Nutritional supplement companies aren't allowed to tell you that an herbal supplement treats any disease, without the express permission of the FDA.That's probably smart, because regulation of the nutritional supplement industry is minimal, with poor quality control, and those companies are out to make a buck. Of course, the latter is true of drug companies too.
I'm a health journalist with a biological research background. I was at Iowa State University when the first study on the ability of cinnamon extract to influence sugar metabolism came out. I actually interviewed the research scientist and his graduate student on the subject, making me one of the first (albeit college student) journalists to get the scoop on what has now become a nutritional health buzz.
In summary, some nutrition researchers were examining the known effects of the micronutrient chromium for insulin augmentation and blood sugar control. They were looking at chromium levels in various foods and found that cinnamon had effects on insulin metabolism, irrespective of chromium content, albeit in laboratory cell cultures. Subsequent animal and human studies have shown that cinnamon may have an effect on blood sugar regulation via its effect on insulin metabolism.
Diabetes is a complex disease with many causes and symptoms. It would be far too simplistic to make the blanket statement that a crude herbal extract could treat or cure a disease like diabetes. None the less, there is good evidence that something in cinnamon bark affects the mechanism by which insulin regulates blood sugar, so examining it as a nutritional adjunct in blood sugar regulation and control has value.
For ethical reasons, not enough human studies have been done on cinnamon effects on diabetes or other high blood sugar symptoms. However, the trend in the research data does seem to suggest that cinnamon may benefit type 2 diabetics more than type 1 diabetics. This makes sense when you understand that type 2 diabetes is typically a late onset form of diabetes related to sugar metabolism imbalances rather than a lack of insulin production by the pancreas.
Type 1 diabetics cannot make insulin, whereas type 2 diabetics usually produce insulin at normal or high levels, but have developed cellular "insensitivity" to insulin's effects. Thus, in type 2 diabetes, blood sugar is high because cells are not taking up sugar fast enough from the blood.
Since whatever is in cinnamon appears to augment the ability of insulin to trigger sugar uptake by cells in the body, it makes sense that cinnamon would have its effects on glucose metabolism in type 2, but not type 1, diabetics, because the latter completely lack the insulin on which the cinnamon has its effects. Cinnamon does not mimic insulin, it only facilitates its function in sugar metabolism.
I've compiled some clinical research references on the effects of cinnamon on sugar metabolism at the end of this post. Health care practitioners and technically educated readers will find these of most value. Others should bring them to the attention of their health care provider if they are concerned about their own sugar handling and blood sugar issues, and would like to try cinnamon medicinally as a natural diabetes treatment or preventive.
Cinnamon may have some medicinal effect on maintaining normal blood sugar levels. The available evidence is hard to synthesize into a constructive whole, mainly because of incongruent study designs (different forms of cinnamon extract, different animal or in vitro models, contradicting hypotheses on mechanisms of actions, different endpoints in human studies, etc.).
For people seeking herbs for diabetes prevention or blood sugar control, cinnamon might be a good choice, under the supervision of a licensed health care practitioner knowledgeable about diabetes herbs and cinnamon supplements - most likely a naturopathic practitioner as opposed to a conventional allopathic doctor (and patients should bring research publications on the subject with them. I have compiled some below). While cinnamon may not be a "cure" for diabetes or hyperglycemia, it could be a good addition to diets for diabetics. The research supports its use as a natural diabetes treatment, but only under the care of a trained medical professional.
Like my mom always says, "It can't hurt you and it might help you." Not exactly solid medical advice, but cinnamon is a natural herbal supplement, common in the Western diet.
Is it a coincidence that cinnamon is used to spice apple pie and other sweet foods and drinks? Or is this a product of human adaptation over millions of years?
My sister has Cinsulin, a cinnamon supplement marketed for proper glucose metabolism, in her nutritional arsenal, which was the impetus for me to write this short research post. She doesn't have diabetes, but is like most of my family in having carbohydrate sensitivity, with poor blood sugar and weight control, especially under stress. So the herbal cinnamon supplement probably does help her with sugar handling (assuming the quality of the product is good, and there is no guarantee because the industry is so poorly regulated - but that's a topic for another day!).
