Down yonder, a reader writes:
If you’re concerned with keeping blood-sugar levels down or stable,
I read an article on new scientist that cinnamon works. Just half a
teaspoon per day will do it. Have you tried it or heard anything about
it, Jimmy?
Actually, I have.
I’ve read about cinnamon having a beneficial impact on carbohydrate metabolism and recently bought a bottle of the spice to use when eating some of my highER-carb (but still low-carb) items–the idea being to diminish my blood sugar upon eating these items.
What I haven’t seen up to now is a write-up (even a journalistic write-up) discussing the basis of this in scientific studies. I wanna thank you for sending along the link to the NewScientist article. I’d like to see more studies done on this (any study done in Pakistan–even under U.S. supervision–raises a skeptical reaction in me). I’d like to see more studies on the point.
It is also being reported that cinnamon has a beneficial effect on cholesterol, though not as much as statin drugs.
A few notes about using cinnamon:
- If you want to use it, find a way to add it to your diet without adding extra sugar or refined carbohydrates. DO NOT eat cinnamon buns or cinnamon toast made with hi-carb bread or sugar. If you add sugar and refined carbs to your diet, you’ll be fighting the effect of the cinnamon.
- If you want, stir cinnamon into something else that you drink or sprinkle it on food–even meat.
- If you can’t think of anything else, stick half a teaspoon of it in your mouth. It doesn’t burn, and you’ll be surpised at how sweet its natural form is.
- Don’t go hog wild with this stuff. Half a teaspoon a day is safe for humans, but apparently large doses can have adverse effects.
For further reading,
