Fwd: [S-A] Cinnamon Spice Produces Healthier Blood

[Guest guest]

" Misty L. Trepke "

Sat, 29 Nov 2003 05:26:43 -0000

[s-A] Cinnamon Spice Produces Healthier Blood

 

I love spicy tea, all the more reason to drink it!!

Misty L. Trepke

http://www..com

 

Cinnamon spice produces healthier blood ( kills off the infections in

your body too)

http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99994413

 

17:52 24 November 03

 

NewScientist.com news service

 

Just half a teaspoon of cinnamon a day significantly reduces blood

sugar levels in diabetics, a new study has found. The effect, which

can be produced even by soaking a cinnamon stick your tea, could also

benefit millions of non-diabetics who have blood sugar problem but

are unaware of it.

 

The discovery was initially made by accident, by Richard Anderson at

the US Department of Agriculture's Human Nutrition Research Center in

Beltsville, Maryland.

 

" We were looking at the effects of common foods on blood sugar, " he

told New Scientist. One was the American favourite, apple pie, which

is usually spiced with cinnamon. " We expected it to be bad. But it

helped, " he says.

 

Sugars and starches in food are broken down into glucose, which then

circulates in the blood. The hormone insulin makes cells take in the

glucose, to be used for energy or made into fat.

 

But people with Type 1 diabetes do not produce enough insulin. Those

with Type 2 diabetes produce it, but have lost sensitivity to it.

Even apparently healthy people, especially if they are overweight,

sedentary or over 25, lose sensitivity to insulin. Having too much

glucose in the blood can cause serious long-term damage to eyes,

kidneys, nerves and other organs.

 

Molecular mimic

 

The active ingredient in cinnamon turned out to be a water-soluble

polyphenol compound called MHCP. In test tube experiments, MHCP mimics

insulin, activates its receptor, and works synergistically with

insulin in cells.

 

To see if it would work in people, Alam Khan, who was a postdoctoral

fellow in Anderson's lab, organised a study in Pakistan. Volunteers

with Type 2 diabetes were given one, three or six grams of cinnamon

powder a day, in capsules after meals.

 

All responded within weeks, with blood sugar levels that were on

average 20 per cent lower than a control group. Some even achieved

normal blood sugar levels. Tellingly, blood sugar started creeping up

again after the diabetics stopped taking cinnamon.

 

The cinnamon has additional benefits. In the volunteers, it lowered

blood levels of fats and " bad " cholesterol, which are also partly

controlled by insulin. And in test tube experiments it neutralised

free radicals, damaging chemicals which are elevated in diabetics.

 

Buns and pies

 

" I don't recommend eating more cinnamon buns, or even more apple pie -

there's too much fat and sugar, " says Anderson. " The key is to add

cinnamon to what you would eat normally. "

 

The active ingredient is not in cinnamon oils. But powdered spice can

be added to toast, cereal, juice or coffee.

 

Anderson's team were awarded patents related to MHCP in 2002. But the

chemical is easily obtained. He notes that one of his colleagues tried

soaking a cinnamon stick in tea. " He isn't diabetic - but it lowered

his blood sugar, " Anderson says.

 

The group now plans to test even lower doses of cinnamon in the US,

and also look at long-term blood sugar management with the spice.

 

Journal reference: Diabetes Care (vol 26, p 3125)

 

 

 

 

 

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