Push back prediabetes with this fall spice

With coronavirus still upending business as usual all over the country, it can be hard to focus on anything else. But after devoting the rest of this week’s Reality Health Check articles to news of the pandemic, today I want to switch gears. Because it’s important not to forget about other threats to your health—and the simple measures you can take to protect yourself.

For example, recent research emphasizes that one simple, seasonal spice may be all you need to help keep your blood sugar under control.

Twelve weeks is all it takes

A new, randomized clinical trial appeared earlier this year in the Journal of the Endocrine Society. And it looked at the effect of cinnamon supplementation in just over 50 subjects with prediabetes.

Prediabetes, as the name suggests, refers to blood sugar levels that are higher than normal, but not quite high enough to qualify as full-blown diabetes. It’s a critical diagnosis, because we’ve known for decades now that you can ward off a type 2 diabetes diagnosis by making the right changes at the very first sign of trouble.

Each prediabetic subject took either a 500 mg cinnamon capsule or a placebo three times daily for 12 weeks. And guess what?

Results showed that the cinnamon lowered abnormally high fasting blood sugar levels. It also improved blood sugar responses to a high-carbohydrate meal. Better yet, cinnamon didn’t come with any specific side effects.

An essential ingredient

Obviously, this study looked at the benefits of a cinnamon supplement, so you won’t necessarily get the same perks by simply using this spice liberally in the kitchen. (Or by including it on top of a sugar-packed, seasonal beverage… like the all-too-popular pumpkin spice latte.)

But it goes without saying that this is one instance where you need every bit of help you can get. Not just because prediabetes is so prevalent. (Estimates predict it affects some 90 million adults in this country.) But also because most primary care physicians don’t have the first clue how to properly screen for it. (Either that, or they’re simply not doing it.)

So do yourself a favor and make the most of this spice in your cooking this fall. And while you’re at it, don’t hesitate to supplement with it, too. Because cinnamon is as essential as any vitamin or mineral for anyone concerned with preserving metabolic health. To learn more, take a look at the December 2013 issue of my monthly newsletter, Logical Health Alternatives (“Squash high blood pressure with this pumpkin pie spice”). Not yet a subscriber? Click here now!

Source:

“Cinnamon may improve blood sugar control in people with prediabetes.” Science Daily, 07/21/2020. (sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/07/200721102143.htm)