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

[Terry Decker]

I got curious so I wrote and asked if the research had been published and
they were kind enough to send me a copy of the paper, " Cinnamon Improves
Glucose and Lipids of People with Type 2 Diabetes," which appears in
"Diabetes Care 26:3215-3218, 2003."

The cinnamon used in the test was ground Cinnamomum cassia.  It was packaged
in 500 mg capsules.  The placebo was 500 mg capsules of wheat flour.  The
test was performed on 60 subjects.  There were six test groups testing 1, 3
and 6 grams per day of both cinnamon and placebo.

The results were consumption of cinnamon for more than 20 days showed better
results than for fewer days.  All cinnamon using groups showed reduced
fasting serum triglyceride levels  and reduced serum cholesterol levels.
Serum cholesterol remained reduced even after 20 days of not taking
cinnamon.  Decreases in LDL were significant in the 3 and 6 gram test groups
before 40 days (10% and 24% respectively) and became significant in the 1
gram group by 60 days (20 days after stopping ingestion of cinnamon, washout
period).  There were nonsignificant changes in HDL in the 1 and 6 gram
groups.

The research suggests that the ingestion of greater than 1 g per day of
cinnamon is likely to be beneficial in controlling blood glucose and lipid
levels and that cinnamon reduced serum glucose, triglyceride, total
cholesterol, and LDL cholesterol in people with Type 2 diabetes.

Bear


>>   Thank you for posting this. I may have to try this. While I have type I
>diabetes, there may be some type II mixed in as my insulin requirements
have
>gone up. I don't think that doing this will have a detrimental effect, so
it
>may be worth trying.
>>
>>   However, the article is not clear enough about whether this is 'true'
>cinnamon or cassia. Perhaps some research will turn up more information. Or
>maybe the research study didn't know of the differance so they may have
used
>either or a mix. It also doesn't specify whether the cinnamon was in powder
>form in the capsules or a cinnamon oil.
>>
>>   Stefan