For Women, Cinnamon is the Flavour of the Month

Two new studies have shown that cinnamon can be a safe and effective way for women to help manage the pain of dysmenorrhoea (painful periods). . . .

The first double-blind study gave either a placebo or 420mg of cinnamon three times a day to seventy-six women. The women who got the cinnamon had significantly greater reductions in pain severity and significantly less nausea and vomiting. Importantly, they also had significantly less heavy menstrual bleeding. The cinnamon had all of these advantages over a placebo without having any side effects (Iran Red Crescent Med J 2015;17:e27032).

So how does this side effect free herb stack up against a side effect laden drug? A second double-blind study compared a placebo to either 400mg of Ibuprofen three times a day or 420mg of cinnamon three times a day. Both the pharmaceutical treatment and the herbal treatment were significantly better than the placebo for severity and duration of pain. Though the cinnamon was effective, producing more pain relief than the placebo, it was not as effective as the Ibuprofen (J Clin Diagn Res 2015;9:QC04-7).

So why would you consider taking cinnamon instead of Ibuprofen if it is not quite as effective? Other than that it is much safer, there is an additional situation in which taking cinnamon may be ideal.

There are several other herbs that may be even more effective for painful periods than cinnamon: crampbark, black haw, dong quai, ginger (Arch Gynecol Obstet 2014.doi:10.1007/s00404-014-3548-2; J Altern Complement Med 2009;15:129-32) and a combination of saffron, celery seed and anise (J Midwifery Womens Health 2009;54:401-4). But, as the first study showed, when painful periods present with excessive bleeding, cinnamon may be a very suitable herb. Long known as an astringent that helps with heavy bleeding, the study showed that cinnamon not only significantly decreases pain, but that it also significantly decreases bleeding.

So when painful periods are accompanied by excessive bleeding, cinnamon may be an effective part of your treatment.

For more information on treating painful periods naturally, see Linda’s Smart Women’s Guide to PMS & Pain-free Periods and our book, The Family Naturopathic Encyclopedia.