Cinnamon: Help for Insulin Resistance and Weight Loss

[Kamel407]

http://thyroid.about.com/od/loseweig...a/cinnamon.htm

If you think cinnamon is simply something to sprinkle on your holiday cookies or cappuccino, think again. The popular spice, once considered more precious than gold, has medicinal value that is making even pharmaceutical companies take notice.

Cinnamon...
can have favorable effects on brain function and memory
soothes the stomach, and may help prevent ulcers
suppresses the bacteria that causes urinary tract infections and the fungus associated with yeast infections
reduces cholesterol levels – in particular, lowering bad cholesterol while leaving good cholesterol the same
Of particular interest is cinnamon’s ability to reduce blood sugar, and increase insulin levels, results which were documented in a respected diabetes journal.

It is cinnamon’s effect on blood sugar that makes it a potential help in the war against obesity, insulin resistance, sometimes known as "prediabetes," and the "Metabolic Syndrome."

Cinnamon can be used in its powdered or stick form, adding it to drinks and foods, or as a supplement.

http://www.thyroid-info.com/articles/cinnamon.htm

Cinnamon: Help for Insulin Resistance and Weight Loss
Popular and Flavorful Spice is New Aid in the Battle Against "Buddha Belly"


by Mary Shomon

If you think cinnamon is simply something to sprinkle on your holiday cookies or cappuccino, think again. The popular spice, once considered more precious than gold, has medicinal value that is making even pharmaceutical companies take notice.

Cinnamon, it turns out, has long been used to cure everything from athlete’s foot to indigestion. Early civilizations recognized its ability to stop bacterial growth. The Egyptians used it in embalming. During the Middle Ages, it was mixed with cloves and warm water, and placed in the sick rooms of victims of the Bubonic Plague.

Recent research indicates that cinnamon can have favorable effects on brain function. Participants in a study chewed cinnamon gum or smelled the sweet spice. Cognitive tests revealed that subjects who used cinnamon had better memory functions and could process information more quickly. Encouraged by these findings, scientists will now conduct studies to see if cinnamon will improve mental skills in the elderly and those prone to anxiety before testing.

That antiseptic power of the spice could also account for a couple of other medical applications for cinnamon. A Japanese study suggests it can not only soothe the stomach, it may even help prevent ulcers. German research claims cinnamon “suppresses completely” the bacteria that causes urinary tract infections and the fungus associated with yeast infections as well.

But few could have predicted its current high profile. Recent headlines about cinnamon are the result of an accidental finding in a Maryland USDA research center. Incredibly, the catalyst was as American as good old apple pie, flavored with -- what else -- cinnamon. Scientists were testing the effects of various foods on blood sugar (glucose) levels. They expected the classic pie to have an adverse effect, but instead they found it actually helped lower blood glucose levels.

The researchers then took their surprising discovery and tested it in a small 60 patient study conducted in Pakistan, reporting in the journal Diabetes Care. All the patients had been treated for type 2, adult onset diabetes for several years and were taking anti-diabetic drugs to increase their insulin output. But they were not yet taking insulin to help process their blood glucose. The subjects were given small doses of cinnamon ranging from as little as a quarter teaspoon to less than 2 teaspoons a day for 40 days.

The results: Not only did the cinnamon reduce their blood sugar levels and increase their natural production of insulin, it lowered their blood cholesterol as well. Even 20 days after the cinnamon treatment had ended, the patients continued to see beneficial effects.

This is good news for the more than 50 million Americans who suffer from diabetes and/or heart disease. All the patients in the study showed better glucose metabolism and natural insulin production when they took cinnamon capsules that delivered less than two teaspoons a day of the spice.

Specifically, their blood cholesterol levels were lowered in the range of 10 to 26 percent, affecting overall cholesterol levels and reducing the LDL (known as the “bad” cholesterol) but not reducing levels of HDL, the “good” cholesterol.

This is also potentially good news for the many millions more of us who suffer from insulin resistance, sometimes known as “prediabetes,” or the “Metabolic Syndrome.” Lowering blood sugar levels, and improving cholesterol ratios can help reverse prediabetes and Metabolic Syndrome, and in fact may actually prevent the worsening of health to full diabetes.

