Prediabetes is a skyrocketing problem in the U.S., affecting nearly 40 percent of Americans.
Fortunately, even if your blood sugar has started to creep up in recent years, you aren’t powerless…and you don’t have to wait for it to progress into full-blown Type II diabetes.
In fact, a new study suggests you can regain control of your blood sugar simply by adding one popular holiday spice to your diet…
Holiday spice improves sugar metabolism
For this new study published in the Journal of the Endocrine Society, researchers recruited 51 men and women diagnosed with prediabetes and divided them randomly into two groups.
The first group took 500 mg of cinnamon three times daily for 12 weeks. The second group took a placebo.
The participants gave blood samples to measure their fasting blood sugar at the study’s outset and again after 12 weeks. They also took glucose-tolerance tests. (For a glucose tolerance test, the lab tech takes a sample of your blood for a baseline blood sugar reading. Then, you drink a sugary beverage. After about an hour, the lab tech takes another blood sample. They use the test to measure how quickly your body responds and metabolizes sugar. So, the quicker your blood sugar returns to “normal” after drinking a sugary beverage, the better.)
It turns out, the cinnamon group experienced two major benefits after the 12 weeks…
- They experienced a significant reduction in their overall fasting blood sugar.
- They improved their responses to the glucose tolerance test.
The placebo group didn’t experience either of these improvements.
The researchers said these findings suggest that cinnamon helps regulate sugar metabolism by supporting the insulin-producing cells in the pancreas. And indeed, other studies support this hypothesis.
A little bit goes a long way
With Thanksgiving and the holiday season now upon us, you’ll have plenty of opportunities to add cinnamon to your cooking.
And remember, the participants in the study took just 500 mg of cinnamon (three times a day), which equates to about 1/8 of a teaspoon! So, you don’t need much to make a great impact on your blood sugar.
Go ahead and sprinkle it into your morning coffee, yogurt, oatmeal, apples, or organic, whole-grain cereal. Or make cinnamon toast with a slice of healthy Ezekiel bread and organic, grass-fed butter. You can even add it to your pan while you’re crisping bacon!
At this time of year, cinnamon also goes well with many savory meats and vegetables, such as Brussels sprouts, carrots, squash, cranberry sauce, and sweet potatoes. Or, if you’re looking to spice it up a bit, try preparing an Indian or Southeast Asian recipe with cinnamon, such as Indian butter chicken. (Cinnamon actually originated from southeast Asia as a popular spice and botanical remedy.)
Of course, cinnamon also makes a perfect addition to your holiday treats—such as pumpkin bread and pumpkin pie.
Next week for Thanksgiving, the most American of holidays, I plan to whip up a batch of eggnog with cinnamon using George Washington’s eggnog recipe. I thought you might like to try it too…
George Washington’s Eggnog Recipe
Ingredients:
- 1 quart cream
- 1 quart milk
- 12 tablespoons sugar
- 1 pint brandy
- ½ pint rye whiskey
- ½ pint Jamaica rum
- ¼ pint sherry
- 12 eggs
- ½ tsp. cinnamon
- ½ tsp. nutmeg
- 1 cinnamon stick
Directions:
Mix liquor first. Then, separate yolks and whites of eggs. Beat yolks, then add sugar and mix well into the liquor. Add milk and cream, slowly beating. Beat egg whites until stiff and fold slowly into mixture. Keep it in a cool place [the refrigerator] for several days. Taste frequently. When ready to serve, pour eggnog into a glass with cinnamon and nutmeg. Insert a cinnamon stick and stir.
(Of course, Washington used organic cane sugar, and you can certainly ease up on that ingredient to taste. In fact, adding holiday spices, like cinnamon and nutmeg, is a no-calorie way to add more flavor instead.)
And remember, just because you have prediabetes doesn’t mean it’s a life sentence. You can change your course with the right tools.
There are dozens of uncommonly effective, commonsense strategies to prevent—and even reverse—Type II diabetes, in addition to cinnamon. And you can learn all about them all in my online learning protocol, the Integrative Protocol for Defeating Diabetes. To check out this special, online, learning tool, or to enroll today, simply click here.
Source:
“Influence of Cinnamon on Glycemic Control in Individuals With Prediabetes: A Randomized Controlled Trial.” Journal of the Endocrine Society, August 2020; 4(11): bvaa094. doi.org/10.1210/jendso/bvaa094