A couple of weeks ago another diabetic sufferer mentioned to me the benefits of taking cinnamon and I must admit I was rather dubious. However for the past couple of weeks I have put a little cinnamon into my tea or coffee a couple of times a day and, believe it or not, my BGC has reduced from 12, 13 or 14 to 5, 6 and 7. As I have had no other changes to my medication does anyone have any observations to make please.
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amgrundy
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H I too have been having cinnamon on my food, through reading somewhere that it is good for BG readings. Never tried it in tea and coffee though. I do agree I really believe it does help.
TorqPenderloin
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Those are fantastic results, but I certainly wouldn't attribute them to cinnamon. While there are studies that suggest cinnamon (extract) can be beneficial for type 2 diabetes, the numerical improvements are often extremely minor.
Again, I do not wish to discount your impressive results, but I can say with 100% confidence that they weren't caused by the cinnamon you've been consuming. They were the result of something else.
Again, I do not wish to discount your impressive results, but I can say with 100% confidence that they weren't caused by the cinnamon you've been consuming. They were the result of something else.
Wurst
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Excellent levels @frametent
There are several studies to suggest that cinnamon can improve insulin sensitivity and lipids, one below :-
http://care.diabetesjournals.org/content/26/12/3215.full
My own personal experience is that it had no noticeable effect on my blood sugars, I tried it in tea, yogurt etc etc
Other factors that can reduce my blood sugar is weight loss, temperature(cold weather), LDL in nominal range and exercise, could it be one of these other factors in play ?
There are several studies to suggest that cinnamon can improve insulin sensitivity and lipids, one below :-
http://care.diabetesjournals.org/content/26/12/3215.full
My own personal experience is that it had no noticeable effect on my blood sugars, I tried it in tea, yogurt etc etc
Other factors that can reduce my blood sugar is weight loss, temperature(cold weather), LDL in nominal range and exercise, could it be one of these other factors in play ?
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Scimama
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There are different types of cinnamon; in the UK we normally have ceylon cinnamon but the cinnamon shown to have greatest effect on BG levels was a cassis cinnamon.
A study published in the journal Diabetes Care in 2003 looked at 60 men and women with Type 2 diabetes who were taking diabetes pills. The participants took either 1, 3, or 6 grams of cassia cinnamon or a placebo, in capsule form, for 40 days. After this time, blood glucose levels dropped between 18% and 29% in all three groups that received cinnamon. However, only the participants who had taken the smallest amount of cinnamon (1 gram) continued to have improved blood glucose levels 20 days after they stopped taking it, for reasons the researchers didn’t quite understand.
A word of caution, too much cinnamon acts as a laxative (I was unfortunate enough to find that out myself)
A study published in the journal Diabetes Care in 2003 looked at 60 men and women with Type 2 diabetes who were taking diabetes pills. The participants took either 1, 3, or 6 grams of cassia cinnamon or a placebo, in capsule form, for 40 days. After this time, blood glucose levels dropped between 18% and 29% in all three groups that received cinnamon. However, only the participants who had taken the smallest amount of cinnamon (1 gram) continued to have improved blood glucose levels 20 days after they stopped taking it, for reasons the researchers didn’t quite understand.
A word of caution, too much cinnamon acts as a laxative (I was unfortunate enough to find that out myself)
Thank you for comments, much appreciated, especially reference to the study which I found particularly interesting.
I have increased my walking distances recently but would not have thought it significant enough to change my readings to that extent.
Thank you for your observations, (particularly the last one.)
TorqPenderloin
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http://www.diabetesaction.org/site/PageServer?pagename=complementary_7_10
That link provides excellent discussion, and compares the findings @Scimama cited to similar studies.
Unfortunately, the results of these studies vary widely, and I personally found many of the studies to be bit "Suspicious." Especially those that found cinnamon yielded significant improvements.
The problem is, most of these studies have been performed on extremely small patient populations, the control groups in some cases were as small as 10 subjects, and they were performed on people from specific cultures.
Even in the most optimistic studies, there were no findings that came anywhere close to 50-65% the OP mentioned above.
That link provides excellent discussion, and compares the findings @Scimama cited to similar studies.
Unfortunately, the results of these studies vary widely, and I personally found many of the studies to be bit "Suspicious." Especially those that found cinnamon yielded significant improvements.
The problem is, most of these studies have been performed on extremely small patient populations, the control groups in some cases were as small as 10 subjects, and they were performed on people from specific cultures.
Even in the most optimistic studies, there were no findings that came anywhere close to 50-65% the OP mentioned above.
