Managing Blood Glucose with Cinnamon
The spice may calm glucose spikes in both healthy and overweight subjects.
Cinnamon (Cinnamomum zeylanicum) is a tasty spice, but it may also control blood glucose and insulin sensitivity after eating. Plenty of trials on healthy humans demonstrate this, but is there a similar or different effect of cinnamon in overweight subjects, who are already dealing with glucose and insulin issues?
In a crossover trial at Ball State University in Indiana, researchers assigned 30 subjects (15 health and 15 obese) to a one-time serving of instant cereal with or without 6 g of ground cinnamon. They measured each subject’s blood glucose levels at baseline, 15, 30, 45, 60, 90, and 120 minutes.
Obese or healthy, all subjects saw similar changes in glucose levels after eating cinnamon. At 15, 30, 45, and 60 minutes, subjects saw statistically significant decreases in blood glucose. These findings, published in Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, suggest that consumption of cinnamon after a meal may effectively manage glucose in both healthy and obese persons.
