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Cinnamon

Recently, cinnamon has been shown to improve the body’s sugar utilization and enhance insulin effectiveness. This breakthrough discovery is believed to be beneficial in the treatment and avoidance of Type 2 diabetes, one of the fastest-growing health concerns in today’s society. Daily use of our proprietary formula provides the healthiest all natural way to prevent disease and promote excellent health.

Cinnamon improves glucose and lipids of people with type 2 diabetes.

The sweet and spicy flavor of cinnamon has been used by many different cultures for its medicinal properties for hundreds, even thousands, of years.

Researchers at the U.S. Agricultural Research Service nutrition labs have observed a positive effect from cinnamon on insulin sensitivity. Insulin is needed to convert carbohydrate and sugar in foods into energy. Some folks have a condition where the body makes insulin, but the fat cells won't let the insulin in. This causes excess sugar to stay in the blood and often leads to diabetes.

Cinnamon makes the cells more likely to let insulin in. This is because of a substance in cinnamon called methylhydroxy chalcone polymer. This polymer also prevents damaging oxygen radicals from forming and lowers blood pressure in rats with Type 2 diabetes. Oxygen radicals often lead to heart disease.

Cinnamon’s other benefits include:

Supports digestive function
Constricts and tones tissues
Relieves congestion
Relieves pain and stiffness of muscles and joints
Relieves menstrual discomfort
Blood-thinning compounds that stimulate circulation
Anti-inflammatory compounds that may relieve arthritis
Helps prevent urinary tract infections, tooth decay and gum disease
It’s a powerful anti-microbial agent that can kill E. coli and other bacteria

General Description
Cinnamon is the dried bark of various laurel trees in the cinnamomun family. One of the more common trees from which Cinnamon is derived is the cassia. Ground cinnamon is perhaps the most common baking spice. Cinnamon sticks are made from long pieces of bark that are rolled, pressed, and dried.

Geographical Sources
True Cinnamon is native to Sri Lanka. The Cinnamon used in North America is from the cassia tree which is grown in Vietnam, China, Indonesia, and Central America.

History
Cinnamon has been popular since ancient times. Egyptians imported it from China in 2000 BC. Romans believed Cinnamon was sacred, and Nero burned a year's supply of the spice at the funeral for his wife. Finding Cinnamon was a primary motive of world exploration in the 15th and 16th centuries.

Traditional Ethnic Uses
Possibly most the common baking spice, Cinnamon is used in cakes, cookies, and desserts throughout the world. Cinnamon is also used in savory chicken and lamb dishes from the Middle East. In American cooking, Cinnamon is often paired with apples and used in other fruit and cereal dishes. Stick Cinnamon is used in pickling and for flavoring hot beverages.

Taste and Aroma
Cinnamon has a sweet, woody fragrance in both ground and stick forms.

One of the most talked about benefits of cinnamon relates to type 2 diabetes. A study published in the journal Diabetes Care found that half a teaspoon of cinnamon a day significantly reduces blood sugar levels in people with Type 2 diabetes. It also reduces triglyceride, LDL cholesterol, and total cholesterol levels among this group.

Cinnamon, of all things, may help lower blood sugar, triglyceride levels, and cholesterol levels. All you need is 1/4 teaspoon taken twice daily.

A small study completed last year on the possible health benefits of cinnamon was "very exciting and promising," according to Dr. Andrew Greenberg, director of the obesity metabolism laboratory at Tufts University, who is so intrigued he has begun studying it himself.

The 40-day study, of 60 people in Pakistan with Type 2 diabetes, found that one gram a day of cinnamon -- one-fourth of a teaspoon twice daily -- significantly lowered the subjects` blood sugar, triglycerides (fatty acids in the blood), LDL (or "bad") cholesterol, and total cholesterol.

For diabetics, cinnamon "does much the same thing as insulin" biochemically, said Don Graves, an adjunct professor of biochemistry at the University of California in Santa Barbara who has studied how cinnamon works in the body.

In Type 2 diabetes, the problem is that insulin no longer does a good job of escorting sugar into cells, said Anderson of the USDA. Cinnamon "makes cells more sensitive to the insulin that is available," he said.

An active ingredient in cinnamon, proanthocyanidin, worms its way inside cells, where it activates the insulin receptor. Once this receptor is activated, whether by insulin or cinnamon, chemical reactions occur allowing the cell to use energy from sugar.

T he USDA study found that the beneficial effects of cinnamon lasted for at least 20 days after people stopped taking it. "I don't know of any drug or product whose effects persist for 20 days," said Dr. Frank Sacks, a physician at Brigham and Women's Hospital and professor of nutrition at the Harvard School of Public Health.

A few other caveats are in order. If you have Type 2 diabetes, you should monitor your blood sugar carefully when adding cinnamon because the spice may intensify the effects of insulin medication -- or better yet, talk to your doctor first.

And don't use the good news about cinnamon to indulge regularly in calorie-laden cinnamon buns or muffins, warned Alice Lichtenstein, a professor at the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University. Gaining weight would be worse for your health than not eating cinnamon, she said.

A Few Ideas to Get You Started

• For a fragrant pilaf, cook rice in Cinnamon flavored broth and stir in chopped dried fruit and toasted nuts.
• The sweet-spicy flavor of Cinnamon enhances the taste of vegetables and fruits.
• Cinnamon is a perfect partner for chocolate; use it in any chocolate dessert or drink.
• Cinnamon is used to mellow the tartness of apple pie.
• Ground Cinnamon should not be added to boiling liquids.

Links

CINNAMON Cinnamomum zeylanicum

Synonym Laurus Cinnamomum

More Cinnamon info and references

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