the tree from which the bark is harvested. (E.g. see here.) The different varieties contain the cinnamon essential oil, cinnamaldehyde. Cinnamon has been shown to mildly reduce blood sugar levels and have antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties.
The most widely-available is cassia cinnamon which is harvested from the mature trees of one of three different species. As well as cinnamaldehyde, cassia cinnamon is a rich source of coumarin which may cause liver damage or cancer. The tolerable daily intake for coumarin is 0.05 mg per pound (0.1 mg per kg) of body weight. This is how much coumarin you can eat in a day without the risk of side effects. It equates to 8 mg of coumarin per day for an adult weighing 178 pounds (81 kilograms). For reference, the amount of coumarin in 1 teaspoon (2.5 grams) of ground Cassia cinnamon ranges from 7 to 18 mg.
Indonesian cinnamon, Cinnamomum burmannii, one variety of cassia cinnamon, seems to be the most commonly available cinnamon in the US. See the abstract below.
Saigon cinnamon is another variety of cassia cinnamon, Cinnamomum loureiroi. It has a higher content of cinnamaldehyde, giving it a stronger flavor and aroma.
Ceylon cinnamon, grown in Sri Lanka, is harvested from coppiced saplings of the Cinnamomum verum (or "true cinnamon") tree. It has a milder flavor and contains a negigible quantity of coumarin. Unfortunately it is harder to find and relatively expensive.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coumarin
... [A] 2013 study [see below] showed different varieties of cinnamon containing different levels of coumarin:
Ceylon cinnamon or true cinnamon (Cinnamomum verum): 0.005 to 0.090 mg/g
Chinese cinnamon or Chinese cassia (C. cassia): 0.085 to 0.310 mg/g
Indonesian cinnamon or Padang cassia (C. burmannii): 2.14 to 9.30 mg/g
Saigon cinnamon or Vietnamese cassia (C. loureiroi): 1.06 to 6.97 mg/g
...

Cassia Cinnamon as a Source of Coumarin in Cinnamon-Flavored Food and Food Supplements in the United States, Yan-Hong Wang et al, J. Agric. Food Chem. 2013, 61, 18, 4470–4476. https://www.cinnamonzone.hk/DOWNLOADS/Cinnamon_and_coumarin.pdf or https://web.archive.org/web/20150505233039/http://www.cinnamonvogue.com/DOWNLOADS/Cinnamon_and_coumarin.pdf
ABSTRACT: Coumarin as an additive or as a constituent of tonka beans or tonka extracts is banned from food in the United States due to its potentially adverse side effects. However, coumarin in food from other natural ingredients is not regulated. “True Cinnamon” refers to the dried inner bark of Cinnamomum verum. Other cinnamon species, C. cassia, C. loureiroi, and C. burmannii, commonly known as cassia, are also sold in the U.S. as cinnamon. In the present study, coumarin and other marker compounds were analyzed in authenticated cinnamon bark samples as well as locally bought cinnamon samples, cinnamon-flavored foods, and cinnamon-based food supplements using a validated UPLC-UV/MS method. The experimental results indicated that C. verum bark contained only traces of coumarin, whereas barks from all three cassia species, especially C. loureiroi and C. burmannii, contained substantial amounts of coumarin. These species could be potential sources of coumarin in cinnamon-flavored food in the U.S. Coumarin was detected in all locally bought cinnamon, cinnamon-flavored foods, and cinnamon food supplements. Their chemical profiles indicated that the cinnamon samples and the cinnamon in food supplements and flavored foods were probably Indonesian cassia, C. burmannii.
KEYWORDS: cinnamon, coumarin, Cinnamomum verum, C. cassia, C. loureiroi, C. burmannii, cassia, cinnamaldehyde,

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