This has made the price of vanilla grow astronomically. It should be noted that the demand for natural vanilla has skyrocketed amid decreasing vanilla orchid production. So, although vanillin likely offers some health benefits, it’s unclear whether it would deliver any significant benefits when consumed in typical amounts ( 1, 14). Plus, studies investigating these potential health benefits have used concentrated doses of vanillin that exceed the amount you’d consumed when using normal amounts of vanilla extract or bean.įor reference, the vanillin concentration in cured vanilla beans is 1–2%, while vanilla extract’s concentration is 0.1–0.2%. While these findings are promising, it’s unclear how vanillin affects human health. According to some rodent studies, vanillin may benefit brain health and protect against neurodegenerative diseases ( 12, 13). Vanillin has been shown to exhibit anti-inflammatory effects in animal and test-tube studies ( 3, 10, 11). Some evidence suggests that vanillin may have anticancer properties, though research is limited to cell and animal studies ( 8, 9). Vanillin is known to have powerful antioxidant properties, though these effects have only been studied in test tubes and animals ( 6, 7). Research shows that vanillin has several benefits properties, including:

Vanillin can also be derived from other foods like rice bran oil and clove oil ( 5). Synthetic vanillin is also produced in labs in China, France, and the United States ( 3, 4). It’s the most researched component of vanilla. Vanillin is a phenolic plant compound found in vanilla extract and beans.

What does it mean to be vanilla