How Does Cinnamon Affect Sugar?
Cinnamon is sometimes recommended as a spice that will lower blood sugar levels by an insulin-like effect. If true, the addition of cinnamon to your diet would be an easy way to keep a normal blood sugar level. The journal Diabetes Care in 2003 published a study that looked at 60 men and women with Type 2 diabetes. Half were give cinnamon and half were given a placebo to measure the effects of cinnamon on blood sugar levels. In this study cinnamon reduced blood sugar levels by nearly double-digit percentages. Other studies have had no success in duplicating the results of the first test and have called into question the use of cinnamon as an effective agent for blood sugar reduction.
“Effect of cinnamon on postprandial blood glucose, gastric emptying, and satiety in healthy subjects” by Joanna Hlebowicz, Gassan Darwiche, Ola Björgell and Lars-Olof Almér. This study looked at how cinnamon affected blood sugar levels after eating and why it may affect the level of sugar in the blood. Their hypothesis was that cinnamon caused a delay in gastric emptying, and “the rate of gastric emptying acts as a major factor in blood glucose homeostasis in normal subjects by controlling the delivery of carbohydrate to the small intestine.” What that means is that slowing down the rate at which carbohydrates are moved through the digestive tract, slows down the speed at which glucose from those carbohydrates is moved into the blood stream.
The jury is still out on the effectiveness of cinnamon in reducing blood sugar levels. However cinnamon is plentiful and easily purchased at most grocery stores or health food stores. If you are interested in trying cinnamon to achieve a normal blood sugar level, the cheap route makes the most sense for now. When the science is settled on the best use and actual effectiveness, confirmed and duplicated by many independent studies, a different route may then be apparent.