June 2, 2020

How cinnamon can lower blood sugar levels and fight diabetes

Wie Zimt die Blutzuckerspiegel senken und Diabetes bekämpfen kann

Diabetes is a disease characterized by abnormally high blood sugar levels. If poorly controlled, it can lead to complications such as heart disease, kidney disease and nerve damage (1).

Treatment for diabetes often involves medication and insulin injections, but many people are also interested in foods that can help lower blood sugar levels. One example of such a food is cinnamon, a common spice that is often added to sweet and savory dishes.

Cinnamon provides many health benefits including its ability to lower blood sugar levels and help control diabetes.

This article will tell you everything you need to know about cinnamon and its effects on blood sugar control and diabetes.

What is cinnamon?

Cinnamon is an aromatic spice extracted from the bark of different species of the Cinnamomum tree. Although most people associate cinnamon with desserts, this spice has been used in traditional medicine and food preservation for thousands of years.

To obtain cinnamon, the inner bark of the Cinnamomum tree must be removed. The bark then undergoes a drying process, which results in the bark forming into rolls, which can then be further processed into cinnamon powder.

Different varieties of cinnamon are sold in supermarkets, typically one of the following two types:

Ceylon cinnamon, also known as 'true cinnamon', is the most expensive variety.
Cassia cinnamon is cheaper and is found in most products that contain cinnamon.

Although both types are sold as cinnamon, there are important differences between these two types of cinnamon, which we will discuss in more detail later.

Cinnamon contains antioxidants that provide many health benefits

A quick look at cinnamon's nutrients might not lead you to believe that cinnamon could be a superfood (2). However, even though cinnamon doesn't contain many vitamins or minerals, it provides large amounts of antioxidants that give cinnamon its health benefits.

A group of scientists compared the antioxidant content of 26 different herbs and spices and concluded that cinnamon had the second highest antioxidant content of all the herbs and spices studied, after cloves (3).

Antioxidants are important because they help the body to reduce oxidative stress - a type of cell damage caused by free radicals.

One study showed that daily consumption of 500 mg of cinnamon extract over a 12-week period reduced a marker of oxidative stress by 14% in prediabetic adults (4). This is significant as oxidative stress is associated with the development of almost every chronic disease including type 2 diabetes (5).

Summary: Cinnamon is packed with antioxidants that reduce oxidative stress. This could potentially protect against diabetes.

Cinnamon can mimic the effects of insulin and improve insulin sensitivity

In diabetics, either the pancreas does not produce enough insulin or the cells do not respond properly to insulin, both of which lead to high blood sugar levels.

Cinnamon may help lower blood sugar levels and fight diabetes by mimicking the effects of insulin and increasing glucose transport into cells (6). In addition, cinnamon may help lower blood sugar levels by improving insulin sensitivity, which makes insulin more efficient at transporting glucose into cells.

A study conducted with seven men as subjects showed that cinnamon increased insulin sensitivity immediately after ingestion, with this effect lasting for at least 12 hours (7). In another study, eight men showed improved insulin sensitivity after a two-week supplementation with cinnamon (8).

Summary: Cinnamon can lower blood sugar levels by acting like insulin and by improving the ability of insulin to transport more blood sugar into cells.

Cinnamon lowers fasting blood glucose levels and may also reduce hemoglobin A1c levels

Several controlled studies have shown that cinnamon is excellent when it comes to lowering fasting blood glucose levels. One study review, which included studies with a total of 543 subjects with type 2 diabetes, concluded that cinnamon intake was associated with an average reduction in fasting blood glucose levels of over 24 mg/dl (1.33 mmol/l) (9).

While these study results are very clear, studies examining the effects of cinnamon on hemoglobin A1c levels - a marker for long-term blood glucose control - showed conflicting results. Some studies reported significant reductions in hemoglobin A1c levels, while others observed no effects (9, 10, 11, 12).

These contradictory results could be at least partially explained by the amounts of cinnamon used and the prior blood glucose control of the subjects (9, 13).

Summary: Cinnamon shows promising effects when it comes to lowering blood glucose levels. However, its effects on hemoglobin A1c levels are less clear.

Cinnamon lowers blood sugar levels after meals

Depending on the size of the meal and the amount of carbohydrates included, blood sugar levels can rise quite dramatically after a meal. These fluctuations in blood sugar levels can increase the amount of oxidative stress and inflammation, which tends to cause a lot of damage to the body's cells and increase the risk of chronic disease (14, 15).

Cinnamon can help control these blood sugar fluctuations after meals. Some scientists believe that cinnamon does this by slowing the rate at which food passes through the stomach. One study found that consuming 6 grams of cinnamon with a serving of rice pudding resulted in slower gastric emptying and a slower rise in blood sugar levels after the meal (16).

Other studies suggest that cinnamon may reduce post-meal blood sugar by blocking digestive enzymes that break down carbohydrates in the small intestine (17, 18).

Summary: Cinnamon may lower blood glucose levels after a meal, presumably due to slowed gastric emptying and blocking of digestive enzymes.

Cinnamon could reduce the risk of common diabetes complications

Cinnamon may do far more than simply lower fasting blood sugar and reduce the rise in blood sugar levels after a meal - it may also reduce the risk of common diabetes complications.

People who suffer from diabetes have twice the risk of heart disease compared to healthy people. Cinnamon could help lower this risk by reducing known risk factors for heart disease (19).

