NOT SO HOT. Many teens with type 1 diabetes need help maintaining tight control of their blood sugar. Cinnamon isn't the answer, a new study finds, even though the spice appears to help moderate blood sugar in persons with type 2 diabetes.
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Posted on 04/15/2007 12:53:48 PM PDT by neverdem
Cinnamon—it's not just for perking up the flavor of pies and applesauce anymore. A teaspoonful of the spice can have medicinal properties, at least for most people with diabetes, several trials have indicated. However, the latest study identifies one population that cinnamon doesn't seem to benefit: individuals suffering from what was once referred to as juvenile diabetes.
"Ours is just one study," cautions team leader Kevin M. Curtis of Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, N.H. It was also a small study. Just 57 teens completed the 3-month trial. However, Curtis notes emphatically, "we saw no benefit" in blood sugar control. If anything, he says, there were hints that people who were not getting the cinnamon might have fared better than those who did.
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NOT SO HOT. Many teens with type 1 diabetes need help maintaining tight control of their blood sugar. Cinnamon isn't the answer, a new study finds, even though the spice appears to help moderate blood sugar in persons with type 2 diabetes. |
Insulin is a powerful hormone that the body needs to get energy—in the form of blood sugar, or glucose—into cells. Earlier studies tested cinnamon's potential to stabilize blood sugar in people with type 2 diabetes, the form of the disease in which the body makes ample insulin but cells don't respond adequately. Called insulin resistance, this condition typically occurs in people who are overweight and older than 40. However, with a rise in juvenile obesity in recent decades, a childhood epidemic of this type of diabetes is now under way.
Type 1 diabetes is a radically different disease. An autoimmune condition, it develops when the body mistakes insulin-secreting, or beta, cells for invaders and inappropriately attacks them. When enough beta cells die, the body can no longer make enough insulin to keep blood sugar in check. Its victims must regularly inject themselves with the hormone to survive.
The new 90-day study recruited adolescents 13 to 19 years old with type 1 disease and asked them to take a daily capsule that might contain cinnamon. Randomly assigned, half the volunteers got 1 gram of cinnamon a day, and the others instead received lactose, a complex sugar found in milk. All capsules looked the same and came packaged in identical pill bottles. During the trial, neither the teens nor the physicians administering the capsules learned who was consuming cinnamon.
Curtis' team selected adolescents for the study because their growth spurts and other body changes associated with puberty make tight control of blood sugar especially difficult. A lack of blood sugar control can result in serious complications, from heart disease to kidney failure, blindness, and even limb amputations.
The Dartmouth team looked primarily for changes in measures of hemoglobin A1C among the teens. A person's A1C reading indicates the proportion of red blood cells that have glucose stuck onto them. A high A1C reading indicates that the person's blood sugar has been too high for months. The researchers focused on this measurement, rather than periodic tests of blood sugar itself, because hemoglobin A1C "has clearly been the best predictor of complications in both type 1 and type 2 diabetics," Curtis told Science News Online.
At the end of the new study, teens taking both cinnamon and lactose had A1C values averaging roughly 8.75, according to a report in the April Diabetes Care.
By chance, the group assigned to receive lactose capsules for 3 months started the study with an average A1C value of 8.75. The teens getting the cinnamon capsules started the study with an average 8.4 A1C reading. Clearly, there was no advantage to getting the cinnamon treatment, Curtis says.
It's possible that the daily gram of cinnamon administered to the teens was too small to have a measurable effect in people with type 1 diabetes, the researchers say. On the other hand, the scientists note that this quantity was sufficient to improve glucose control in a 2003 study of people with type 2 disease (SN: 5/1/04, p. 282). More likely, Curtis' group concludes, is that "whatever effect cinnamon has on glucose uptake in type 2 diabetic subjects is not present in those with type 1 diabetes."
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References:
Altschuler, J.A. . . . and K.M. Curtis. 2007. The effect of cinnamon on A1C among adolescents with type 1 diabetes. Diabetes Care 30(April):813-816. Abstract available at http://care.diabetesjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/30/4/813.
Khan, A. . . . and R.A. Anderson. 2003. Cinnamon improves glucose and lipids of people with type 2 diabetes. Diabetes Care 26(December):3215-3218. Available at http://care.diabetesjournals.org/cgi/content/full/26/12/3215.
Further Readings:
American Diabetes Association. What is diabetes? Available at http://www.diabetes.org/for-parents-and-kids/what-is-diabetes.jsp.
American Diabetes Association. Type 1 diabetes complications. Available at http://www.diabetes.org/type-1-diabetes/complications.jsp.
Anderson, R.A., et al. 2004. Isolation and characterization of polyphenol type-A polymers from cinnamon with insulin-like biological activity. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry 52(Jan. 14):65-70. Abstract available at http://pubs.acs.org/cgi-bin/abstract.cgi/
jafcau/2004/52/i01/abs/jf034916b.html.
Anderson, R.A. 2003. Chromium and insulin resistance. Nutrition Research Reviews 16(December):267-275. Abstract available at http://dx.doi.org/10.1079/NRR200366.
Raloff, J. 2004; Coffee, spices, wine. Science News 165(May 1):282-284. Available at http://www.sciencenews.org/articles/20040501/bob10.asp.
