ADA- cinnamon..............

[shockme]

Diabetes News - American Diabetes Association (http://www.diabetes.org/diabetesnewsarticle.jsp?storyId=16045415&filename=20070927/reuters20070927health00000009reutershealthewEDIT.x ml)

[princesslinda]

Intresting article.

I have cinnamon in something everyday, have for quite some time. I did go off the cinnamon tablets as they bothered my stomach, and did notice a slight rise in BS after a few days...so i'm convinced it works for me. It's so easy (and relatively inexpensive) to add cinnamon to my tea or s/f cocoa or s/f cider each day....I did that even before diagnosis as I really like the taste of cinnamon.

Guess that's another one of those "your mileage may vary" instances.

[MJB]

Cinnamon didn't do anything for me but I know others swear it helps them.

I wonder why they only used 43 people in the study. That's not enough people for a decent statistical analysis.

[slipperyelm]

It could be that whether cinnamon helps would have something to do with what else is already in your diet (or not in it).

But does anyone else find it weird that the placebo capsule given in this study was loaded with flour???? Why give 500 mg of flour to diabetics? It has carbohydrates. I think they could have substituted a non-digestible pure fiber in the placebo.

[georgepds]

Here is a reference on the concentrate

Defeat Diabetes Foundation - Awareness + Action = Prevention -- New Study Shows Cinnamon Lowers Blood Sugar Levels In Type 2’s (http://www.defeatdiabetes.org/news/view.asp?catid=3822&subcatid=1340&id=27588)

and here is one on cinnamon alone 1 to 3 g/day from Diabetes care

Cinnamon Improves Glucose and Lipids of People With Type 2 Diabetes -- Khan et al. 26 (12): 3215 -- Diabetes Care (http://care.diabetesjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/26/12/3215)

"After 40 days, all three levels of cinnamon reduced the mean fasting serum glucose (18–29%), triglyceride (23–30%), LDL cholesterol (7–27%), and total cholesterol (12–26%) levels; no significant changes were noted in the placebo groups. Changes in HDL cholesterol were not significant."

[georgepds]

Finally, here is a meta study that says some times the magic works, and sometimes it does not

"based on strong scientific evidence from two of three randomized clinical trials reviewed, cassia cinnamon demonstrated a therapeutic effect in reducing fasting blood glucose by 10.3 percent; the third clinical trial did not observe this effect. Cassia cinnamon, however, did not have an effect at lowering glycosylated hemoglobin."

Defeat Diabetes Foundation - Awareness + Action = Prevention -- Is Cinnamon Effective in Lowering Blood Sugars? (http://www.defeatdiabetes.org/news/view.asp?catid=3822&subcatid=4706&id=39607)

[Alice]

I'm wondering if the people who injest extra cinnamon are also more likely to practice better control?

I had heard about two years ago that the studies were not being proven. Is this a new study?

[Alcatraz]

i eat cinnamon in its stick form in place of gum it only lowers me 5-10 points but it still works. just more reason to hate the government errr ADA

[REDLAN]

I wonder why they only used 43 people in the study. That's not enough people for a decent statistical analysis.

all studies are not created equal. Clinical studies are divided into 3 types

1) stage I - researchers use stage I studies as a preliminary investigation into a particular treatment/effect/disease. It's supposed purpose is to act as a feasibility study for a possible stage II study.

2) stage II - these are the big clinical trials looking at the effects of a particular drug or treatment. The study design is based on the results from a stage I clinical trial, and is designed to prove that a particular drug or treatment actually works.

3) Stage III - these are the big big trials (usually many thousands of people), and are often used to investigate known treatments/drugs further or to compare several different treatments.

stage II and III trials cost lots of money. The research teams are usually pretty sure of the results before they start the trial.

the cinnamon trials are all stage I clinical trials - they are there to investigate that there is an effect, and the review posted on the Defeat diabetes foundation concluded that...

The studies we reviewed offered mixed results with therapeutic efficacy being demonstrated in some research efforts and not in others

This is not likely to induce a research team to plan and pay for an expensive stage II clinical trial - a stage II properly double-blinded trial is very likely to show a null result.

As a side note - there are numerous posts on this forum quoting the results of clinical trials. These clinical trials are almost invariably stage I clinical trials - i.e. designed to act as a feasibility study and not actually proof of an effect in themselves. As MJB quite rightly pointed out.

That's not enough people for a decent statistical analysis.