Cinnamon comes from the inner bark of the shoots of a tree (Cinnamomum Zeylanicum) that grows predominantly in India, China, and Ceylon. The inner rind when dried and rolled into cylinders forms the cinnamon of commerce. The fruit and coarser pieces of bark when boiled yield a fragrant oil. Cinnamon is aromatic and one of the best tasting spices. In recent years scientists have discovered that cinnamon extract has strong antioxidant activity and has the potential to help maintain healthy blood sugar and cholesterol levels. Patients with diabetes may find cinnamon to be a healthful addition to their diet. Cinnamon is sometimes added to natural weight loss products, especially in combination with Green-Tea-Extract or another herb called hoodia extract.
   A combination of hoodia, ginger, cinnamon, green tea extract, spirulina, acetylcarnitine, choline, guggul, 5htp, and several other herbs and nutrients, as found in Diet Rx, a very effective herbal diet pill for weight loss. Users of Diet Rx have lost several pounds within a week or two.

Planetary Formulas Cinnamon Extract 200 mg

One of the oldest remedies used in traditional Chinese herbalism for digestive support, recent studies have shown cinnamon may support healthy blood sugar levels, when used as part of your diet, by activating insulin and glucose transport and improving glucose metabolism.

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Cinnamon, blood sugar control, and diabetes
There is a debate in the medical community regarding the role of cinnamon in blood sugar control. Several studies have shown that cinnamon can help reduce blood sugar in those with type two diabetes. One study in September 2007 in the journal Diabetes Care did not find such benefit. However, there were at least two design flaws. The cinnamon dose was only one gram a day as opposed to several grams a day, and the diabetics were already taking blood sugar lowering prescription drugs.
   Researchers at the University of Oklahoma in Oklahoma City randomly assigned type 2 diabetics to take either cinnamon capsules or a placebo every day for three months. The cinnamon group took two capsules a day, each of which contained 500 milligrams of the spice. In the end, there were no differences in the groups' average levels of blood sugar, insulin or cholesterol, according to Dr. Steve M. Blevins. Diabetes Care, September 2007.

Cinnamon study
Cinnamon extract prevents the insulin resistance induced by a high-fructose diet.
Qin B. Nagoya University, Furo-cho, Chikusa-ku, Nagoya 464-8601, Japan.
Horm Metab Res. 2004 Feb;36(2):119-25.
The aim of this study was to determine whether cinnamon extract would improve the glucose utilization in normal male Wistar rats fed a high-fructose diet (HFD) for three weeks with or without cinnamon extract added to the drinking water (300 mg/kg/day). In vivo glucose utilization was measured by the euglycemic clamp technique. Further analyses on the possible changes in insulin signaling occurring in skeletal muscle were performed afterwards by Western blotting. At 3 mU/kg/min insulin infusions, the decreased glucose infusion rate (GIR) in HFD-fed rats (60 % of controls, p < 0.01) was improved by cinnamon extract administration to the same level of controls (normal chow diet) and the improving effect of cinnamon extract on the GIR of HFD-fed rats was blocked by approximately 50 % by N-monometyl-L-arginine. The same tendency was found during the 30 mU/kg/min insulin infusions. There were no differences in skeletal muscle insulin receptor (IR)-beta, IR substrate (IRS)-1, or phosphatidylinositol (PI) 3-kinase protein content in any groups. However, the muscular insulin-stimulated IR-beta and IRS-1 tyrosine phosphorylation levels and IRS-1 associated with PI 3-kinase in HFD-fed rats were only 70 +/- 9 %, 76 +/- 5 %, and 72 +/- 6 % of controls, respectively, and these decreases were significantly improved by cinnamon extract treatment. These results suggest that early cinnamon extract administration to HFD-fed rats would prevent the development of insulin resistance at least in part by enhancing insulin signaling and possibly via the NO pathway in skeletal muscle.

