Cinnamon and Arjuna: the traditional kadha for heart health
A traditional Ayurvedic kadha made with cinnamon or arjuna bark, long taken for heart health - what the practice is, and what the evidence does and does not show.
Fri, Jul 11, 2025 · 2 min readTraditional Ayurvedic Recipe
Ingredients Required
- Arjuna bark
- Cinnamon or Arjuna powder
- Ginger
- A piece of turmeric root
- Few Tulsi (Holy Basil) leaves
How to Prepare the Remedy
- Crush all the ingredients (Arjuna bark, cinnamon or Arjuna powder, ginger, turmeric root, and Tulsi leaves) in a mortar and pestle.
- Add water in a pot, boil it, and let the mixture cook well until it becomes a decoction (Kadha).
How to Consume the Decoction
- Traditionally taken twice daily — once in the morning and once in the evening.
- Arjuna bark has been studied for cardiovascular support, though the evidence base remains limited and the findings are not settled.
⚠️ What This Remedy Is Not
This is worth saying before anything else on the page.
A kadha is a daily warm drink, not a therapy for a diagnosed condition. Raised cholesterol is measured, and where it is being treated, that course was set on the basis of those measurements — changing it belongs with the practitioner who set it, never on the strength of an article.
If heart disease runs in your family — and in South Asian families it often does — that is a reason to get lipids tested and to speak to a physician, not a reason to self-manage with home preparations.
Treat this the way tradition treats it: a warm daily drink that sits alongside sensible eating, not a therapy.
As a Morning Drink
- Some households drink this in place of the morning tea, which at least displaces the sugar and milk that usually come with it.
- It is a substitution worth making on its own terms, whatever the kadha itself does.
What Actually Moves Cholesterol
The measures with the strongest evidence behind them are unglamorous, and none of them are herbal:
- Soluble fibre — oats, barley, beans, and the okra and beetroot sort of vegetable
- Replacing fried and vanaspati-heavy food with steamed, roasted or lightly tempered cooking
- Regular movement — the effect on HDL shows up with consistency rather than intensity
- Nuts in modest quantity — almonds, walnuts, figs and dates are the traditional choices, though they are calorie-dense enough to be worth measuring rather than grazing on
Foods That Support Good Cholesterol (HDL)
- Dry fruits and nuts such as almonds, walnuts, raisins, figs, and dates are the customary recommendation, taken in small daily amounts.