[Sca-cooks] Current research on the effects of Cinnamon

[Sharon Gordon]

STORY LEAD:
Spicing Up Insulin Sensitivity

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ARS News Service
Agricultural Research Service, USDA
Rosalie Marion Bliss, (301) 504-4318, rbliss at ars.usda.gov
November 21, 2003
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Less than a half-teaspoon a day of cinnamon reduced the blood sugar
levels of 60 volunteers in Pakistan with Type 2 diabetes who
participated in a study by the Agricultural Research Service and
cooperators in Pakistan. The findings were published online today in the
December issue of Diabetes Care.

The study was conducted by ARS chemist Richard A. Anderson at the ARS
Nutrient Requirements and Functions Laboratory in Beltsville, Md., and
colleagues from Agricultural University, Peshawar, Pakistan. The study
is preliminary and based on results with a small group of volunteers. At
this time, there are no data on safety or potential toxic buildup from
consistently ingesting table cinnamon.

In Type 2 diabetes, either the pancreas does not produce enough
insulin, or the body cannot correctly use it. Insulin is a hormone that
regulates sugar metabolism. The result is that unhealthy levels of sugar
circulate in the blood, instead of providing energy to muscles.

In the study, the researchers divided the volunteers--who were not
taking insulin--randomly into six groups. The first group ate one gram
of cinnamon per day, while the second group ate three grams of cinnamon
per day, and Group 3 ate six grams of cinnamon per day. Groups 4, 5 and
6 were given placebo capsules corresponding in size and number to the
capsules consumed by volunteers in the three cinnamon-eating groups.

The researchers saw an improvement of roughly 20 percent in blood
sugar, cholesterol and triglyceride levels in volunteers eating as
little as one gram (less than ½ teaspoon) of cinnamon per day for 40
days. No advantage was seen in taking more than that amount.
Significantly, the volunteers' blood sugar levels started climbing when
the cinnamon was stopped.

These results with a small group of volunteers--encouraging though
preliminary--indicate the need for further analysis of cinnamon and its
chemical components and for long-term feeding
studies.

ARS is the U.S. Department of Agriculture's chief scientific research
agency.
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