Hello everyone! Today I am adding a sprinkle of cinnamon as an effortless addition. Most people have this spice in their cabinet but may not always think of it as a superfood for kids (and adults). I hope this post will inspire you to use it more often to compliment your children’s diet’s (and taste buds) with a few sprinkles a day.
It’s hard to believe how much nutritional power a few shakes of cinnamon can offer. Manganese is one of the super nutrients found in cinnamon. Manganese helps to stabilize blood sugar. Blood sugar stability is critical for good health, and even more important for parents sanity when it comes to children….we’ve all experienced a sugar crash induced tantrum or two I’m sure!
Here are some great quick and effortless ways to incorporate cinnamon into your family’s diet:
- Add it to baked goods, it really adds a nice flavour to any banana bread/muffin recipe. Whenever I make these quinoa cookies, I add a generous few shakes of cinnamon. I will even leave the chocolate chips out and these cookies taste delicious!
- Add a few shakes to pancake or waffle batter to add a nice hint of cinnamon flavour to your b
reakfast. - Cinnamon adds a very nice flavour to smoothies, here’s a couple of smoothies that we enjoy that include cinnamon.
- Sprinkle on oatmeal or overnight oats.
- Don’t forget savoury dishes like curries or beans! Cinnamon adds a nice flavour, add a little when hating up black beans for burritos or nachos.
- Most kids love cinnamon toast – make a nutrient packed version with whole grain toast with a good quality oil such as flax, avocado or olive, a drizzle of honey and cinnamon.
As a bonus, kids love shaking cinnamon, and it encourages them to be involved and get creative making delicious healthy food so they are more likely to eat it.
The nutritional benefits of consuming cinnamon are many and include:
Protein, fibre, potassium, folate, phosphorus, magnesium, manganese, vitamin B3, iron, copper, vitamin A, vitamin B6 and calcium.
Here is some additional information on a few key nutrients and why they are so beneficial to you and your family:
Besides manganese that I discussed above, the other two superstar nutrients in cinnamon are fibre and calcium. Fibre is important to keep things moving through the digestive system and the fibre in cinnamon is prebiotic – meaning that it feeds the healthy microflora in your gut. This increases the absorption and retention of calcium, improving overall bone health. In a previous post about Lentils, I discussed that most of the population is not meeting their daily requirements of fibre. One tablespoon of cinnamon will provide about 4 grams of fibre.
As a bonus cinnamon contains cinnamaldehyde which has an anti-inflammatory effect on the body.
I hope some of these ideas make it to your table and your family enjoys these Effortless Additions as much as mine does.
~Angelina
p.s. If you are looking for tips or suggestions regarding introducing new foods or meals to your family, please check out my Family Consultation package that I offer. I would love to help your family on their journey!
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