In addition, addressing elevated blood sugar levels and helping to combat insulin resistance may be a successful factor in helping you lose weight. The fat cells in your abdomen are particularly sensitive to high insulin levels, and are very effective at storing energy – far more so that fat cells you’d find in other areas such as the lower body (i.e. hips, rear end, thighs). Because abdominal fat cells are so close to your digestive organs, and there is an extensive network of blood vessels circulating in the abdominal area, it’s even easier for fat cells to store excess glucose there. So tactics that help to reduce

If you suffer from elevated cholesterol or diabetes you will want to consult your physician before beginning to use cinnamon in large quantities. And if you are already taking a diabetes medication, you should talk to your physician before trying cinnamon for medicinal uses, because cinnamon may have an impact on your blood sugar.

Using Cinnamon

Some people prefer to use cinnamon as a supplement, and this is certainly a safe and effective way to incorporate cinnamon into your diet. Be sure you pick a quality supplement.

Others would rather get their ½ to 2 teaspoons of cinnamon a day using the spice in their foods. The cinnamon you can pick up off any grocery shelf comes from the bark of the evergreen cinnamon tree, and was probably grown in China. You’ll find it in stick or ground form at most markets and health food stores.

For patients who want to try cinnamon, there are many tasty and simple ways you can enjoy this aromatic spice.



Steep your favorite herbal tea with a cinnamon stick adds flavor to the tea
Add one-half teaspoon of cinnamon to unsweetened applesauce
Add cinnamon to your breakfast cereal or oatmeal
Sprinkle on toast
Adding cinnamon to butter or cream cheese
Sprinkle cinnamon on your morning cup of coffee, cocoa or cappuccino
Cinnamon also combines very favorably with many baked fruits like peaches and apples as well as fruit juices and ciders.

For more ideas, check out this wonderful selection of Cinnamon Recipes from About’s Homecooking Site.

To get the most out of the cinnamon you add to your recipes, make sure it is fresh. The best test is to open the jar in your kitchen and sniff. If the smell is strong and sweet your cinnamon is fresh. If the aroma is weak or non-existent, it’s time to throw it away and restock your spice rack. To keep cinnamon, seal the container tightly and store it away from the light.

Mary’s Experience

After reading about cinnamon, I decided to try it about a month ago. I decided to add cinnamon to my foods – one of my favorite treats is the Sugar Free, Fat-Free General Foods International Coffee Suisse Mocha flavor, with a ½ teaspoon of cinnamon! But I also decided to try a supplement, and chose the quality Planetary Formulas brand, “Cinnamon Extract.”

I have found after regular use of the Plantary Formula’s Cinnamon Extract is that it definitely has an effect on blood sugar. How can I tell? The first effect is seen in my abdominal area, and regular use of cinnamon helped shrink my abdomen slightly, and also reduced my appetite somewhat when taken right after eating. I’ll report back again in a few months.

For More Information


The World’s Healthiest Foods Site -- Cinnamon
Rick Mendosa's Diabetes Site – Cinnamon
Talk About Cinnamon at my Thyroid Forum
Khan A, et. al. "Cinnamon improves glucose and lipids of people with type 2 diabetes." Diabetes Care. 2003 Dec;26(12):3215-8.

http://www.1stholistic.com/Reading/h...d-cinnamon.htm

Medicinal Properties of Honey and Cinnamon

[Note: None of the medicinal claims given in this article could be independently verified. However, it is known that honey and cinnamon are important herbs used in Ayurveda and oriental system of medicine. - Editor, Holisticonline.com]

It is found that mixture of Honey and Cinnamon cures most of the diseases. Honey is produced in most of the countries of the world.

Ayurvedic as well as Yunani medicine have been using honey as a vital medicine for centuries. Scientists of today also accept honey as a "Ram Ban" (very effective) medicine for all kinds of diseases. Honey can be used without any side effects for any kind of diseases.

Today's science says that even though honey is sweet, if taken in the right dosage as a medicine, it does not harm diabetic patients. Weekly World News, a magazine in Canada, on its issue dated 17 January, 95 has given the following list of diseases that can be cured by Honey and Cinnamon as researched by western scientists.

