To Your Health
October, 2013 (Vol. 07, Issue 10)
A Spoonful of Cinnamon Goes A Long Way
The next time you are in search of a suitable spice that is tasty and also healthful, reach for cinnamon. A new study has found that sprinkling a spoonful of cinnamon on breakfast foods not only adds a burst of flavor, but also dramatically lowers an individual's blood sugar levels, potentially reducing the chance of developing diabetes.
According to the study, when healthy weight and obese adults ate a cooked breakfast cereal with 6 grams of cinnamon, blood sugar levels declined by 25 percent for the next two hours compared to participants who did not ingest the spice. The study was recently reported by the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics
The study involved 37 participants and confirms that in both healthy-weight and obese adults, cinnamon reduces blood glucose concentration and enhances insulin sensitivity, strengthening the body's ability to ward off diabetes.
This study is good news for the more than 80 million American adults who have prediabetes. It gives many people a chance to begin to change their health around and reverse many of their symptoms with a simple teaspoon of cinnamon.
Cinnamon can be added to a wide variety of foods including yogurt, iced coffees and teas, fruit smoothies and muffins.