Is Cinnamon an Effective Remedy for Diabetes?

The 20 million United States citizens want to know is Cinnamon an effective remedy for diabetes, in addition to the more than 50 million people worldwide that have “pre-diabetes” that has not reached the full stages of diabetes.  If diabetes is not properly treated or worse – ignoring the symptoms; blindness, damage to nerves (neuropathy), diseases of the heart and severe kidney problems can occur.

People with diabetes type 2 have a pancreas that is not functioning properly; either not using the insulin it produces properly or not producing insulin at all.

In most studies that have been conducted so far, cinnamon seems to improve the function of the blood vessels by removing free radicals that cause damage to arteries, but the question still remains “is Cinnamon an effective remedy for Diabetes?”

Studies that have linked cinnamon to helping diabetics have been conducted since 2003 on a small scale.   In the clinical conducted studies, cinnamon has been shown to not only lower blood sugar levels, but also LDL (bad) cholesterol and triglycerides (fat in the blood).  Long term effects still need to be explored to validate if cinnamon is truly an effective remedy for diabetes.

Adding some cinnamon to your daily cooking regimen (a topping to toast rice pudding or oatmeal for example; or add to orange juice or coffee for a burst of flavor).Enjoying a warm cup of cinnamon tea every evening is a great way to add this delicious and delightful spice into your diet.  Just a gram or two of cinnamon a day can help you stay on the road to good health.

The consumption of daily cinnamon has been shown to slow down the rate that food will pass from the stomach to the intestines; in turn keeping blood sugar levels from spiking.

Cinnamon may reduce high blood glucose levels and because of this, it is very important to use with caution while taking other herbs/supplements that will also lower levels of blood sugar.  They include, but may not be limited to, bitter melon, fenugreek, garlic, phylum, and horse chestnut and Siberian ginseng.

Cinnamon is to be used in conjunction with current prescribed medication, in no way are we suggesting that you discontinue or replace your current medically advised treatment of diabetes.

There are two types of Cinnamon; Cassia and Ceylon.  Cassia is the type that is used in cooking and baking and it is the type that most diabetic and cinnamon clinical trials base their results on.

Although the results are inconclusive to prove that cinnamon will consistently (and in the long term) reduce blood sugar levels and be categorized as an effective treatment for diabetes.  It does not seem to cause damage to people that deal with diabetes; but people with severe damage to their liver should use cinnamon in limited and small quantities only.

The ADA (American Diabetes Association) does not support the use of cinnamon as an effective remedy for diabetes of any type.