HEART DISEASES:

Make a paste of honey and cinnamon powder, apply on bread, chappati, or other bread, instead of jelly and jam and eat it regularly for breakfast. It reduces the cholesterol in the arteries and saves the patient from heart attack. Also those who already had an attack, if they do this process daily, they are kept miles away from the next attack. Regular use of the above process relieves loss of breath and strengthens the heartbeat. In America and Canada, various nursing homes have treated patients successfully and have found that as age the arteries and veins lose their flexibility and get clogged; honey and cinnamon revitalizes the arteries and veins.

ARTHRITIS:

Take one part honey to two parts of lukewarm water and add a small teaspoon of cinnamon powder, make a paste and massage it on the itching part of the body slowly. It is noticed that the pain recedes within a minute or two.

Arthritis patients may take daily, morning and night, one cup of hot water with two spoons of honey and one small teaspoon of cinnamon powder. If taken regularly even chronic arthritis can be cured.

In a recent research conducted at the Copenhagen University, it was found that when the doctors treated their patients with a mixture of one tablespoon Honey and half teaspoon cinnamon powder before breakfast, they found that within a week out of the 200 people so treated practically 73 patients were totally relieved of pain and within a month, mostly all the patients who could not walk or move around because of arthritis started walking without pain.

HAIR LOSS:

Those suffering from hair loss or baldness, may apply a paste of hot olive oil, one tablespoon of honey, one teaspoon of cinnamon powder before bath and keep it for approx. 15 min. and then wash the hair. It was found to be effective even if kept on for 5 minutes.

BLADDER INFECTIONS:

Take two tablespoons of cinnamon powder and one teaspoon of honey in a glass of lukewarm water and drink it. It destroys the germs in the bladder.

TOOTHACHE:

Make a paste of one teaspoon of cinnamon powder and five teaspoons of honey and apply on the aching tooth. This may be applied 3 times a day till the tooth stops aching.

CHOLESTEROL:

Two tablespoons of honey and three teaspoons of Cinnamon Powder mixed in 16 ounces of tea water, given to a cholesterol patient, was found to reduce the level of cholesterol in the blood by 10% within 2 hours. As mentioned for arthritic patients, if taken 3 times a day, any chronic cholesterol is cured. As per information received in the said journal, pure honey taken with food daily relieves complains of cholesterol.

COLDS:

Those suffering from common or severe colds should take one tablespoon lukewarm honey with 1/4 spoon cinnamon powder daily for 3 days. This process will cure most chronic cough, cold and clear the sinuses.

INFERTILITY:

Yunani and Ayurvedic Medicine have been using honey for thousands of years to strengthen the semen of men. If impotent men regularly take two tablespoon of honey before going to sleep, their problem will be solved.

In China, Japan and Far-East countries, women, who do not conceive and need to strengthen the uterus, have been taking cinnamon powder for centuries. Women who cannot conceive may take a pinch of cinnamon powder in half teaspoon of honey and apply it on the gums frequently throughout the day, so that it slowly mixes with the saliva and enters the body.

A couple in Maryland, USA, had no children for 14 years and had lost hope of having a child of their own. When told about this process husband and wife started taking honey and cinnamon as stated above, the wife conceived after a few months and had twins at full term.

UPSET STOMACH:

Honey taken with cinnamon powder cures stomachache and also clears stomach ulcers from the root.

GAS:

According to the studies done in India & Japan, it is revealed that if honey is taken with cinnamon powder the stomach is relieved of gas.

IMMUNE SYSTEM:

Daily use of honey and cinnamon powder strengthens the immune system and protects the body from bacteria and viral attacks. Scientists have found that honey has various vitamins and iron in large amounts. Constant use of honey strengthens the white blood corpuscles to fight bacteria and viral diseases.

INDIGESTION:

Cinnamon powder sprinkled on two tablespoons of honey taken before food, relieves acidity and digests the heaviest of meals.

INFLUENZA:

A scientist in Spain has proved that honey contains a natural ingredient, which kills the influenza germs and saves the patient from flu.

LONGEVITY:

Tea made with honey and cinnamon powder, when taken regularly arrests the ravages of old age. Take 4 spoons of honey, 1 spoon of cinnamon powder and 3 cups of water and boil to make like tea. Drink 1/4cup, 3 to 4 times a day. It keeps the skin fresh and soft and arrests old age. Life spans also increases and even a 100 years old, starts performing the chores of a 20-year-old.