Isolation and characterization of polyphenol type-A polymers from cinnamon with insulin-like biological activity.
Anderson RA.Beltsville Human Nutrition Research Center, USDA, ARS, Bldg 307C, Rm 223, Beltsville, Maryland 20705-2350, USA.
J Agric Food Chem. 2004 Jan 14;52(1):65-70.
We have shown that extracts from cinnamon enhance the activity of insulin. The objective of this study was to isolate and characterize insulin-enhancing complexes from cinnamon that may be involved in the alleviation or possible prevention and control of glucose intolerance and diabetes. Water-soluble polyphenol polymers from cinnamon that increase insulin-dependent in vitro glucose metabolism roughly 20-fold and display antioxidant activity were isolated and characterized by nuclear magnetic resonance and mass spectroscopy. The polymers were composed of monomeric units with a molecular mass of 288. Two trimers with a molecular mass of 864 and a tetramer with a mass of 1152 were isolated. Their protonated molecular masses indicated that they are A type doubly linked procyanidin oligomers of the catechins and/or epicatechins. These polyphenolic polymers found in cinnamon may function as antioxidants, potentiate insulin action, and may be beneficial in the control of glucose intolerance and diabetes.

Cinnamon improves glucose and lipids of people with type 2 diabetes.
Khan A. NWFP Agricultural University, Peshawar, Pakistan.
Diabetes Care. 2003 Dec;26(12):3215-8.
The objective of this study was to determine whether cinnamon improves blood glucose, triglyceride, total cholesterol, HDL cholesterol, and LDL cholesterol levels in people with type 2 diabetes. A total of 60 people with type 2 diabetes, 30 men and 30 women aged 52.2 +/- 6.32 years, were divided randomly into six groups. Groups 1, 2, and 3 consumed 1, 3, or 6 g of cinnamon daily, respectively, and groups 4, 5, and 6 were given placebo capsules corresponding to the number of capsules consumed for the three levels of cinnamon. The cinnamon was consumed for 40 days followed by a 20-day washout period. 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. The results of this study demonstrate that intake of 1, 3, or 6 g of cinnamon per day reduces serum glucose, triglyceride, LDL cholesterol, and total cholesterol in people with type 2 diabetes and suggest that the inclusion of cinnamon in the diet of people with type 2 diabetes will reduce risk factors associated with diabetes and cardiovascular diseases.

Controlled trial of the effect of cinnamon extract on Helicobacter pylori.
Nir Y. Bnai Zion Medical Center, Technion, Haifa, Israel.
Helicobacter. 2000 Jun;5(2):94-7.
Helicobacter pylori has been associated with the pathogenesis of antral gastritis, duodenal ulcer, and gastric lymphoma. Eradication of H. pylori has been shown to reverse or prevent relapse of these diseases. Antimicrobials employed in the eradication of H. pylori are not without adverse effects. Newer treatment modalities, therefore, are required. In vitro studies have shown the effectiveness of cinnamon extract against H. pylori and its urease. In this pilot study, we tested the activity of an alcoholic extract of cinnamon in a group of patients infected with H. pylori. Fifteen patients (11 women, 4 men) aged 16 to 79 years were given 40 mg of an alcoholic cinnamon extract twice daily for 4 weeks; eight patients aged 35 to 79 (7 women, 1 man) received placebo. The amount of H. pylori colonization was measured by the 13C urea breath test before and after therapy. The mean urea breath test counts in the study and control groups before and after therapy were 22.1 and 23.9 versus 24.4 and 25.9, respectively. The cinnamon extract was well tolerated, and side effects were minimal. We concluded that cinnamon extract, at a concentration of 80 mg /day as a single agent, is ineffective in eradicating H. pylori. Combination of cinnamon with other antimicrobials, or cinnamon extract at a higher concentration, however, may prove useful.

Cinnamon questions
Q. Can a cinnamon supplement be taken along with 5-HTP supplement.
   A. If the dosages are low or reasonable, yes.

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