The spice cinnamon is getting a lot of airtime right now.
The list of its health and beauty benefits – including lowering blood sugar levels and curbing bloating - gets longer and longer.
But the miracle spice's latest trump card is: it could make you cleverer.
A recent study held by Rush University and the Jesse Brown Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Chicago turned dumb mice into genius mice (this is not hyperbole) and researchers such as Dr. Kalipada Pahan are hoping the findings will translate.
'The increase in learning in poor-learning mice after cinnamon treatment was significant,' said Pahan.
'For example, poor-learning mice took about 150 seconds to find the right hole in the Barnes maze test. On the other hand, after one month of cinnamon treatment, poor-learning mice were finding the right hole within 60 seconds.'
And the benefits of cinnamon don't stop at your brain either.
Specialists claim it lowers blood sugar levels and helps with stomach woes, such as reducing the risks of stomach ulcers and IBS, as well as curbing bloating.
But you don't have to eat or drink it (cinnamon tea, yum) to get the most of its goodness.
Making it into a paste works as a teeth whitener and mixing it with honey and yoghurt apparently not only works wonders for a plethora of skin ailments (dry skin, spotty skin – you name it) but gives your locks a luscious shine.
There you go, plenty of reasons to bathe in a cinnamon bath while eating a cinnamon swirl and swilling cinnamon tea…
Daisy Murray is the Digital Fashion Editor at ELLE UK, spotlighting emerging designers, sustainable shopping, and celebrity style. Since joining in 2016 as an editorial intern, Daisy has run the gamut of fashion journalism - interviewing Molly Goddard backstage at London Fashion Week, investigating the power of androgynous dressing and celebrating the joys of vintage shopping.
