Diabetes Meal Planning and Nutrition For Dummies
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Recently, a few studies have suggested that cinnamon can be helpful in managing blood glucose levels. A study in Pakistan showed people with type 2 diabetes improved fasting blood glucose, blood triglycerides, and bad LDL cholesterol levels after 40 days.

A Chinese study showed essentially the same results in 66 patients monitored in a controlled study environment. An analysis of studies involving diabetes and cinnamon, however, found no statistical improvements in blood glucose control from cinnamon supplementation.

Cinnamon does contain many active compounds, including cinnamaldehyde, which stimulates an antioxidant reaction, especially in the colon. Cinnamaldehyde also seems to work against harmful clotting and exhibits an anti-inflammatory effect.

Who doesn’t love the powerful fragrance of cinnamon? This derivative of tree bark has been a food enhancer, and a natural remedy for ailments, for thousands of years. In the United States, you may think of apple pie, or that kiosk in the mall that draws your attention to the cinnamon sweets from any distance.

Adding cinnamon to your diet in modest amounts is unlikely to cause a problem, unless, of course, you add your cinnamon on a big sweet roll. Depending upon this unproven herbal remedy as an effective treatment for diabetes, however, would be profoundly unwise.

About This Article

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About the book authors:

Toby Smithson, RDN, CDE, has managed her own diabetes for more than 40 years, and founded DiabetesEveryDay.com to share her insights into diabetes self-management. Alan Rubin, MD, is the author of several successful diabetes books, including Diabetes For Dummies and Diabetes Cookbook For Dummies.

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