Cinnamon and Diabetes

Ever since I read The Sugar Solution, I found out about the apparent benefits that cinnamon brings to diabetics.

Today I read about it too on this commentary. Can anybody share their experiences with cinnamon and blood glucose reduction?

It seems that cinnamon is one of several natural products that reduce the impact of insulin resistance, but as a type 1, I don’t have issues with insulin resistance, I have a total lack of insulin due to autoimmune beta cell destruction, so I usually read these stories with only passing interest. That said, I do think this finding is interesting, the only problem is that in our society, most foods that contain cinnamon are loaded with refined carbohydrates and/or sugar, thus negating any benefit that is provided!!

By the way, in study published in April in Diabetes Care, researchers found that cinnamon doesn’t do a thing, at least for type 1 adolescents. The researchers gave 72 type 1 teens 1 gram of cinnamon daily in addition to their usual routine. After 90 days, the adolescents experienced no change in A1c’s, insulin requirements, or number of low blood sugar episodes. In fact, the matching group of teens who received a placebo actually did a little better than the cinnamon group, although not significantly so.

I guess you are right. I have tried it with my morning coffee for a while without much difference. Don’t know if maybe it should be an uber-dose and I am just sprinkling it with traces of cinnamon.

I use it, I use it daily.

If I’m having a bagel, it’s a cinnamon one.

I also use freshly ground cinnamon with butter on toast.

Sometimes I put it in my coffee.

Does it work, I dunno but I’m not rocking the boat to find out.

Oh and if I really want something sweet - I cut up some apples and yep I sprinkle them with cinnamon.

You can overdue it and become toxic but I avoid going crazy with it - I just sprinkle it on a regular basis rather than heaps of it.

I tried it for 3 months-no help for me. I took capsules that they sell at GNC.

Hi Jessica, thank you for your input, I had an initial weight loss that was the primary reason for my glucose level going down WITHOUT question, at the same time I added cinnamon to my diet, so it’s hard to for me to say how much it has helped. But since my levels are fairly stable now…I don’t want to rock the boat.

Does this mean I can eat all the Cinnabons I want?

Hmmm… I don’t think so. :wink:

Question about the cinnamon thing - you mentioned in your first comment that it wouldn’t work on type 1 PwD because they aren’t insulin resistant, they have no insulin. Have you seen any tests done on type 2 peeps or pre-diabetics who are insulin resistant?

I was reading the July '07 issue of Diabetes Forecast, and it included a research short on Type 1 Teens and Cinnamon. Essentially, the study they discuss found that cinnamon is not effective in improving glycemic control in adolescents with type 1 diabetes. Though that’s VERY specific to an age group and T1, I thought I’d share that in this discussion…

Cinnamon can actually raise my blood sugar extremely high–270s! Then it plummets. If you don’t catch the spike you might not see the rise. It also caused a transient blood pressure spike.

The only recent study that found an effect on Type 2s was done with a huge amount of cinnamon, and I think what it did was plug up the stomach. Cinnamon is very fibrous, kind of like metamucil. So that would delay digestion and falsely give people the idea their blood sugar didn’t rise. Testing a few hours later would show the rise.

Bottom line. More B-S.

I was told about cinnamon by a nutritionist in my area and was told that with some diabetics it’s not very effective. I’m always up for trying ANYTHING when it comes to my health and if it didn’t help at all there would be nothing lost. I tried and it worked great for me. I instantly noticed a lower blood sugar reading of 20 to 30 points, where before my readings stayed in the 130 to 150 range. Thats a huge improvement and any kind of improvement is better than nothing at all.

I tried a teaspoon in my herbal tea and it made no difference at all. I tested several times, with and without the cinnamon and with the same foods. I’m Type 1 and don’t have any insulin resistance. So now I have a big bag of left over cinnamon from the health food store :slight_smile:

Hey Jenny…what do you think of taking metamucil or something else with pyslium (sp?) to add to the fiber count of a meal. Have you heard of that helping with BS?

Manny,
I have tried the cinnamon. It has to be a certain variety, which right now I can’t remember what it is, but the cinnamon capsules you buy in the store are the right ones. When I was taking it, I did see a difference in my blood sugar and was lower than without it. I need to get more of it and start taking it again.

I happen to be one who really likes the seasoning cinnamon. I started putting cinnamon in my coffee in the morning where the coffee shop I went to had a shaker of cinnamon on the counter. There was no sugar in the cinnamon so I shook a little into the very strong coffee and it tasted good. I also add a few shakes of cinnamon to my breakfast cereal in the morning. It makes the old fashioned oat meal taste so good. It goes well on an apple put into the microwave for desert.
Now what does it do for my blood sugar? I haven’t got a clue but my A1C’s have always been less than 6.0%

Florian (Type 1, dx 1967)
Animas 2020 pump + Apidra

Has anyone using/taking cinnamon experienced an allergic reaction to it? I started taking a cinnamon supplement recently and have since developed the worst case of hives I’ve ever experienced. I haven’t had any allergic reactions to cinnamon in the past, but I’ve never used it in this way before, either.

Anyone else had trouble with cinnamon?

I know that I am a little late to jump on the topic here (last post Halloween 07) but I really wanted to get some experiences from people who took cinnamon… so here is mine:

I have been type 1 since 1972. I started to take cinnamon in January of 07. I bought cinnamon tablets from the local health food store (at a cost of $25.00 for 50 tablets). My endo and CDE wouldn’t talk to me about taking cinnamon at all (except to say there wasn’t any scientific studies on it).

I began by taking one tablet before a meal, and checking my blood sugar frequently. On my basal and bolus rates that I had (btw I’m on a pump), I would drop low, all the time. My CDE, who really didn’t want any part of this, said that I should just take one tablet per day. When I tried that, I would go low for the first meal after I took the pill and then my blood sugar would jump up again. Continuously, my CDE urged that I should stop taking the cinnamon, so I finally said ok, and I stopped.

Did the cinnamon do anything for me? Definitely. But I couldn’t get a handle on the amount I should take or how often I needed to take it… and since it was making my control go all over the place, I gave it up.

I was just wondering if anyone with type 1 was able to use cinnamon effectively (and how they did it).

-Bill