Cinnamon is native to Sri Lanka and India and is cultivated in parts of Africa, southeastern India, Indonesia, the Seychelles, South America, Sri Lanka, and the West Indies. Cinnamon is used for culinary and medicinal purposes. In Chinese herbalism, cinnamon is one of the oldest remedies. It has been used in traditional treatment for diarrhea, alleviating pain and discomfort of arthritis, menstrual problems, yeast infections, colds, flu, toothache and digestive problems. Recently, cinnamon is being studied for its effectiveness in treating diabetes, osteoporosis and cancer.
Diabetes can affect people of any age. It increases the risk of chronic, debilitating conditions, including cardiovascular disease, retinopathy and blindness, peripheral neuropathies, vascular insufficiency and amputation, immune deficiencies, skin ulceration and wound healing disturbances, kidney disease and Alzheimer's disease. The discovery of insulin in the early 20th century has afforded much progress in the diagnosis and treatment of the disease. Diabetes is diagnosed when there is fasting plasma glucose (FPG) of greater than 126mg/dL, or a two-hour plasma glucose (OGTT - oral glucose tolerance test) of greater than 200mg/dL. There are two forms of diabetes mellitus recognized today: type 1 (formerly referred to as IDDM, insulin dependent diabetes mellitus, or juvenile onset) and type 2 (previously called NIDDM, non-insulin dependent diabetes, or adult onset).
HbA1c, also known as hemoglobin A1c, is a test that measures the amount of glycated hemoglobin in your blood. Glycated hemoglobin is a substance in red blood cells that is formed when blood sugar (glucose) attaches to hemoglobin. The doctor may order this test if the patient has diabetes. It is used to measure blood sugar control over several months. It can give a good estimate of how well a person has managed their diabetes over the last 2 or 3 months. In general, the higher the HbA1c, the higher the risk to develop problems such as: eye disease, heart disease, kidney disease, nerve damage and stroke. An HbA1c of 6% or less is normal but levels for people with diabetes should be kept below 7%.
The purpose of a recent study was to determine whether cinnamon can lower HbA1c in patients with type 2 diabetes. The randomized, controlled trial included 109 pediatric, adult and geriatric patients with type 2 diabetes. The patients were then randomly assigned to either usual care with management changes by their primary care physician or usual care with management changes plus 1g cinnamon capsules daily for 90 days. HbA1c was drawn at baseline and after 90 days. The results revealed that cinnamon lowered HbA1c 0.83% compared with usual care alone, which lowered HbA1c 0.37%. These results indicate that taking cinnamon in addition to usual care could be useful for reducing HbA1c in patients with type 2 diabetes.1
1 Crawford P. Effectiveness of cinnamon for lowering hemoglobin A1C in patients with type 2 diabetes: a randomized, controlled trial. J Am Board Fam Med. 2009;22(5):507-12.