Cinnamon and Insulin Resistance

[batlou]

I stumbled on a link last night about Cinnamon and how it effects Insulin Resistance or Metabolic Syndrome. Anyway, I decided to do a little further research.
Cinnamon and Insulin Resistance

As always, don't listen to anything I write or tell you, I am only an internet expert that occassionally sleeps in a Holiday Inn.

[stardustshadow]

A lot of diabetics use cinnamon to lower their blood sugar, or at least, help with the lowering of such, in theory I don't know if it works, but I like drinking Chai and putting cinnamon in my coffee anyway

[Crazy Cat]

Just make sure it's real cinnamon, the stuff in most grocery stores is actually Cassia, which won't help. I've been meaning to look for some, I'd like to try it.

[batlou]

Originally Posted by Crazy Cat

Just make sure it's real cinnamon, the stuff in most grocery stores is actually Cassia, which won't help. I've been meaning to look for some, I'd like to try it.

Thanks, that's good to know. I know many of you probably already knew this but I only just discovered it. Which is why I was excited.

[adiasmc1]

I just had some cinammon in my coffee too. Just mixed in about 1/2 tsp. It is yummy. Even better if it helps with IR.

[GME]

Both of my husband's parents were type 2 by the time they were his age. His BS is perfect (blood sugar, ha) every time he goes to the doctor. He mostly LCs, but he also drinks canela every morning instead of coffee.

Canela is the Spanish word for cinnamon, but more specifically it is a tea you make by boiling cinnamon sticks in water. He puts two sticks in a pot of water on Sunday night and lets it boil awhile. Then he just turns it on again for a little while every morning to heat it up again, adds a little Splenda, puts it in his to-go cup and drinks it all morning. He adds more water to the pot and is ready for the next day.

I buy the sticks at Costco, but they only have them this time of year so I buy a couple of jars and it lasts him all year. The plastic packages in the ethnic section of the grocery stores have a different taste and smell (I think they are the cassia).

The house smells great too.

[Janknitz]

We put a teaspoon in our coffee filter along with the freshly ground beans. It smells divine when brewing!

[batlou]

Hmm, I wonder if the extreme heat from a coffee machine or tea pot would cook off some of the healthy things.

[gotsomeold]

Cassia, which is the cinnamon in your spice rack AND in many of the pills and supplements, contains a compound coumarin. Coumarin is a strong natural blood thinner AND can damage (like permanently) the liver. Taken in large doses, or medium doses for a long time, it can kill you. Low, infrequent doses most bodies can handle.

BUT many people find the other, real, forms of cinnamon have an amazing impact. I took it when I started lc, and I believe it was part of the reason I had not induction flu. Hmmm, may have to try that again.

[piratejenny]

Originally Posted by GME

Canela is the Spanish word for cinnamon, but more specifically it is a tea you make by boiling cinnamon sticks in water. He puts two sticks in a pot of water on Sunday night and lets it boil awhile.

I buy the sticks at Costco, but they only have them this time of year so I buy a couple of jars and it lasts him all year. The plastic packages in the ethnic section of the grocery stores have a different taste and smell (I think they are the cassia).

Originally Posted by Crazy Cat

Just make sure it's real cinnamon, the stuff in most grocery stores is actually Cassia, which won't help. I've been meaning to look for some, I'd like to try it.

GME--I haven't tried making cinnamon tea in a long time, because it gets kind of...slimy! But now I'm wondering...maybe that's only with the "fake" cinnamon, and true cinnamon, especially the sticks, doesn't get like that?

I can never tell with ground cinnamon, unless I buy it in bulk from an herb company like Frontier or Starwest Botanicals, because they include the scientific name on the label.

With stick cinnamon, it's easy to tell the difference. True/Ceylon cinnamon has many papery layers and is usually a lighter, buff color. Cassia is darker and a single, thick layer.

In the Ethnic section, I get the Badia cinnamon sticks--but only the ones in the small plastic bags. The large jars, strangely, are the cassia type.

Unfortunately, it sounds like what you get at Costco might be cassia.

Originally Posted by batlou

Hmm, I wonder if the extreme heat from a coffee machine or tea pot would cook off some of the healthy things.

I don't think so. Many herbs & spices only release their potency, or at least release more of it, when heated...which is why tea is often the preferred method of use, rather than capsules. Also, true cinnamon has the lowest volatile oil content of all cinnamons, and that volatile oil is what would "cook off". The rest of the good stuff stays behind!

