Coumarin In Cinnamon Causes Liver Damage In Some People

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Main Category: Nutrition / Diet
Also Included In: Liver Disease / Hepatitis
Article Date: 13 May 2013 - 0:00 PDT Current ratings for:
Coumarin In Cinnamon Causes Liver Damage In Some People

Sensitive people who consume cinnamon-flavored foods, drinks and food supplements may have a higher risk of liver damage, researchers from the University of Mississippi, USA, and King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, report in the Journal of Agriculture and Food Chemistry.

Cinnamon is one of the most important flavoring agents in foods and drinks, team leader Ikhlas Khan explained. It is the second most popular spice, next to black pepper, in the United States and Europe.

Ceylon cinnamon, also known as "true cinnamon" (cinnamon verum) is very expensive. Therefore, most foods in the USA and Western Europe, including sticky buns, breaks and other products use the cheaper Cassia cinnamon (dried Cassia bark).

Cinammon sticks and ground cinnamon
Cinnamon comes from the bark of trees and is sold as sticks or powder in the country of origin. Ceylon cinnamon grows in Sri Lanka, Madagascar and the Seychelles, while Cassia cinnamon comes from Indonesia and China. Previous studies have linked coumarin intake to liver damage in a small number of sensitive individuals.

True cinnamon has very little coumarin, unlike Cassia cinnamon. A 2010 German study found that on average, Cassia cinnamon powder had up to 63 times more coumarin compared to Ceylon cinnamon powder, while Cassia cinnamon sticks contained 18 times more than Ceylon cinnamon sticks.

The researchers in this latest study also reported that coumarin, a naturally-occurring substance, may cause liver damage in some sensitive people.

Ceylan cinnamon (left) has much less coumarin than Cassia cinnamon (right)
The authors wrote:

"As found in this study, coumarin was present, sometimes in substantial amounts, in cinnamon-based food supplements and cinnamon-flavored foods."

According to health officials, consumers cannot tell the difference between Ceylon and Cassia cinnamon in powder form. Cinnamon sticks look different though - Cassia cinnamon sticks consist of a thick layer of rolled bark, while Ceylon cinnamon sticks have thin layers.

Written by Christian Nordqvist
Copyright: Medical News Today
Not to be reproduced without permission of Medical News Today

Visit our nutrition / diet section for the latest news on this subject. "Cassia Cinnamon as a Source of Coumarin in Cinnamon-Flavored Food and Food Supplements in the United States"
Yan-Hong Wang, Bharathi Avula, N. P. Dhammika Nanayakkara, Jianping Zhao, and Ikhlas A. Khan
J. Agric. Food Chem., 2013, 61 (18), pp 4470–4476. DOI: 10.1021/jf4005862 Please use one of the following formats to cite this article in your essay, paper or report:

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Nordqvist, Christian. "Coumarin In Cinnamon Causes Liver Damage In Some People." Medical News Today. MediLexicon, Intl., 13 May. 2013. Web.
19 May. 2013. APA

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'Coumarin In Cinnamon Causes Liver Damage In Some People'

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Coumarin In Cinnamon Linked To Liver Damage

Main Category: Liver Disease / Hepatitis
Also Included In: Nutrition / Diet
Article Date: 11 May 2013 - 0:00 PDT Current ratings for:
Coumarin In Cinnamon Linked To Liver Damage

Many kinds of cinnamon, cinnamon-flavored foods, beverages and food supplements in the United States use a form of the spice that contains high levels of a natural substance that may cause liver damage in some sensitive people, scientists are reporting. Their study, published in ACS' Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, found similar results as those published in the European Union.

Ikhlas Khan and colleagues explain that cinnamon, which comes from the bark of certain trees, is one of the most important flavoring agents used in foods and beverages. "True," or Ceylon, cinnamon is expensive, so most breads, sticky buns and other products in the United States use dried cassia bark, or cassia cinnamon. Ceylon cinnamon contains very little coumarin, a naturally occurring substance that has been linked to liver damage in people sensitive to the substance. However, cassia cinnamon can contain larger amounts. Khan's team decided to check on the coumarin content of a wide variety of food products.

"As found in this study, coumarin was present, sometimes in substantial amounts, in cinnamon-based food supplements and cinnamon-flavored foods," they say.

