Cinnamon for diabetes?
It may be time to look differently at your spice rack. The medicinal properties of herbs and spices were once a central part of a healers toolkit, but much of the knowledge and understanding of their properties is lost in our ultra modern world. What if we took a trip to our spice cabinet rather than the pharmacy for our medicine? Or better still, what if we used our spices to keep us well in the first place?
So of course I am not suggesting we all ditch the meds and make curries to get and stay well (although there’s a thought), but it may be time for us to reacquaint ourselves with the benefits of spices especially now that science is starting to back up many of their claimed benefits.
The wonderful spice cinnamon is a good place to start as there is lots of research on its medicinal properties. Also, cinnamon is such a versatile spice; it is easy to incorporate it into every day cooking, which is fantastic given the multiple demonstrated health benefits.
Types of cinnamon
There are two main varieties of cinnamon: Cinnamomum zeylanicum (aka Ceylon cinnamon or ‘true’ cinnamon) and Cinnamon cassia (aka Chinese cinnamon). They both have demonstrated health benefits, however if you use cinnamon in large quantities you are better off with Ceylon cinnamon. This is because cassia contains a much higher amount of coumarin (not to be confused with the highly beneficial curcumin in turmeric), which can be toxic to the kidneys, liver and lungs as well as carcinogenic. Just 1 - 2 teaspoons of cassia cinnamon can get you over your daily limit for coumarin, whereas Ceylon cinnamon contains far lower amounts (1).
If a pot of cinnamon is not labelled ‘Ceylon’ or ‘cassia’, it is more likely to be cassia as this is much cheaper. Looking at the colour can help you tell the difference: cassia tends to be a dark brown-red colour, and the sticks are thicker with a rougher texture whereas Ceylon cinnamon is tan-brown and the sticks are tight with soft layers. Ceylon also has a milder, sweater taste than cassia.
Cinnamon and Diabetes
The most researched medicinal property of cinnamon is its positive effect on type II diabetes. Diabetes is a metabolic disease characterised by insulin resistance and resulting high blood sugar levels as well as poor blood lipid profiles.
In a recent study, Zare et al (2019) demonstrated that 1g capsulated cinnamon powder given to type II diabetics over 3 months resulted in improvements to blood sugar levels, insulin sensitivity, lower bad cholesterol and higher good cholesterol. This was a triple-blind placebo-controlled randomised study with 138 participants, making the results hard to ignore. Also I like that this study gave participants ‘whole’ cinnamon making it much more translatable to real life - many other studies gave participants extracts of cinnamon.
Of course, adding cinnamon to your porridge is not the only thing you want to be doing if you have type II diabetes or are heading that way. You want to be taking your doctors advice on medications, as well as looking at the entirety of your diet to eliminate the junk foods, and focus on whole foods to help your blood sugar levels. You also want to be looking at your stress levels, as high stress can also result in dysregulated sugar levels.
But cinnamon could be a helpful ally alongside your wider diabetes strategy so it is well worth knowing about. Be sure to discuss with your doctor any interventions, such as cinnamon, you are thinking of trying so that you can be monitored properly.
Cinnamon also comes along with a range of other health benefits ...
Other health benefits of cinnamon
The cinnamaldehyde in cinnamon has anti-viral, anti-bacterial and anti-fungal properties.
Cinnamon contains antioxidants which are anti-inflammatory
Cinnamon has prebiotic properties, supporting your beneficial bacteria and suppressing the growth of pathogenic bacteria
Taken as a tea, cinnamon can help calm digestive discomfort
I am always so excited to learn about health promoting properties of every day foods, and cinnamon certainly does not disappoint!
Nourish yourself every day
Fabia
References
Ranasinghe, P., Pigera, S., Premakumara, G. A., Galappaththy, P., Constantine, G. R., & Katulanda, P. (2013). Medicinal properties of 'true' cinnamon (Cinnamomum zeylanicum): a systematic review. BMC complementary and alternative medicine, 13, 275. https://doi.org/10.1186/1472-6882-13-275
Zare, R., Nadjarzadeh, A., Zarshenas, M M., Shams, M., Heydari, M. (2019). Efficacy of cinnamon in patients with type II diabetes mellitus: A randomized controlled clinical trial. Clinical Nutrition, 38(2), 549-556.
