Acts as slow-release form of sodium benzoate

Pahan’s research shows that the effect appears to be due mainly to sodium benzoate, a chemical produced as cinnamon is broken down in the body. Food makers use a synthetic form of it as a preservative. It is also an FDA-approved drug used to treat hyperammonemia — too much ammonia in the blood.

Though some health concerns exist regarding sodium benzoate, most experts agree it’s perfectly safe in the amounts generally consumed. One reassuring point is that it’s water-soluble and easily excreted in the urine.

Cinnamon acts as a slow-release form of sodium benzoate, says Pahan. His lab studies show that different compounds within cinnamon—including cinnamaldehyde, which gives the spice is distinctive flavor and aroma—are “metabolized into sodium benzoate in the liver. Sodium benzoate then becomes the active compound, which readily enters the brain and stimulates hippocampal plasticity.”

Those changes in the hippocampus—the brain’s main memory center—appear to be the mechanism by which cinnamon and sodium benzoate exert their benefits.

In their study, Pahan’s group first tested mice in mazes to separate the good and poor learners. Good learners made fewer wrong turns and took less time to find food. In analyzing baseline disparities between the good and poor learners, Pahan’s team found differences in two brain proteins. The gap was all but erased when cinnamon was given.

“Little is known about the changes that occur in the brains of poor learners,” says Pahan. “We saw increases in GABRA5 and a decrease in CREB in the hippocampus of poor learners. Interestingly, these particular changes were reversed by one month of cinnamon treatment.”

The researchers also examined brain cells taken from the mice. They found that sodium benzoate enhanced the structural integrity of the dendrites, the tree-like extensions of neurons that enable them to communicate with other brain cells.

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