NMU 169 – Low-dose Cinnamon Supplement Lowers Blood Sugar in Pre-diabetic patients

Nutrition / Natural Medicine Update No 169 (August 11, 2020)

with Dr. James Meschino

Topic: Low-dose Cinnamon Supplement Lowers Blood Sugar in Pre-diabetic patients

Source: Journal of the Endocrinology Society (July 2020)

A study published in July 2020 in the Journal of the Endocrinology Society has shown that providing pre-diabetic patients with a 500 mg cinnamon supplement, three times daily for 12-weeks, lowered their fasting and post-meal blood sugar (glucose) level to a significant degree, compared to the placebo group. This has important implications to improve and manage glucose intolerance in pre-diabetics and may help to prevent the progression of pre-diabetes to full-blown type 2 diabetes. Previous studies involving pre-diabetic patients with metabolic syndrome showed that supplementation with 3,000 mg of cinnamon per day in divided doses helped to lower blood sugar, hemoglobin A1c, and reduced waist circumference and body weight in these patients. Other studies involving type 2 diabetics have shown that cinnamon supplements may improve blood sugar management using doses of 1 gm to 6 gm per day. One study showed that compared to the placebo group the type 2 diabetics taking cinnamon supplements also saw a reduction in other risk factors for cardiovascular disease, including a decline in total and LDL-cholesterol (the bad cholesterol) and triglyceride levels.

Experimental studies show that active ingredients in cinnamon increase insulin sensitivity, which improves the ability of cells to extract sugar from the bloodstream and use it as a fuel or store it for future use. In turn, this lowers blood sugar levels. Cinnamon has also been shown to release fat from fat cells, which enables body cells to burn fat more easily, which can aid in weight loss and reduce waist circumference. So, the July 2020 study provides further support for the use of cinnamon supplements in the adjunctive management of pre-diabetic patients. It may be one more proactive strategy an individual can use to improve blood sugar management and prevent the progression to full-blown type 2 diabetes, which is occurring at an alarming rate in many developed and developing countries around the world.

I have included the references for this information in the text below.

References

1. Main Reference: Giulio R Romeo, Junhee Lee, Christopher M Mulla, Youngmin Noh, Casey Holden, Byung-Cheol Lee. Influence of cinnamon on glycemic control in subjects with prediabetes: a randomized controlled trial. Journal of the Endocrine Society, 2020  https://academic.oup.com/jes/advance-article/doi/10.1210/jendso/bvaa094/5870882

2. Jain SG, Purl S, Misra A, et al. Effect of oral cinnamon intervention on metabolic profile and body composition of Asian Indians with metabolic syndrome: a randomized double-blind control trial. Lipids in Health and Disease (BioMedical Central). June 12, 2017. https://lipidworld.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12944-017-0504-8

3. Diabetes Care. Cinnamon Improves Glucose and Lipids of People With Type 2 Diabetes. Diabetes Care 2003 Dec; 26(12): 3215-3218. https://care.diabetesjournals.org/content/26/12/3215