Just mention cinnamon, and I can smell and almost taste my mother’s apple strudel. She made it from scratch, gently pulling the pastry on a moist tablecloth until the dough was paper-thin. The filling was made with fresh apples and, of course, a liberal sprinkling of cinnamon. Who would have ever thought that this spice added more than just flavor? Like a dose of good health? That’s a distinct possibility if we go by a recent study carried out jointly by NWFP Agricultural University in Pakistan and the us Human Nutrition Research Center, which showed that this brown powder from the inner bark of a type of evergreen grown in Asia can help reduce blood levels of glucose, triglycerides, and cholesterol. Who could ask for anything more?
The effect on glucose levels is particularly important because type II diabetes is reaching epidemic proportions in North America. It is being diagnosed at younger ages than ever, mostly due to increasing obesity. In this type of diabetes, cells become less sensitive to insulin, the hormone secreted by the pancreas to stimulate glucose absorption into cells from the blood to be used for producing energy. If this process is impaired, extra glucose in the blood can increase the risk of heart disease, as well as kidney, eye, and circulatory problems. Over the years, a number of foods and beverages have been examined for possible blood glucose–lowering effects. Green tea (but not black tea) has such an effect, as does coffee. The catch with coffee is that you have to drink at least six cups a day, which is certainly not advisable. Researchers are, however, focusing in on the active ingredient, which is not caffeine, but chlorogenic acid. Eventually, we may see this in a pill form. Red wine, probably due to its resveratrol content, also lowers blood glucose at a dose of about three glasses a day, which may be a tad much. Other plant-derived materials have been claimed to reduce blood glucose levels, but the supporting evidence has been sketchy. Fenugreek, bitter melon, Korean ginseng, Gymnema, onions, flaxseed, and cinnamon have been repeatedly mentioned in medical lore. Now researchers have decided to put cinnamon to the test. And it was all because of some apple pie!
Richard Anderson and his colleagues at the Human Nutrition Research Center in Beltsville, MD, were studying the effects of a low-chromium diet on blood glucose levels. Chromium is necessary for proper insulin function, probably by activating an enzyme known as insulin receptor kinase. This enzyme primes certain proteins in cells to act as receptors for insulin. Without chromium, insulin can’t bind to these receptors and carry out its function as a “gatekeeper” for the entry of glucose into cells. Our modern fast-food diet is low in chromium, and furthermore, foods high in sugar stimulate elimination of chromium from the body. Some research has actually shown that type II diabetics who have a low-chromium diet can achieve better sugar control with chromium supplements. This has been somewhat controversial because there is no agreement on which kind of supplement is the best; chromium picolinate—which yields readily absorbable chromium—has been used, but it does have a cloud hanging over it. Some studies have suggested that it can disrupt DNA, which is certainly an undesirable side effect. Chromium histidine or “glucose tolerance factor” chromium may be better choices.
In any case, Anderson was interested in studying the effects of a low-chromium, high-sugar diet on type II diabetics. And what food was deemed to be ideal for this study? Apple pie! Virtually no chromium, and lots of sugar. It should have sent blood glucose soaring. But it didn’t! The only reasonable explanation for this seemed to be the presence of cinnamon in the pie. After all, there had been all sorts of folkloric evidence for the anti-diabetic properties of cinnamon. Now it was time to see if folklore could be converted to science.
Sixty people with type II diabetes, average age of fifty-two, were enlisted and divided into groups that would consume 1 gram, 3 grams, or 6 grams of powdered cinnamon in capsules after their daily meals. A control group was given capsules with wheat flour, an inert substance. The experiment lasted for forty days.
After forty days, blood glucose was significantly lower in the cinnamon group, in some cases by as much as 30 percent. Interestingly, the people who consumed only 1 gram did as well as those on the higher doses. Total cholesterol, LDL (the notorious “bad cholesterol”), and triglycerides were also significantly reduced. The researchers noted that blood glucose levels stayed low even twenty days after the cinnamon ingestion was stopped, suggesting that it need not be consumed every day for a blood glucose–lowering effect to be observed. Best of all, there seems to be no downside to eating a gram of cinnamon a day. It contributes virtually no calories and even tastes good. And, of course, it is not only diabetics who can avail themselves of the cinnamon advantage. Anyone with high cholesterol can give a gram of cinnamon a day a shot. It isn’t hard to incorporate this much into the diet. You can sprinkle some into your coffee, mix some into your cereal, or even make a tea by boiling a stick of cinnamon in water. But I would suggest that apple strudel, no matter how good it tastes, is not the way to go. The butter in it—if it is properly made—outweighs any benefit the cinnamon may have. Ah . . . but it does make my mouth water. . . .