Type 2 diabetics may get a health boost from a dash of cinnamon

Houston Chronicle ^ | 1/25/2004

[Born Conservative]

Type 2 diabetics may get a health boost from a dash of cinnamon Los Angeles Times A little bit of cinnamon might spice up your health.

The aromatic bark can lower blood sugar, triglycerides and cholesterol levels, as well as improve insulin functioning, particularly in Type 2 diabetics, researchers have found. Richard Anderson, lead scientist at the Human Nutrition Research Center in Beltsville, Md., calls its medicinal properties the most significant nutritional discovery in 25 years.

"I don't know of anything else," he said, other than drugs, "that can change glucose, triglycerides and cholesterol levels nearly so much." The most recent study, which appears in the December issue of the journal Diabetes Care, showed that, after 40 days, 30 diabetics who had taken 1 to 6 grams of cinnamon extract daily reduced their risk factors for cardiovascular disease. Specifically, their mean fasting glucose...

[Lady Eileen]

bump

[KC Burke]

You mentioned you were on the modified Atkins. I'm on the Involuntary Atkins.

Never heard of it?

That's where your wife is using a modified Adkins and so you are, sort of, involuntarily on Adkins yourself. LOL

I had heard these things about cinnamon...sounds like the perfect excuse for me to buy three dozen snickerdoodle cookies tomorrow. The sugar cookie-base with buffer that stomach irritant factor that MHG has pointed out....I think I got this figured out.

[FranApple]

I just put 1/2 teasp. in my coffee and it is not bad. My type 2 diabetes is whacky right now due to stress. This article is great.

Boulder News This is from the article. The cells of diabetics fail to recognize and respond as well to insulin as they once did, leading to elevated blood sugar. Insulin prompts cells to take in the glucose. Cinnamon, Anderson said, makes cells much more sensitive to insulin, thus increasing glucose metabolism, a process in which cells convert blood sugar to energy. As little as half a teaspoon of cinnamon a day can produce effects that in some cases are nearly as dramatic as those produced by the drugs known as statins, which millions of Americans take to lower their cholesterol levels, Anderson said. Thanks for all the good information. I saw this on FOX this morning and I was curious about it.

[FairOpinion]

You only need 1/2 teaspoon a day -- so if you drink several cups of coffee, you can just put 1/4 or less teaspoonful in it every day. I started to do it, now I got to the point, that when I drink plain coffee, I miss the extra taste of cinnamon.

One of the doctors who answers questions on TV ( saw him this morning -- I forgot his name and channel, as I don't watch it regularly) apparenly asked the viewers last week to write in and tell him about their experiences, most said they found positive changes in reduced glucose and cholesterol level. A few wrote in that they haven't been doing it for 40 days, as the original study, and haven't noticed any changes. But we don't know how much cinnamon did people really use.

The doctor's opinion was, that it's unlikely that such small amount of cinnamon could do any harm, and people might as well try it, if it's possible it will do some good.

I am keeping up my cinnamon, and as I said, I actually like it.

Thanks for the article from Boulder News, which explains the mechanism of how cinnamon works. But I don't think they know how does it lower cholesterol.

[FairOpinion]

They say you need about 1/2 teaspoon per day, so if you drink multiple cups of coffee, you can put a little bit in each, just so it all adds up to 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon per day.

But putting even 1/4 teaspoon in a cup of coffee doesn't seem too much, at least not for me, in terms of taste -- I like it.

[Big Horn]

Cinnamon Has worked for me for about 3 years.

[Southflanknorthpawsis]

Well it certainly is an easy thing to do and it seems to be beneficial to folks like us. The studies don't appear to be a fluke and are well substantiated. It's great !!!

[tiki]

I usually don't butt in but have you ever heard of Oxycise and there is another exercise program that is mostly breathing but I know 3 people who are doing that and I can't believe the weight they are losing. For Oxycise, you can do it in the car as you drive or do a routine, it is amazing and NO, I don't have any interest in it, I'm just amazed at what it has done for my friends.