Cinnamon and Honey (Dalchini Shahad): Weight Loss, Cough Claims
One tablespoon of honey twice a day is about 120 kcal of sugar, and that’s the part of the viral cinnamon and honey water routine nobody mentions. Cinnamon and honey won’t make you lose weight; the drink only helps if it replaces something sweeter, like two cups of doodh patti with sugar. It’s a pleasant, soothing drink, honey is a fair choice for a cough in anyone over 1 year, and the common market dalchini (cassia) has a real daily limit. Here’s the routine, step by step.
Quick facts
- Weight loss: no direct effect; honey adds calories
- Honey: about 20 kcal per tsp, about 60 kcal per tbsp
- Cassia cinnamon: contains coumarin; keep to a pinch or a small piece a day
- Cough: honey is reasonable over 1 year; cinnamon adds taste, not proof
- On the face: cinnamon can sting and burn; patch test or skip
Prefer to listen? This post as a 2 min video · Watch the video
The routine people share, and our verdict on each step
The version on reels and WhatsApp goes roughly like this: stir 1 tsp cinnamon powder and 1 tbsp honey into a cup of hot water, drink half on an empty stomach in the morning and half before bed, every day, and watch the weight fall off. Let’s take it apart.
| Step | Verdict | Why |
|---|---|---|
| A warm drink first thing | Worth it | Hydrating, may replace sugary chai |
| 1 tsp cinnamon daily | Skip if cassia | Coumarin limit |
| 1 tbsp honey daily | Depends | About 60 kcal of sugar |
| A second cup before bed | Depends | More sugar, more teeth time |
| Expecting weight loss | Skip | No fat-loss effect |
Honey is sugar: the teaspoon numbers
Honey feels healthier than white sugar, and it does carry small amounts of plant compounds that sugar doesn’t. But to your body it is mostly glucose and fructose. A level teaspoon (about 7 g) gives roughly 20 kcal, and a tablespoon (about 21 g) gives roughly 60 to 65 kcal, with about 17 g of sugar.
Two tablespoons a day, one in the morning cup and one at night, is 120 to 130 kcal. Over a week that’s close to 900 kcal, about the same as a large plate of biryani, and all of it from something people drink believing it takes weight off. Our comparison of jaggery vs sugar vs honey covers why “natural sugar” is still sugar.
If you like the drink, use 1 tsp of honey, or none. Cinnamon is naturally sweet-smelling, and a cup of hot dalchini water with no honey at all is close to zero calories.
A cup of cinnamon water helps your weight only by what it replaces, never by what it adds.
Cassia coumarin and your liver, in plain words
There are two main kinds of cinnamon. Ceylon (“true”) cinnamon has thin, papery layers rolled like a cigar. Cassia has one thick, hard, dark bark curl, and it’s what most shops in Pakistan and India sell as dalchini, loose or ground.
Cassia naturally contains a lot of coumarin, a sweet-smelling plant compound that can strain the liver when people take a lot of it every day for weeks. European food-safety experts set a tolerable daily limit for coumarin per kilo of body weight, and because cassia varies so much, one level teaspoon of ground cassia a day can be enough to reach that limit for an adult of about 60 kg. A child reaches it with a fraction of that. Ceylon cinnamon has only traces.
So the problem isn’t a sprinkle in your kheer or a stick in the pulao. It’s the daily heaped teaspoon, drunk twice, for months. If you want a daily cinnamon drink, use a small piece of Ceylon bark, or keep cassia to a pinch. Our guide to Ceylon vs cassia cinnamon shows how to tell them apart at the shop.
Anyone with liver disease, or taking medicines that are hard on the liver, should skip daily cassia and ask their doctor first. On blood thinners such as warfarin? Keep cinnamon to food amounts and tell your doctor about any daily drink. With diabetes, the honey raises blood sugar; don’t change or stop your medicine because of a cinnamon drink, and if you use insulin or tablets like gliclazide, eating less overall can bring on a hypo, so plan any diet with your doctor. Pregnant or breastfeeding: cinnamon in food is fine, but skip daily cassia drinks. Babies under 1: no honey at all.
Can you lose weight drinking cinnamon and honey?
Not because of the cinnamon or the honey. Neither removes body fat. What the drink can do, honestly, is replace something with more sugar. Swap two cups of doodh patti (each roughly 90 to 130 kcal with sugar and full-cream milk) for two cups of cinnamon water with 1 tsp honey each, and you save perhaps 100 to 200 kcal a day. That swap is real. The drink isn’t magic.
Realistic loss is about 0.5 to 1 kg a week after the first week or two, and the first quick drop is mostly water. Portions of roti, rice, oil and mithai move the scale far more than any morning drink. For an honest look at the related chai version, read dalchini chai and green tea for weight loss.
