Page 17 - Cinnamon e-book
P. 17
Neurologic Health and
Cinnamaldehyde
As life expectancy has increased in most countries, neurologic health has become
an ever more pressing topic of research. Current research explains some trends that
lead to better neurologic health, but there are still many factors affecting
neurological well-being that remain unexplained. Many reports suggest that a
healthy lifestyle, including daily activity and exercise, could be neuroprotective.
In an effort to further elucidate neuroprotective factors, a group of Korean scientists
studied the effects of cinnamaldehyde, a major component of cassia and
cinnamon essential oils, on neurons in an in vivo model. Interestingly enough, they
found that administration of cinnamaldehyde decreased levels of protein factors
related to the cellular process autophagy. Autophagy, or a mechanism by which
cellular components are turned over, is tightly regulated in most cells, especially
neurons. Researchers have suggested that strict regulation of autophagy in neurons
is an important factor to neurologic health.
While these findings likely require further validation in different models, they are
encouraging as efforts are made to better understand practical methods to
maintain proper neurologic health.*