[GME]

Hmmmm, now I am questioning my cinnamon. While googling to find out what kind of cinnamon we have, I came across a study on BS that used the cassia type. I read a couple of different sites that said you can't get any other type in the US.

What we have in the jar is lighter than the pkgs, but the pkg stuff is flakier. Who knows?

Our tea doesn't get slimy.

[piratejenny]

Lol...thanks!

You can definitely get the real stuff in the US, you just have to know the scientific names and what to look for.
File:Cinnamomum Verum vs Cinnamomum Burmannii.jpg - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

It may be that the other types of cinnamon also lower blood sugar, but they have a higher percentage of oil, which contains the toxin coumarin. As Nancy said, not a concern if used occasionally in cooking, but someone who uses it for BG control might use it regularly enough to suffer liver damage.

[clackley]

Anyone know what 'Saigon cinnamon' might be?

[mikestenger]

I'm a type 2 diabetic and tried cinnamon for a few months. Is recommended not to consume more than 4 grams per day so had 1 gram (1000mg capsule) per meal. Had little effect.

Then again, have to factor in the quality of cinnamon I was consuming. Also, at that time, I wasn't necessarily eating healthy. Think I'll give it a shot again, this time with as pure as I can get it and preferably Saigon cinnamon. Thanks for the reminder :-)

[piratejenny]

Originally Posted by clackley

Anyone know what 'Saigon cinnamon' might be?

1. Cinnamomum verum ("True cinnamon", Sri Lanka cinnamon or Ceylon cinnamon)
2. C. burmannii (Korintje or Indonesian cinnamon)
3. C. loureiroi (Saigon cinnamon or Vietnamese cinnamon)
4. C. aromaticum (Cassia or Chinese cinnamon)


The last three are all types of cassia.

ETA:

Originally Posted by mikestenger

hink I'll give it a shot again, this time with as pure as I can get it and preferably Saigon cinnamon.

Saigon is still a type of cassia...I'd look for Ceylon cinnamon.

[terez]

Penzy's Spices sells Ceylon cinnamon. I use it every morning in my coffee, about 1/8 teaspoon.

[clackley]

Thanks for the info Jenny. I see I can get it on line for a reasonable price!!

[Mishka68]

I take a supplement that is a combo of cinnamon, chromium, and biotin. Now, my last A1c was 5.1 which is great, but I also follow a LC WOE...so who's to say if it's one or the other...more likely a combo.

[Chelveston]

Netrition carries water-soluble cinnamon extract. I use this one -
Doctor's Best Cinnamon Extract

[ravenrose]

as far as I know this has been shown not to be effective. but it tastes good.

cinnamon is pretty carby though, so count it! about 2 grams net per tablespoon, so that dose of 4 tablespoons a day is already close to half my carb allowance. that would not work for me!

[E.W.]

I saw a post from one of the researchers who did one of the studies on
cinnimon and it's effect on blood sugar and chlosterol. He stated that they
bought the cinnimon used in the study from a grocery store I am sorry I
did not keep that post bookmarked. A while back when I had realy given in
to the conpulsive overeating I sometimes used a heaping table spoon of it
when I woffed down a 1/2 gallon of ice cream. It did help prevent my blood
from going quite as high. Tipicaly without the cinnimon my 2 hour after eating
BS would be 210 but if I used the cinnimon it would test about 30 to 40 points
lower. BUT after doing this for a while it started acting as a VERRY VERRY fast
laxitive. An hour after eating it it was no longer in my body..... I have later read
that in large amounts it can be a little toxic.

[E.W.]

My diabetes is doing a lot better lately. About 3 months I started JUDDD and that
has helped a lot leting me lose about 35lbs and bringing my A1C down about one half a point. But about 2 weeks ago just for the flavor I started using about 1 tea spoon a day
of ginger in my tea. This seems to have helped my blood sugar even more. After using
the ginger for about a week I did find an animal study about diabetes and ginger and at
least in rat's or mice I forget which the study used it seems to help a GREAT deal. Well
any way here is the reference to the study.

http://jocpr.com/vol3-iss1-2011/JCPR-3-1-452-456.pdf

[piratejenny]

thank you! ginger isn't as confusing lol