REFERENCES
1. Effectiveness of Cinnamon for Lowering Hemoglobin A1C in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes: A Randomized, Controlled Trial. (FREE FULL TEXT)
2. Effects of a Water-Soluble Cinnamon Extract on Body Composition and Features of the Metabolic Syndrome in Pre-Diabetic Men and Women. (FREE FULL TEXT)
3. Effect of Cinnamon on Glucose and Lipid Levels in Non–Insulin-Dependent Type 2 Diabetes. (FREE FULL TEXT)
4. Effect of cinnamon on postprandial blood glucose, gastric emptying, and satiety in healthy subjects. (FREE FULL TEXT)
5. The Effect of Cinnamon on A1C Among Adolescents With Type 1 Diabetes. (FREE FULL TEXT)
6. Cinnamon Improves Glucose and Lipids of People With Type 2 Diabetes. (FREE FULL TEXT)
7. Regulation of PTP-1 and insulin receptor kinase by fractions from cinnamon: implications for cinnamon regulation of insulin signalling. (ABSTRACT ONLY)
Interesting stuff. I was totally unhip to the cinnamon thing until literally a few days ago, when I saw that Sam's Club is selling jumbo containers of cinnamon capsules among the nutritional supplements. "Hmm, must be some kinda new health thing," I thought.
ReplyDeleteHere's a dumb question, though: If people don't have naturopaths they see, and if they might need to actually bring the studies with them in order to educate the naturopaths, why bother? Could just they simply just start taking cinnamon in addition to other efforts to realign their sugar metabolism? Is there any danger of OD-ing on cinnamon?
JG, Thanks for the comment.
ReplyDeleteIt is not OD-ing on cinnamon that is the problem. As I mentioned in the post, diabetes is complex and cinnamon may or may not be effective depending on the type of diabetes or blood sugar handling issues you have.
Here's a thought experiment. Say there is a type 1 diabetic who is taking insulin. Now you introduce a concentrated EXTRACT of cinnamon containing the subtance(s) that augment insulin's effects, effectively making the insulin they are taking more potent/effective in stimulating sugar uptake.
If the diabetic person does not adjust their insulin intake to compensate for the biological effect's of the cinnamon, they could potentially OD on insulin, if they don't take a lower dose.
This is where a trained health practitioner comes in, to help the diabetic person measure and adjust their insulin dose accordingly.
These cinnamon supplements are not just ground up cinnamon powder in a capsule. Cinnamon by itself contains relatively low levels of the insulin-augmenting active ingredient(s). But when the aqueous extract is concentrated, the actives are at a much higher level per unit weight.
Does that make sense?
Yes, it does. Good point regarding the insulin. I was thinking of it just as a relatively healthy guy possibly eating cinnamon capsules, not as a diabetic injecting insulin and then adding a cinnamon extract.
ReplyDeleteIndeed, it seems to me that many likely buyers of such supplements probably would be people already diagnosed with blood sugar metabolism problems. So they would need to proceed cautiously.
As for the Sam's Club capsules, those particular supplements are in fact just capsules of cinnamon, with some chromium added:
http://www.samsclub.com/shopping/navigate.do?dest=5&item=490869
Thank you for your nice feedback JG.
ReplyDeleteOptimally, a cinnamon extract would be used preventively to maintain healthy blood sugar before imbalances occur. But that is not the way supplements are typically used in our "sick care" system which is much more oriented at treating disease than preventing it. So people typically try supplements when they begin to have pre-clinical precursors to full blown disease. It's not optimal.
Chromium is a mineral that also augments the effects of insulin, and that has been well known for some time. It was in fact how cinnamon was "discovered" as a blood sugar affecting herb - the scientists were originally looking for chromium in various foods.