Cinnamon – does it help combat diabetes?

Cinnamon has been around for a very long time and is one of the oldest spices known from ancient times. It was recognized for its apparent medicinal properties by peoples of ancient Egypt, China and other Asian communities.

This article discusses some differing opinions on the use of cinnamon.

Positive Comments from The American Diabetes Association

In The American Diabetes Association’s booklet 101 Tips on Nutrition for People with Diabetes, published in 2006, some positive comments are made about the dietary inclusion of a small daily amount of cinnamon that, in a clinical research study, showed a lowering of fasting blood glucose levels after 40 days of use.

The amount used each day for 40 days was equivalent to about a half teaspoonful in the form of a ground up powder of Cassia Cinnamon. The study also showed similar lowering effects on total cholesterol, LDL (low density lipoprotein), and triglycerides. And the lowering effects continued even when the cinnamon was stopped for the following 20 days, leading to the conclusion that cinnamon may have long-lasting benefits.

The positive write-up in the ADA booklet is based on research published in the journal Diabetes Care in 2003.

And some less positive from other sources

However, two subsequent studies, one in 2006 and another one in 2008, were not able to achieve the same results. Also, in 2008, appearing in the journal Diabetes Care, a further study was published of a meta-analysis of cinnamon, a meta-analysis is an analysis of a compilation of all the published data from controlled human studies involving cinnamon. The conclusion of this study was that cinnamon was not shown to have a beneficial affect for either type 1 or type 2 patients.

In a December 2008 report, published by Diabetes Health, which made reference to and summarized the above-mentioned cinnamon studies the conclusion was that cinnamon should not be recommended for use at this time, but should be avoided until more data is available and safety concerns have been addressed.

Apparently, no opinion has been offered for the contradictory study outcomes but the thought occurs to me to ask whether the same type of cinnamon was used in the later studies as was used in the 2003 study that so emphatically announced positive conclusions. There are four species of cinnamon that have differing botanical constituents with perhaps different properties, referred to in part below.

Cassia, used in the first above-mentioned study of 2003, is native to Myanamar (formerly Burma) and is produced mainly in China, Vietnam, and Indonesia. Although of the same plant family, it is different from the so-called true cinnamon that grows in Sri Lanka, southern India, Madagascar, Brazil, and the Caribbean.

For instance, cassia differs in having about a ten times higher content of a compound, called coumarin, than does true cinnamon which has only an insignificant amount. Coumarin, is mildly toxic and if ingested in high concentrations, can cause liver and kidney damage and inflammation, and even relatively small amounts of coumarin can damage, at least temporarily, the livers of individuals who are extra sensitive.

What constitutes a high concentration of coumarin is not precisely defined but The German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment has established a Tolerable Daily Intake of 0.1 mg of coumarin per kg body weight, and also advises that, if this level is exceeded for a short time only, there is no threat to health. For example, a person weighing 135 lbs or about 61 kg would have a Tolerable Daily Intake of approximately 6.1 mg of coumarin.

Coumarin, which can also be found in several other plants, has blood-thinning properties and is used medically to reduce the blood’s ability to clot so that property should be taken into consideration if a person is already using anticoagulants. Federal authorities in Germany have called for cinnamon dietary supplements, that in their country carry health claims to reduce blood sugar and help control type-2 diabetes, to be classed as ‘medicinal products’, and should be regulated as such.

More opinions that claim beneficial effects of cinnamon

The findings of a study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, June 2007, provides more indications that active compounds in cinnamon may improve glucose levels of people with diabetes.

According to the lead author of the study, Joanna Hlebowicz from Malmo University Hospital, University of Lund, Sweden, who states that “Inclusion of cinnamon in the diet lowers the postprandial glucose response, a change that is at least partially explained by a delayed gastric emptying rate.”

The researchers measured the rate of stomach emptying (gastric emptying rate) in 14 healthy subjects with normal fasting blood glucose levels after consuming either 300 grams of rice pudding or 300 grams of rice pudding plus 6 grams of cinnamon.

The Swedish researchers report that addition of cinnamon to the rice pudding reduced gastric emptying from 37 to 34.5 per cent, and also delayed the rise in blood glucose levels after eating. No effect of cinnamon was found on the state of being satiated.

Also in a study with rats:

A placebo-controlled, double-blind study published in 2006 in the Journal of the American College of Nutrition, reported that cinnamon and a cinnamon extract called Cinnulin PF, could reduce blood pressure in spontaneously hypertensive rats.

Maybe readers to this post have tried cinnamon or are now using it, if so, it would be nice to have their input and hear what they think.

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Note about Cassia:

The presence of this moderately toxic component has prompted European health agencies to issue a warning against consuming large amounts of cassia. The amount considered high is not specified but according to the Federal Institute for Risk Assessment in Germany, 2 milligrams of coumarin per kilogram of food is considered a safe amount to consume.

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