Cinnamon has been shown to have a highly beneficial effect on lowering blood sugar in Type 2 diabetics, whose bodies manufacture insulin but don’t manage it well. The spice also has been shown to have no effect at all on diabetic blood sugar levels, and numerous other studies suggest its effect falls somewhere between the two extremes. More studies are under way. Cinnamon has not been shown to have an adverse effect on blood sugar, however, and it does not cause blood sugar levels to rise in healthy or diabetic individuals. Consult your doctor before using any home remedy.
Mayo Clinic
Because studies are conflicting, the Mayo Clinic website does not recommend diabetics use cinnamon for blood sugar control. One 2009 study showed improved A1C results, the measurement most often used to gauge blood sugar level stability by averaging blood sugar levels over a three-month span, in people with poorly controlled Type 2 diabetes who ingested cinnamon twice a day for 90 days. The website suggests that cinnamon might be useful as support for traditional Type 2 diabetes medications and diet.
American Diabetes Association
ADA doesn’t recommend that diabetics use cinnamon to control their blood sugar, either, but the organization states that it couldn’t hurt to add cinnamon to your regular diet if you have diabetes. “Cinnamon and other spices and herbs are a great option when it comes to flavoring your food,” the ADA website states. “Try using spices and herbs instead of fats and salt. Spices and herbs add almost no calories, fat, salt or carbohydrates to your dish.”
Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center
MSKCC focuses on the conflicting results in published cinnamon studies, as well, and states that although a few clinical trials have shown the spice to be effective in lowering blood sugar levels, other studies have shown no such effect. Sloan-Kettering references one meta-analysis, a statistical review of all studies published to date, that suggests cinnamon and cinnamon extract have a beneficial effect on fasting blood sugar levels in Type 2 diabetics.
University of Pittsburgh Medical Center
According to UPMC, it is premature to consider cinnamon a viable treatment for Type 2 diabetics, but the spice “definitely shows promise.” The medical center isn’t as optimistic regarding cinnamon’s ability to affect Type 1 diabetics, people whose bodies do not manufacture insulin at all. According to UPMC, a meta-analysis concluded that cinnamon has not shown any effect on blood sugar levels in people with Type 1 diabetes. Evidence is highly inconsistent, UPMC states, suggesting that “if cinnamon is indeed effective, its benefits are minimal at most.”
References
- MayoClinic.com: Type 2 Diabetes Alternative Medicine
- MayoClinic.com; Diabetes Treatment: Can Cinnamon Lower Blood Sugar?; Maria Collazo-Clavell, M.D.
- American Diabetes Association: Is Cinnamon Helpful in Regulating Blood Glucose?
- Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center: Cinnamon
- University of Pittsburgh Medical Center: Cinnamon
- USDA Agricultural Research Service: Antioxidant Polyphenols
