From Rick Mendosa's site [/"]http://www.mendosa.com] Article abridged &
modified as follows:
April Newsletter, Cinnamon, By Rick Mendosa
Research
Wouldn't it be wonderful if an inexpensive spice (that many of us use often) would reduce insulin
resistance?
Researchers [at the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Human Nutrition Research Center in Beltsville,
Maryland] thought so too. So they tested about 50 plant extracts.
One of them (cinnamon) increased glucose metabolism about 20-times, in test tube assays of fat
cells. None of the other plants tested so far come close.
Led by ARS chemist Dr. Richard A. Anderson, the researchers subsequently confirmed their findings
with in vitro measurements.
Studies [involving feeding of cinnamon to people with diabetes, and determining their improvement in
blood glucose], have not yet been published. But two publications regarding this work, are being
submitted for publication, Dr. Anderson tells us.
"We tried all [species of cinnamon], and they all worked similarly," he says. "We also tried
numerous commercial bottles of cinnamon, and they also worked."
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Coumarin (in Cinnamon) =3D Bad
There is one red flag. The Dutch health and food newsletter "Gezond", recently published an article
about the risks of coumarin, one of the flavorings in cinnamon.
In animal studies, coumarin is a carcinogen and genotoxic agent.
However, essentially all toxic materials in cinnamon are lipid soluble,
Dr. Anderson says.
Therefore, he uses a water-soluble extract.
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Cinnamon: Making An Extract
"We recommend that people take =BC to 1 teaspoon daily," he tells us. "Or if they want to take more,
to boil cinnamon in water and pour off the soluble portion, and discard the solid cinnamon."
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Help, Not Cure
Increasing the amount of cinnamon that you use, won't cure your diabetes. But it could reduce how
much insulin or oral medications you need. That means you will need to test even more often.
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More Isn't Better
If eating one gram a day of cinnamon reduces blood glucose levels 20 percent, then three grams or
six grams will reduce it a lot more. Wrong.
Researchers [from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, including Dr. Richard A. Anderson, and
Agricultural University, Peshawar, Pakistan], gave these doses of cinnamon to volunteers.
Some 60 volunteers (divided into six groups) participated. Three of these groups got the three
different doses, and three groups received a placebo.
They found that less than one-teaspoon (one gram) of cinnamon, worked as well as higher doses.
They also found that triglyceride, LDL cholesterol, and total cholesterol levels fell about as much,
... and that the volunteers' levels started rising when they stopped eating cinnamon.
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Susan, Su_Texas my opinions
PS The full article can be found, by going to a search engine & entering: Mendosa Cinnamon