Article adapted by Medical News Today from original press release. Click 'references' tab above for source.
Visit our liver disease / hepatitis section for the latest news on this subject. The authors acknowledge funding from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (Agricultural Research Service) and the Global Research Network for Medicinal Plants, King Saud University.
American Chemical Society Please use one of the following formats to cite this article in your essay, paper or report:

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American Chemical Society. "Coumarin In Cinnamon Linked To Liver Damage." Medical News Today. MediLexicon, Intl., 11 May. 2013. Web.
19 May. 2013. APA

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'Coumarin In Cinnamon Linked To Liver Damage'

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Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease Prevented By Dietary Medium Chain Triglycerides

Main Category: Liver Disease / Hepatitis
Also Included In: Obesity / Weight Loss / Fitness;??Nutrition / Diet;??Diabetes
Article Date: 26 Apr 2013 - 1:00 PDT Current ratings for:
Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease Prevented By Dietary Medium Chain Triglycerides

Scientists at the Arkansas Children's Nutrition Center, a U.S. Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service Human Nutrition Research Center at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, led by Dr. Martin Ronis have determined that dietary substitution of saturated fats enriched in medium chain triglycerides (MCT) for polyunsaturated fat prevents the development of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). NAFLD occurs in patients with obesity and type II diabetes and is being seen at younger ages in association with the obesity epidemic. NAFLD is characterized by excessive accumulation of fat in the liver. In a proportion of NAFLD cases, liver pathology progresses to hepatitis, fibrosis and liver cancer. The findings which appear in the February 2013 issue of Experimental Biology and Medicine used a laboratory animal model of NAFLD to demonstrate that isocaloric substitution of a mixture of MCT rich saturated fats for dietary polyunsaturated fats prevented liver fat accumulation. In addition progression of injury was blocked as a result of reduced susceptibility of lipids to radical attack and increased basal metabolic rate produced by activation of PPAR signaling.

"There is a real shortage of potential therapies for NAFLD short of weight loss and increased exercise" states Dr. Ronis. "In this study, we show that even if total dietary fat content remains high and excess calories continue to be consumed, the metabolic effects of MCT to change liver lipid profiles and increase respiration can prevent the development of liver pathology". Although complete substitution of MCT oil for vegetable oils in cooking is not feasible as a result of its low smoking point, the studies demonstrated that the protective effects of MCT were dose-dependent.

Dr. Ronis states that "Future studies will be designed to determine if MCT rich diets can reverse NAFLD and nonalcoholic steatohepatitis in disease models, and if successful, clinical trials may be initiated in patients with metabolic syndrome." Dr. Ronis states that "the technology to produce synthetic cooking oils incorporating MCT is already with us. The Japanese are currently testing an oil containing monounsaturated 18:1 fatty acids and MCT for beneficial health effects. There is no reason why similar synthetic products incorporating saturated fatty acids such as 16:0 or 18:0 and MCT cannot be developed for the US market".

Dr. Steven R. Goodman, Editor-in-Chief of Experimental Biology and Medicine, said "with obesity and type II diabetes on the rise development of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) that can lead to hepatitis, fibrosis and liver cancer is an increasing problem. Dr. Martin Ronis and colleagues using an animal model of NAFLD have shown that substitution of saturated fat in the form of medium chain triglycerides (MCT) for polyunsaturated fats can prevent the progression of NAFLD-associated liver injury. As pointed out by Ronis and colleagues this provides a potential future therapy for NAFLD where we simply alter our cooking oils to contain therapeutic levels of MCTs."

Article adapted by Medical News Today from original press release. Click 'references' tab above for source.
Visit our liver disease / hepatitis section for the latest news on this subject. Please use one of the following formats to cite this article in your essay, paper or report:

MLA

Society for Experimental Biology and Medicine. "Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease Prevented By Dietary Medium Chain Triglycerides." Medical News Today. MediLexicon, Intl., 26 Apr. 2013. Web.
6 May. 2013. APA

Please note: If no author information is provided, the source is cited instead.

'Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease Prevented By Dietary Medium Chain Triglycerides'

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All opinions are moderated before being included (to stop spam)

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For any corrections of factual information, or to contact the editors please use our feedback form.

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Note: Any medical information published on this website is not intended as a substitute for informed medical advice and you should not take any action before consulting with a health care professional. For more information, please read our terms and conditions.

View the original article here