Spoonful of Cinnamon Powder Reduces Risk of Diabetes

Cinnamon, one of the oldest spices, has been valued for centuries for its use in both culinary and medicinal practices. Adding cinnamon in your daily meal doesn't harm you. It is already known that this spice has surprising health benefits. It has antifungal, antibacterial and antiparasitic properties. It cures stomach ulcers and oral infections. Apart from this, sniffing cinnamon is supposed to help in improving memory.

A latest study has found cinnamon as a viable contender to lower an individual's blood sugar levels. According to researchers from the Ball State University, sprinkling a spoonful of cinnamon powder in one's breakfast not only adds flavor to it, but also drops the person's blood sugar levels, thereby reducing the chance of developing diabetes.

The study, led by Jo Carol Chezem, was conducted on 37 subjects who were both obese adults as well as adults of healthy weight. They were asked to add 6 grams of cinnamon to their breakfast cereal. On analyzing these subjects, researchers noticed that after including cinnamon, their blood sugar levels dropped by 25 percent for the next two hours when compared to those subjects who didn't consume cinnamon powder.

In both the obese adults and healthy weight subjects, the blood glucose concentration was reduced due to cinnamon, and simultaneously it enhanced the insulin sensitivity, making the body strong enough to fight the chronic disease diabetes.

"Nearly 80 million American adults have prediabetes, a condition characterized by high blood glucose that often leads to diabetes," Chezem, who teaches nutrition in Ball State's Department of Family and Consumer Sciences, said in a press statement. "We are very encouraged by the study's results and are planning similar studies in individuals with prediabetes and diabetes."

This study is a low-cost approach to reduce blood sugar levels. More than 25.8 million children and adults in the United States are victims of diabetes, reports the American Diabetes Association.

The details of the findings were published in the November issue of the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.