Infused oil. The cinnamaldehyde in the essential oil contains the fungicidal properties of cinnamon. Cinnamaldehyde can only be extracted using oils. Powdered cinnamon infuses well in almond oil. Add the oil to the cinnamon to cover by roughly a half inch. Allow it to infuse in a warm place for fourteen days. Avoid taking oil infusions internally.360 Be cautious when using infused oils externally because they contain the more dangerous compounds in cinnamon. Try the infused oils on a small patch of skin before using them more widely.
Essential oil. Use the smell of the essential oil as an aid to alertness. Don’t inhale it directly from a bottle or diffuser, however, because it is a powerful irritant.
If you are going to use essential oil topically, you must dilute it. A dilution of 1:12 in a carrier oil is the absolute strongest you’d want to use on toenails. For use on skin, you’d want to dilute it much more than that, to roughly 1:50. Even then, patch test it on tough skin (like the heels of your feet) before using it anywhere else, and never use it on your face or other sensitive areas.
The risks of taking cinnamon oil internally vastly outweigh the benefits.
Dosage: How much do you use?
Less than 2 ounces of the essential oil can cause a serious toxic reaction.361 Too much can kill you. The risks of taking the essential oil internally outweigh the benefits. If, however, you do decide to take it, find yourself professional supervision, and don’t take more than .05 to .2 g per day.362
One gram (roughly ¼ to ½ teaspoon) of powdered cinnamon per day, split between two doses is enough to yield an effect on blood sugar.363 Don’t take more than 4 g per day.364
What should you be aware of before using it?
Cinnamon is on the FDA’s generally-recognized-as-safe list.365 But, again, this list assumes cinnamon in the kind and quantity used in cooking, not the essential oil, and not used in medicinal quantities.
Cinnamon oil is an irritant, particularly to mucous membranes.366 Cinnamon oil taken internally (sucked from a toothpick or finger) can cause local burning, nausea, and abdominal pain.367 The 1918 U.S. Dispensatory records an experiment in which a medium-sized dog was killed by six drachms (less than one ounce) of cinnamon oil. The dog apparently died from erosion of the lining of the gastrointestinal system.368
Take only water-extracted preparations internally. Oil extracted preparations contain cinnamaldehyde, which is an irritant, and coumarin, which causes cancer and liver damage.369
Allergic reactions are possible,370 as is contact dermatitis.371 It is possible to become sensitized to cinnamon over time.
Inhaling too much cinnamon dust has caused bronchitis in lab animals.372
Avoid medical quantities of cinnamon if you are pregnant. Pregnant lab animals fed cinnamon essential oil showed changes in the embryo.373
Decoctions of cinnamon have an effect on blood sugar. If you are diabetic, hypoglycemic, or have other blood sugar issues, check with your doctor before using cinnamon in medicinal quantities.374
Cinnamon flower is on the Commission E “Unapproved, Potentially Dangerous Herbs” list because of its likelihood to cause allergic reactions.375
Cloves
Scientific name: Syzygium aromaticum
Also known as Eugenia caryophyllata, Caryophyllus aromaticus, Eugenia aromatica, cinnamon nails, clove bud, ding heung, ding xiang, dinh huong, dok chan, eugenia bud, tropical myrtle
Cloves, Syzygium aromaticum
Cloves are native to Indonesia. The dried bud, which grows on an evergreen tree, is the part most often used medicinally. The buds are dried and sometimes ground into a powder before shipping. The essential oil is derived from either the leaves or the bud through a steam distillation process.376
Cloves’ aroma comes from its active ingredient, eugenol. Eugenol is also the active ingredient in clove essential oil, which can be comprised of as much as 95% eugenol.377 Commercial derivatives of eugenol have been used in analgesics and antiseptics. Eugenol is also, irrelevantly enough, an aphrodisiac for mice.378
What is it good for?
Mouth injuries. The Eclectic School recommended clove oil for this purpose. The 1918 U.S. Dispensatory notes that it is often used for toothache.379 Commission E recommends it as a topical antiseptic and anesthetic for mouth pain. The eugenol and salicylic acid in cloves have become commonly accepted treatments for mouth pain, not just among herbalists, but among Western dentists as well.380 This use is not surprising. Eugenol has antiseptic, anti-inflammatory, and anesthetic properties.381 Test-tube studies have found that eugenol fights bacteria, viruses, and fungi, including some of the most common causes of skin infections.382 It is also an anesthetic, depressing the sensory receptors that perceive pain383 by means of a compound called beta-caryophyllene.384 Cloves also contain salicylic acid, a plant hormone and the active ingredient in aspirin.385 It is for this reason that dentists often use clove oil in fillings and dry socket preparations. Clinical research regarding cloves’ effectiveness and safety in dental uses is, however, surprisingly sparse. One study showed that clove oil worked as well as benzocaine for numbing a small area before injections.386 Other studies suggest the possibility of irritation. Beyond those few studies, we have mostly just lots of use.
Helps improve memory. It is said that the smell of clove oil can help improve alertness and strengthen memory. This use is, however, merely anecdotal at this point.
How do you use it?
Essential oil. There is no good reason to take clove oil internally and lots of good reasons not to (irritation, stomach upset, possible cytotoxicity). If you use clove for mouth injuries, spit; don’t swallow. Pure essential clove oil can be as much as 72–90% eugenol.387 Eugenol is an irritant. You should, therefore, dilute the oil with water to a 1 to 5% solution before using it as a mouth rinse.388 Store the oil in a dark bottle in a cool place.
Decoctions. Eugenol isn’t soluble in water, so decoctions are not your best bet.
Infused oil. Soak whole cloves in olive oil.389 Infused oil tends to be less irritating than essential oil. The problem is that you can’t be quite sure just how much of the active ingredient you have in the infused oil.
Commercial preparations of both the essential oil and other “clove oils” are available. Make sure that you know what you are getting when you buy clove oil. True clove oil is the essential oil of the clove extracted using superheated steam. Many preparations are diluted with other oils and still are called “clove oil.” The amount of dilution will tell you how much you need to further dilute the preparation before using it. You want no more than a 5% solution.
Whole clove. Some people just hold the whole clove in their mouth near the injury.390 We have no good research to help assess the benefits or risks of doing so.
Dosage: How much do you use?
How much should you dilute essential oil of clove before using it as a rinse? In point of fact, we aren’t sure