New research has found that consuming a dried water-soluble extract of cinnamon may lower the risk factors associated with both diabetes and heart disease .
The 12-week experimental study examined 22 obese participants that suffered from impaired blood glucose levels, a condition known as prediabetes, which occurs when cells are resistant to the higher-than-normal levels of insulin produced by the pancreas . The participants were separated into a placebo group and a group that were given 250 milligrams of cinnamon extract, which contains antioxidative compounds, twice a day along with their usual diets.
When blood was taken from the patients after an overnight fast at the beginning of the study, after six weeks, and then again after 12 weeks, the changes in blood glucose and antioxidants were measured. The research showed that the water-soluble cinnamon extract helped to improve a number of antioxidant variables by as much as 23 per cent, and there were also improvements in antioxidant status correlated with decreases in fasting glucose .
The investigational research, reported in the Journal of the American College of Nutrition, is not sufficient to confirm if people who are overweight or obese could have their oxidative stress and blood glucose lowered by consuming cinnamon extracts, meaning further research will be needed to corroborate the results.

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