Sources:
American Diabetes Association
1701 North Beauregard Street
Alexandria, VA 22311
Web site: http://www.diabetes.org
Kevin M. Curtis
Department of Emergency Medicine
Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center
Lebanon, NH 03756
http://www.sciencenews.org/articles/20070414/food.asp |
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From Science News, Vol. 171, No. 15, April 14, 2007 |
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Copyright (c) 2007 Science Service. All rights reserved. |
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Wow! Even w/Byetta and Lantus I don't get numbers like that. Since it's the start of a new week, I think I'll drag out the bottle of capsules and do a pilot study. I'll give it a week (2*3 a day) to see if I notice any difference.
My mother is diabetic and seems to manage well. My uncle is also diabetic and didn't pay attention when he was diagnosed. He has been on dialysis for 15 years (!) and is a double amputee. I am trying hard to avoid all that; especially as I was diagnosed earlier than they were.
My youngest son had childhood lipoid nephrosis when he was little, and I had to test every urination for blood, but the stick also contained reagents for sugars, ketones, and other tests. The sticks are expensive, but they are a good investment.
“I’m a type 2 diabetic and use cinnamon lot on apple sauce and grits, etc., and have never really seen a difference in my blood sugars.”
How much are you using a day? Sprinkled into food is NOT the way to take it. It requires larger amounts, but capsules are easily available, and inexpensive. Good luck.
red
How much cinnamon do you use? Go to comment# 53. Click on the third link. Enter just cinnamon and type II diabetes into PubMed's query box. You can get an idea of the doses used in the studies done so far. They don't seem to have a handle on how cinnamon works. Genetics might come into play.
I detest the sugar substitutes. They taste horrible to me. But cinnamon is wonderful because it tastes sweet but is a spice, not a sugar.
Diabetics must be careful, of course, as most cinnamon treats (i.e. cinnamon rolls) have cinnamon combined with sugar and starches - meaning high carbs. But cinnamon, by itself, is harmless and a good additive for those who want a sweet taste without the sugar.
One of my favorite products is South Beach Diet Toasted Wheats. They are like mini-wheats with cinnamon added instead of sugar.
This is great news about adult stem cells in type I DM in itself. This MSNBC story links to a Journal of the American Medical Association, JAMA, editorial which is a pretty good review. Another freebie is the original article in JAMA.
what is sarcoid?
http://noairtogo.tripod.com/sarcoid.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarcoidosis
Find out if his C-Peptide level was checked. The pancreas makes proinsulin, which is cleaved yielding insulin and C-Peptide. IIRC, it's the easiest test to find out if a patient is insulin dependent.
Thanks for the link. The MSNBC article had the link to the commmentary in JAMA. It was an exceptionally well written review with linked references, IIRC. JAMA also has the original article as a freebie as well. You might have to register, not subscribe.
Technical breakthroughs in neuroscience 2 FReebies from Nature
Higher trans fat levels in blood associated with elevated risk of heart disease
Near-Perfect Symmetry Revealed in Red Cosmic Square (or Cross for the non-secular)
FReepmail me if you want on or off my health and science ping list.
My sister, who has high Cholesteral and was borderline diabetic, changed her diet, started eating oatmeal with cinnamon on it two years ago, and is now off her meds.
Well a good dump can help a lot of things. And if you don't take a dump for several days whatever problems you have ARE gonna get worse. ;)
When I went to live with my sister aboout five years ago, she was drinking an eight ounce glass of orange juice every day for breakfast.
Then about two hours later she would crash, feeling extemely fatigued, and go to bed for two hours.
I pointed out to her, a Nurse, what the sugar was doing to her, and she stopped and immediately regained her energy.
That whole Orange Juice Advocacy, promoted by the American Heart Association, is just propaganda for the Orange Growers, and has done more medical harm than good.
In fact, the diet put out by the American Diabetes Association exacerbates diabetes.
Works for me. Literally. My primary care doc told me to give them a try, and they did indeed bring my blood sugar level down. It wasn't up to the diabetic level yet, but at the high end of the "OK" range. A few months after I started taking the cinnamon capsules, it was pretty much normal. Somehow I ran out, and forgot to get more for long enough that I forgot I needed to. Then the last time I went looking for some, I couldn't find them. Did find some at an HEB (grocery store) in Austin on my way back from the 2nd Annual Texas Cowboy Memorial shoot in San Antonio. Already took the dose for Sunday (well half of it, you have to work up to two, as it can upset your stomach, mildly at least).
GNC is a good source, and not particularly expensive. The capsules can be found in many grocery stores and some "drug" stores, with all the other herbal supplements. Couldn't find them at WalGreens though. Most health food type stores will have them, but they won't be cheap, most likely.
Penzey’s spices has great cinnamon - several types. You can buy it in a 4 oz bag, which is much more economical than the little containers you get in the store. And yes, the Vietnamese cinnamon is wonderful. We have a Penzey’s outlet in my town, but their stuff is available thru mail order I believe.
I agree w/you 100%. I don’t know why people think they can still drink juice. I will take a light cranberry juice once in a while, but regular juices are out of the question. And I only recently started eating some fruits, in small amounts, again. My mother drinks orange juice everyday and I just want to shake her sometimes.
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