See a doctor before you diet if you have diabetes (especially on insulin or gliclazide-type tablets), high BP, kidney or thyroid disease, a past eating disorder, or if you’re pregnant, breastfeeding or a teenager. For South Asians, health risk starts at a lower BMI (overweight from about 23) and a waist above about 90 cm for men or 80 cm for women is worth discussing. Weight loss you didn’t try for is a reason to get checked.
Cinnamon and honey for cough: the part that holds up
Honey is a reasonable home choice for cough in children and adults over 1 year. It coats a raw throat and can settle a night cough. Cinnamon adds warmth and flavour but no proven extra effect. Use warm water or a spoon of honey on its own; skip dry cinnamon powder for children, because a spoon of dry powder can be breathed in and make them choke.
- Boil 1 cup (250 ml) water with a 2 cm piece of cinnamon stick for 5 minutes.
- Let it cool until it’s comfortably warm to sip, not scalding.
- Stir in honey: 1/2 tsp for ages 1 to 5, 1 tsp for 6 to 11, 2 tsp for 12 and over.
- Give it at bedtime, then brush teeth or at least rinse the mouth.
Don’t give over-the-counter cough and cold medicine to children under 6. See a doctor for a fever of 39 °C or more, a fever lasting more than 3 days, any fever in a baby under 3 months, fast or hard breathing, a cough lasting more than 3 weeks, or a child who is drowsy or not drinking.
Try this instead
Steep a small Ceylon stick in hot water for 10 minutes, add a squeeze of lemon and no honey. You get the smell and warmth for almost no calories.
Cinnamon and honey before bed, and other claims
Before bed: the drink won’t help you sleep or lose weight overnight. If you have it, keep honey small and rinse your mouth afterwards so sugar doesn’t sit on your teeth all night. Memory and brain: nothing solid shows the pair sharpens memory. Face masks: cinnamon can irritate and even burn skin, especially around the eyes and on acne. If you try a honey mask, leave the cinnamon out, or test a tiny pinch mixed in honey on your inner arm for 24 hours first, and never use cinnamon oil on skin.
Dalchini is classed as hot and dry in Unani, and it went into winter qehwa, garam masala and cough mixtures for balgham. It was used by the pinch or the small stick, never by the heaped spoon twice a day. The old measure was the sensible one.
More viral routines, checked step by step, are in Routine Autopsy.
Cinnamon and honey: what people ask
Can you lose weight drinking cinnamon and honey?
No, not from the drink itself. It only helps if it replaces something with more sugar or fat, like sweet chai or a cold drink. Portions and daily movement do the real work.
What are the benefits of cinnamon and honey together?
A warm, pleasant, low-calorie drink when honey is kept small, and honey’s soothing effect on a sore throat or cough in anyone over 1 year. Bigger claims (memory, fat loss, cholesterol) have nothing solid behind them.
Can I drink cinnamon and honey every day?
Yes, with limits. Keep honey to 1 tsp and cassia cinnamon to a pinch, or use Ceylon cinnamon. A heaped spoon of cassia every day can pass the coumarin limit.
Is cinnamon and honey good for cough?
Honey is, for anyone over 1 year. Cinnamon adds flavour but no proven extra effect. Never give honey to a baby under 1.
Can I drink cinnamon and honey before bed?
Yes, but it won’t burn anything off while you sleep. Keep the honey small and rinse your mouth afterwards to protect your teeth.
What are the side effects of cinnamon and honey water?
Extra sugar and calories from honey, liver strain from large daily amounts of cassia coumarin, mouth irritation for some people, and blood sugar rises for people with diabetes.
Is cinnamon and honey good for diabetes?
Honey raises blood sugar like table sugar does. Cinnamon doesn’t cancel that out, and it isn’t a replacement for diabetes medicine. Ask your doctor before adding a daily honey drink.
Can I put cinnamon and honey on my face for pimples?
Honey alone is gentle for most skin. Cinnamon can sting, redden and even burn, so patch test first or leave it out, and never use cinnamon oil on the face.
Is cinnamon and honey good for memory?
There’s no good evidence that it sharpens memory. Sleep, a varied diet and treating poor hearing or eyesight matter far more.
Can I mix cinnamon, turmeric and honey together?
Yes, as food: a pinch of each in warm milk or water with a little honey is fine for adults and for children over 1. Don’t turn it into a spoon-heavy daily tonic.
How much cinnamon and honey should I take daily?
As food, a pinch of cassia or a small Ceylon stick, and up to 1 tsp honey in a cup. That keeps coumarin and sugar low while you enjoy the drink.