A study review of controlled trials in type 2 diabetics concluded that cinnamon intake was associated with an average reduction in LDL "bad" cholesterol levels of 9.4 mg/dl (0.24 mmol/l) and a reduction in triglyceride levels of 29.6 mg/dl (0.33 mmol/l) (9). This study review also reported an average increase in "good" HDL cholesterol levels of 1.7 mg/dl (0.044 mmol/l (9).

In addition, another study found that supplementation with 2 grams of cinnamon for 12 weeks significantly lowered systolic and diastolic blood pressure (11). Interestingly, diabetes has also been linked to an increased incidence of Alzheimer's disease and other dementias, to the point where some people are already referring to Alzheimer's as "type 3 diabetes" (20).

Studies suggest that cinnamon extract may reduce the ability of two proteins - beta-amyloid and tau - to form plaques and neurofibrillary tangles, which have been linked to the development of Alzheimer's disease (21, 22).

However, these studies have so far only been carried out in test tubes and with animals. Further studies in humans are needed to confirm these results.

Summary: Cinnamon could help reduce the risk of diseases such as diabetes and Alzheimer's disease, which are linked to diabetes.

Ceylon cinnamon vs. cassia cinnamon: which is better?

Cinnamon is usually available in two different varieties - Ceylon cinnamon and cassia cinnamon. Cassia cinnamon can be made from a number of different species of the Cinnamomum tree. Cassia cinnamon is cheap and can therefore be found in most ready-made food centers and on the spice shelves of supermarkets.

Ceylon cinnamon, on the other hand, is made exclusively from the Cinnamomum verum tree. It is typically more expensive and less widely available than Cassia cinnamon, but studies have shown that Ceylon cinnamon contains more antioxidants (3). Due to its higher antioxidant content, it is possible that Ceylon cinnamon could have more health benefits.

However, although several animal and test tube studies have emphasized the benefits of Ceylon cinnamon, most studies that have demonstrated the health benefits of cinnamon in humans have been conducted with cassia cinnamon (23).

Some people should be cautious when using cinnamon

Cassia cinnamon not only contains fewer antioxidants than Ceylon cinnamon, but is also rich in a potentially harmful substance known as coumarin, which is an organic compound found in many plants.

Several studies conducted with rats have shown that coumarin can be harmful to the liver, which has raised concerns that this compound could also cause liver damage in humans (24). The European Food Safety Authority has set the daily tolerable intake of coumarin at 0.1 mg per kilogram.

Based on average coumarin levels for cassia cinnamon, this would correspond to about 2.5 grams of cassia cinnamon per day for a 75 kilogram person. As you can see, cassia cinnamon is particularly rich in coumarin and it is easy to consume more than the maximum tolerated amount of coumarin by taking cinnamon supplements or even eating large amounts of cinnamon in the diet.

Ceylon cinnamon, on the other hand, contains much lower amounts of coumarin and it would be difficult to consume more than the maximum recommended amount of coumarin with this variety of cinnamon (25).

In addition, diabetics taking blood sugar-lowering medications should be careful when adding cinnamon to their supplement program or diet. The combination of medication and cinnamon could increase the risk of an excessive drop in blood glucose levels and hypoglycemia. Excessive hypoglycemia, also known as hypoglycemia, is a potentially life-threatening condition and it is therefore recommended that diabetics discuss the use of cinnamon or cinnamon extracts with their doctor in advance.

Finally, children, pregnant women and people with an extensive medical history should speak to their doctor before using cinnamon to determine if the benefits of cinnamon outweigh the potential risks.

Summary: Cassia cinnamon is rich in coumarin, which could cause liver damage. Diabetics should consider the risk of hypoglycemia when consuming large amounts of cinnamon in addition to blood sugar lowering medications.

How much cinnamon should you take?

The blood sugar-lowering effects of cinnamon have been extensively studied. However, despite all this research, there is still no consensus on the amount of cinnamon you should consume to reap the benefits of cinnamon while avoiding potential risks.

Studies have typically used 1 to 6 grams of cinnamon either as a supplement or in the form of cinnamon powder added to food. One study reported that blood sugar levels decreased to the same extent in subjects who consumed either 1, 3 or 6 grams of cinnamon per day (26). Considering that the subjects who used the lowest amount reaped the same benefits as those who used the highest dosage, it is quite possible that high dosages are not necessary.

In addition to this, a number of studies have shown that the coumarin content of cassia cinnamon can vary. For this reason, it may be wise not to exceed 0.5 to 1 gram of this cinnamon variety per day to avoid exceeding the tolerated amount of coumarin per day. Ceylon cinnamon requires far less caution. Consuming up to 6 grams per day should be safe in terms of coumarin content.

Conclusion

Many studies have shown that cinnamon, among other health benefits, has the ability to lower blood sugar levels and can help control diabetes complications.

If you want to use cinnamon supplements or add cinnamon to your diet to lower your blood sugar levels, then it would be wise to use Ceylon cinnamon instead of cassia cinnamon. Ceylon cinnamon may be more expensive, but it also contains more antioxidants and lower amounts of coumarin, which can potentially cause liver damage.

It is probably best not to exceed 0.5 to 1 gram of cassia cinnamon per day, while an intake of up to 6 grams of Ceylon cinnamon should be safe and harmless.

References:

Source: https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/cinnamon-and-diabetes

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