Around the holidays, it’s easy to get carried away with all the party foods laden with extra carbs and sugars. And I do hope that you’re able to enjoy a festive spread.
After all, research shows that occasionally indulging in these foods does NOT harm your overall health in any way.
But I also realize that the temptation to over-indulge may be strong…throughout the entire holiday season.
Luckily, I have a simple, tasty way to help curb that temptation—and prevent major blood sugar spikes at any time of year (even if you have Type II diabetes)!
All you have to do is add one delicious spice to your morning coffee…
This gift from the East keeps on giving all year long
Like some of the other traditional holiday spices I’ll be talking about this week, cinnamon is considered a “gift from the East.”
It comes from the Spice Islands of Southeast Asia and helped anchor the spice trade among historic civilizations in Africa, Asia, and Europe.
It also helped establish early American ports—such as Boston and Baltimore—as economic powerhouses. In fact, to this day, McCormick Spices of Baltimore still funnels billions of dollars into the local economy.
The most common form of cinnamon, cassia cinnamon, comes from the bark of the Cinnamomum cassia tree. In fact, the dried bark of this tree curls up into the characteristic curlicue of a cinnamon “stick,” which you can enjoy in favorite holidays drinks, like a traditional “hot toddy.” Or, you can simply sprinkle some cinnamon powder, which you make by grinding up the curled stick, into your holiday drinks and baking.
But really, you should try to get cinnamon into your daily routine all year long—as it provides excellent blood sugar support in a remarkably short amount of time…
Cinnamon lowers blood sugar by nearly 30 percent…in just 40 days!
Cinnamon has many impressive health benefits, but it’s perhaps best known for controlling blood sugar. And recent laboratory and clinical studies show that it can specifically help:
- Encourage normal insulin activity
- Tame sugar cravings
- Make you feel fuller after a meal
- Prevent chronic insulin resistance brought on by a high-sugar diet
- Prevent long-term damage to tissues due to chronic high blood sugar and insulin resistance
- Reduce system inflammation, which is the root cause of most chronic diseases
In one particularly strong study, researchers randomly divided men and women with Type II diabetes into six groups. Groups 1, 2, and 3 took 1, 3, or 6 grams of cinnamon daily for 40 days. Groups 4, 5, and 6 took a placebo daily for 40 days.
After those 40 days, all three groups that took cinnamon reduced their fasting blood sugar levels between 18 and 29 percent! Plus, they reduced their triglyceride (blood fat) levels by 23 to 30 percent.
By comparison, the placebo group didn’t experience either of those significant improvements.
Add a teaspoon to just about anything
Of course, most studies on cinnamon use medicinal preparations of the spice. But even the common, ground spice found at the grocery store can work just as well!
When it comes to dosage, I suggest adding a teaspoon or two to just about anything! I personally love to add it to my morning coffee. But you can also add it (along with other healthy spices) to your full-fat yogurt, fresh fruit, homemade stews, meats, and vegetable dishes.
Now, here’s an important note before I go…
If you take a blood thinner drug, you should NOT use cassia cinnamon (the variety sold in most grocery stores). Instead, use the other variety of cinnamon called ceylon. It’ll give you the same health benefits without the potential drug interaction side effects. Alternatively, you can opt to include ginger (which I’ll tell you about on Thursday) instead of cinnamon to your routine for the same great benefits to your blood sugar.
To learn about another festive treat that helps lower blood sugar, check out the December 2018 issue of my monthly Insiders’ Cures newsletter (“This decorative holiday snack ‘crack the code’ to lower blood sugar”). Not yet a subscriber? Now is the perfect time to become one.