PIMPLES:

Three tablespoons of Honey and one teaspoon of cinnamon powder paste. Apply this paste on the pimples before sleeping and wash it next morning with warm water. If done daily for two weeks, it removes pimples from the root.

SKIN INFECTIONS:

Applying honey and cinnamon powder in equal parts on the affected parts cures eczema, ringworm and all types of skin infections.

WEIGHT LOSS:

Daily in the morning 1/2hour before breakfast on an empty stomach and at night before sleeping, drink honey and cinnamon powder boiled in one-cup water. If taken regularly it reduces the weight of even the most obese person. Also drinking of this mixture regularly does not allow the fat to accumulate in the body even though the person may eat a high calorie diet.

CANCER:

Recent research in Japan and Australia has reveled that advanced cancer of the stomach and bones have been cured successfully. Patients suffering from these kinds of cancer should daily take one tablespoon of honey with one teaspoon of cinnamon powder for one month 3 times a day.

FATIGUE:

Recent studies have shown that the sugar content of honey is more helpful rather than being detrimental to the strength of the body. Senior citizens, who take honey and cinnamon power in equal parts, are more alert and flexible. Dr. Milton who has done research says that half tablespoon honey taken in a glass of water and sprinkled with cinnamon powder, taken daily after brushing and in the afternoon at about 3.00 p.m. when the vitality of the body starts to decrease, increases the vitality of the body within a week.

BAD BREATH:

People of South America, first thing in the morning gargle with one teaspoon of honey and cinnamon powder mixed in hot water. So their breath stays fresh throughout the day.

HEARING LOSS:

Daily morning and night honey and cinnamon powder taken in equal parts restore hearing.

http://chetday.com/type2diabetes.htm

Cinnamon Helps Stop Type 2 Diabetes

By Mike Hodge


American scientists have claimed that a teaspoon of cinnamon a day may help prevent the onset of diabetes.

The common spice could help millions of sufferers of Type II, non-insulin dependent diabetes. This condition usually develops in middle-age and prematurely kills 100 million people around the world every year. Type II diabetes causes cells to lose their ability to respond to insulin, the hormone that tells the body to remove excess glucose in the bloodstream. If glucose builds up in the blood, tiredness, weight-loss and blurred vision are some of the resulting symptoms. In extreme cases this can lead to blindness, heart disease and premature death.

Data from the Agricultural Research Unit in Maryland was first published in the New Scientist in August 2000. The researchers found that cinnamon rekindled the ability of fat cells in diabetics to respond to insulin and greatly increased glucose removal. It is believed that a substance in cinnamon called MHCP is the main reason for its beneficial results.

When mice were given MHCP, their glucose levels fell dramatically and tests on humans have begun this year. The researchers are so confident that cinnamon will have the same dramatic effect of reducing insulin tolerance in humans they recommend that type II diabetics should take a quarter to one full teaspoon of cinnamon per day.

Many Type II diabetics have already found a new feeling of well-being and improvement in health by using this simple cinnamon supplementation in their diet. Cinnamon has long been known as an "energizing" spice, and it is likely that increasing the intake of this common and cheaply available food will benefit even non-diabetics, if used as a daily energizing tonic.

The insulin resistance that leads to type II diabetes develops relatively slowly as the body ages and even those who have not yet experienced severe symptoms may have some degree of elevated insulin resistance.

Cinnamon is also a rich source of magnesium, which is essential for maintaining bone density, electrolyte balance, certain enzyme functions and many other crucial biochemical processes. Magnesium is also linked to the more dramatic forms of diabetes that occur earlier in life.

Much research has been carried out to establish a metabolic defect in diabetics that prevents the absorption of magnesium. As cinnamon provides a readily available source of MHCP, magnesium and possibly other beneficial substances it seems like a very cost-effective way of offsetting future health problems related to glucose/insulin imbalances as we grow older.

Cinnamon can be bought inexpensively in a convenient powdered form at almost any food shop and taking it couldn't be easier: just use up to a teaspoon a day in milkshakes or fruit juice.

I personally take a half-teaspoon daily in this way every morning and can confirm a distinct energy benefit. Diabetics should always inform their doctor before taking cinnamon as it may affect medication requirements.

[PhiSigPhi]

Good find! similar to what I found except more technical!!