There’s something about cinnamon that is almost impossible to resist. Fragrant and flavourful and full of warmth, cinnamon is the third-most-consumed spice around the
world. And yet, very few people are aware of the powerful effect that it has on the human body.

THE SPICE OF LIFE

You’ve likely had cinnamon sprinkled on a delicious dessert or atop a mug of hot cocoa, but there’s more to this common l thousands of years, the cinnamon plant, Cinnamomum zeylanicum or Cinnamomum cassia, has been used for much more than cooking. The spice comes from the bark of trees found in China, Southeast Asia, and India. Within both traditional and folk medicine, cinnamon has been a healing compound used in ancient cultures for millennia, to treat ailments like poor appetite, digestive troubles, and bronchitis. Far before modern medicine ever got its hands on it, cinnamon was even used to regulate diabetes.

When you look at what the current research says about this spice, you’ll see that the historical healers were on the right track. Researchers have put cinnamon under the microscope and have found that its ancient health benefits reach far and wide.

In 2013, scientists from the University of California discovered that cinnamon may have the power to protect the brain against degenerative disease. Specifically, two compounds isolated in cinnamon, cinnamaldehyde and epicatechin, could help to delay the onset of the neurodegenerative condition Alzheimer’s disease — or ward it off altogether. l A study presented at the International Federation of Fertility Societies and American Society for Reproductive Medicine meeting in 2013 also suggested that cinnamon could help to regulate menstrual cycles in women with polycystic ovarian syndrome?

With each passing year, it seems that research in support of cinnamon has a snowball effect. In 2014, cinnamon was confirmed to provide a safe approach to halt the progression of Parkinson’s disease, after scientists observed its ability to reverse Parkinson’s-related biomechanical, cellular, and anatomical changes in the brains of mice with the condition.3 The aromatic compound in cinnamon, cinnamaldehyde, may also prevent and protect against colorectal cancer. 4

It’s hard not to be impressed by how cinnamon can benefit the brain and even protect against degenerative disease. But cinnamon may be best known for the effect it has on blood sugar — directly related to the chronic lifestyle condition diabetes. Studies have found a strong connection between type 2 diabetes and Alzheimer’s disease, related to elevated blood glucose levels that cause oxidative damage, which explains why cinnamon can provide such powerful protection against both conditions.

Cinnamon can support balanced blood sugar levels and the normal utilisation of insulin in the body, so much so that researchers suggested that the spice may have medical application to prevent and combat diabetes. Cinnamon exhibited properties as an insulin substitute in cases of type 2 diabetes, based on the results of cellular and molecular studies.4

Working as an antioxidant, cinnamon also helped to reduce both heart disease and diabetes risk factors in a study conducted on 22 prediabetic patients with impaired glucose values. Study participants who took 250 mg of dried cinnamon extract twice a day saw an improvement in antioxidant status correlated with a decrease in fasting glucose by up to 23 per cent. 5 In another study conducted on 30 men and 30 women with type 2 diabetes, divided into six groups, all three of the cinnamon groups — who took cinnamon in varying amounts — saw a reduction in LDL cholesterol, triglyceride, total cholesterol, and serum glucose levels. Researchers wholly agreed that cinnamon helped those with type 2 diabetes reduce heart disease and diabetes risk factors.6

THE ANCIENT SECRET IS OUT

Cinnamon is powerful enough on its own to regulate blood sugar and buffer the effects of chronic disease, but research has uncovered one more intriguing truth about this medicinal super-spice. When taken in combination with other spices and herbs, the cinnamon compound may be even more beneficial.

Cinnamon can provide powerful antioxidant and anti-disease benefits, and when taken alongside another antioxidant compound derived from an ancient spice, cinnamon may change the way the body responds to unhealthy foods. In a 2011 study published in the Journal of Nutrition, researchers discovered that consuming a diet rich in spices that included cinnamon and turmeric (also used in folk medicine) could alter the body’s negative response after eating a fatty meal. Eating the spices together decreased the triglyceride response by roughly 30 per cent to reduce the risk of heart disease. Eating a combination of antioxidant spices raised antioxidant activity by 13 percent and decreased insulin response by roughly 20 per cent, reducing the risk of arthritis, heart disease, and diabetes!

Research suggests that cinnamon, taken alongside curcumin (the active antioxidant compound found in turmeric), may provide powerful blood-sugar stabilising benefits. Cinnamon can also be taken in a protective mineral and herbal blend — including chromium, bitter melon, American ginseng, fenugreek, nopal, and gymnema sylvestre, all known to better regulate blood sugar and curb the damaging effects of an inflammatory Western diet.8,9,10

For every person who hopes to achieve and maintain good health, stable blood sugar levels are the key. Chronic spikes in blood sugar, normally triggered by sugar and starchy carbs in the diet, lead to chronic inflammation. Chronic inflammation over the long-term is at the root of all chronic disease.

It comes full-circle. Balanced blood sugar can balance all healthy processes in the body. In fact, having stable blood sugar is what most people who live to 100 have in common. 11

If you find yourself feeling sluggish all day long and especially after eating; constantly hungry or craving sweet foods, normally after a meal; having difficulty losing weight; or suffering from aches and pains, your blood sugar may already be out of control. Now is the time to take a simple yet effective blood-sugar-regulating spice before it is too late.

Sources:

1. Roshni C George John Lew, Donald J. Graves. Interaction of Cinnamaldehyde and Epicatechin with Tau: Implications of Beneficial Effects in Modulating Alzheimeds Disease Pathogenesis. Journal of AlzheimeMs Disease 2013 DOI: 10.3233/JAD-122113,
2. International Federation of Fertility Societies (IFFS). ‘Cinnamon may be effective treatment for PCOS.” ScienceDaily
3. Saurabh Khasnavis, Kalipoda Pahan. Cinnamon Treatment Upregulates Neuroprotective Proteins Parkin and DJ-I and Protects Dopaminergic Neurons in a Mouse Model of Parkinson’s Disease. Journal of Neuroimmune Pharmacology, 2014; DOI: 10.1007/511481-014-9552-2.
4. “Cinnamon May Help to Alleviate Diabetes Says UCSB Researcher.” The UC Santa Barbara Current
5. Anne-Marie Roussel, Isabelle Hininger, Rachida Benarabar Tim N. Ziegenfuss, and Richard A Anderson. Antioxidant Effects o/a Cinnamon Extract in People with Impaired Fasting Glucose That Are Overweight or Obese Journal of the American College of Nutrition, 2009 28: 16-21.
6. Diabetes care 2003 Dec 26(12):3215-8
7. A C Skulas-Ray, P M. Kris-Etherton, D. L Teeter, C.-Y O. Chen, J P Vanden Heuvel S G, West A High Antioxidant Spice Blend Attenuates Postprandial Insulin and Triglyceride Responses and Increases Some Plasma Measures of Antioxidant Activity in Healthy, Overweight Men. Journal of Nutrition, 2011; 141 (8): 1451 DOI: 10.3945/jn.111.138966.
8. Banz WI, Iqbal Ml, Bollaert M, Chickris N, James B, Higginbotham DA, et al. Ginseng modifies the diabetic phenotype and genes associated with diabetes in the male ZDF rat Phytomedicine 2007, Oct; 14(10):681-9
9. Int J Vitam Nutr Res. 2004 May. 74(3):178-82
10. Int J Vitam NutrRes. 2009 Jan; 79(1):34-9 doi: 10.1024/0300-9831,79.1.34
11. Juncosa, Barbara. “IS 100 the New 80?: Centenarians Studied to Find the Secret of Longevity. ” Scientific American