Cinnamon?

Puppypants · #1 (**permalink**) 09-11-2007, 04:37 AM

I'm sure I've missed a thread or two regarding cinnamon, so I apologiza if my question is redundant.

I recently tried a flax seed muffin (from a recipe I found here) that has a heavy dose of cinnamon as one of the ingredients. When I have two of the small muffins for breakfst, my blood sugar is well below the maximums set by my doc for post meal readings. Could it be the cinnamon? The effect seems to last all day -I even had 1/2 of a sweet potato and a small piece of bread with dinner last night, and my 2-hour reading was 94! This has happened pretty consistently for about a week and a half now, since adding the muffins as my breakfast food of choice.

I am thinking of adding cinnamon as a supplement - what dose is recommended? Are there different levels of quality in the supplements available? Any info is greatly appreciated!

xMenace · #2 (**permalink**) 09-11-2007, 05:02 AM

You have to be able to rule out all other causes such as other foods, activity, sickness, stress, sunspots, etc. I think you need a bit ore structured testing before making any conclusions. I eat Flax bread as it is very BG friendly. Try the muffins without cinnamon. Sweet potatos are also quite friendly.

Household cinnamon is usually the wrong type. You need 'cassia' cinnamon. I've never looked into sources or doses.

princesslinda · #3 (**permalink**) 09-11-2007, 05:12 AM

I sprinkle cinnamon on anything I can....or put cinnamon sticks in my tea. I took cinnamon capsules for awhile, but they cause me to have heartburn. I did notice that when I didn't have the cinnamon, my levels were a little higher. It's so easy to add, whether it really works or not, that I do it.

There's a recipe for cinnamon tea you can find by googling "cinnamon tea" that's quite good.

duck · #4 (**permalink**) 09-11-2007, 05:18 AM

I am at a point where I can say for certain Cinnamon doesn't do a thing for me. I recently did a month's worth of New Chapter Cinnamonforce and there was no effect I could see from it. Maybe I need to find a supplement that has what X-Menace mentioned in it, but yeah, nothing, nada zip.

HOWEVER, we are all different. Who knows if my diet supplies whatever is necessary to allow cinnamon to work for me. You seem to be onto something for yourself, so I say as long as it is reproduceable and has no bad effect on you, keep it up.

Lynpenny · #5 (**permalink**) 09-11-2007, 05:32 AM

I don't know if cinnamon lowers anything. I don't think anyone really does know. I know people who swear by it. I like the taste of it in my oatmeal so I use it. I do not carry a box of it in my purse and sprinkle it on everything at the cafe like my friend. Just use it and enjoy it. If you think it lowers your BG then it will.

wiseguy · #6 (**permalink**) 09-11-2007, 12:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by xMenace

Household cinnamon is usually the wrong type. You need 'cassia' cinnamon. I've never looked into sources or doses.

Actually, cinnamomum cassia is the type of cinnamon commonly available in the U.S. and is what is found on your grocery store shelves.

From Wikipedia:
"Most of the spice sold as cinnamon in the United States and Canada (where true cinnamon is still generally unknown) is actually cassia."

deb wardle · #7 (**permalink**) 09-11-2007, 12:39 PM

Hi Iv'e just read a book, about diabetes and diet, and it says that cinnamon is very good at reducing BG, It recommends having it with most foods but especially with your oats in the morning. I havnt tried it yet, but I'll give anything a go.

Deb

volleyball · #8 (**permalink**) 09-11-2007, 02:50 PM

I dose cinnamon on lots of things. I like the taste. I do my management without pills so maybe thats why it seems to have a positive effect on me. I think loose is better than pills. Also, it is suggested that you take cinnamon several times a day as opposed to once a day

xMenace · #9 (**permalink**) 09-11-2007, 03:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wiseguy

Actually, cinnamomum cassia is the type of cinnamon commonly available in the U.S. and is what is found on your grocery store shelves.

From Wikipedia:
"Most of the spice sold as cinnamon in the United States and Canada (where true cinnamon is still generally unknown) is actually cassia."

I always get that wrong

Puppypants · #10 (**permalink**) 09-11-2007, 06:19 PM

Wow - I'm a little confused, but I think if the flax muffins are what's helping, I'll stick with them for awhile and continue my testing 4 or 5 times a day,a nd see what happens. All I do know for sure is that I sure am pleased that my blood sugars rarely go over 110, no matter when I test!

xMenace · #11 (**permalink**) 09-11-2007, 06:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Puppypants

Wow - I'm a little confused, but I think if the flax muffins are what's helping, I'll stick with them for awhile and continue my testing 4 or 5 times a day,a nd see what happens. All I do know for sure is that I sure am pleased that my blood sugars rarely go over 110, no matter when I test!

That is the acid test eh?

Spartan300 · #12 (**permalink**) 09-11-2007, 07:12 PM

My dad and I both dose cinammon and we both see a difference. I haven't done a "scientific" study, but I've tried a week with and without it. It made, on average, a 20 point difference. I used 1 tsp spread over my cereal in the morning.

I did say not scientific, so I didn't eat the exact same thing both weeks, but exercise and med doses were the same.

Puppypants · #13 (**permalink**) 09-12-2007, 04:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by xMenace

That is the acid test eh?

Not sure what you mean...should I be doing some other from of testing or study on what the cinnamon does for me?

xMenace · #14 (**permalink**) 09-12-2007, 05:01 AM

Your BG levels are the ultimate proof. Regardless of what I or anyone else says, if you can prove to yourself that something works, then do it. My point above is you can't rely on your testing if too many variables are involved and you can't repeat it. And there are so many variables

If I was going to test cinnamon, I'd eat a standard meal for a few days and record my post prandials every hour for 4 to 6 hours. I'd try to keep all activity the same. I'd then do the same testing with a bunch of cinnamon added. I'd do this for at least three days, maybe more. I'd probably not test for any days where my BGs weren't very close to target. Trends can be adjusted, but IMO if you are off, there's some other variable at work you haven't accounted for. My DP for example can wreak havoc on my whole morning if it decides to have one of those sunspot days -- I just don't do special testing those days.

One variable that's difficult to remove is the meter variability. It can hide any small tryue fluctiations so they are unrecognizeable. I'd almost do three readings each test for something like this. I'd then plot everything on graphs and look for obvious differences.

xMenace · #15 (**permalink**) 09-12-2007, 05:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Spartan300

My dad and I both dose cinammon and we both see a difference. I haven't done a "scientific" study, but I've tried a week with and without it. It made, on average, a 20 point difference. I used 1 tsp spread over my cereal in the morning.

I did say not scientific, so I didn't eat the exact same thing both weeks, but exercise and med doses were the same.

If you average your current weeks, what kinds of variances are you seeing?