anyone trying cinnamon for IR?

[WhatIwasThen]

Great IDEA with the honey..... can any one think of an alt. to honey though?? I'm allergic to bee's and sometimes get a reaction from honey as well.

[AmyLynn156]

I WILL BE TRYING THIS TONIGHT!! HAVE TO STOP AND GET HONEY AND CINNAMON ON THE WAY HOME!

[emma42]

I've been eating a lot cinammon since low carbing as well. My fasting blood glucose level was 122 when I started 2 1/2 months ago. According to what I've read anything over 110 is insulin resistant, though the IR Diet book says anything over 100 is. After a month it dropped to 120 and now it is 118. Slowly but surely I am curing my insulin resistance.

I add cinammon to all my chicken dishes. I bought a big bottle at costo and just spinkle it on while cooking.

[Sarain]

Hello,

My mom suggested that I boil a cinnimon stick in water to make a tea..she's done this and likes it.

[nae]

on the spoon and lick.... YUM!

[Lori74]

I take Chromium Synergy in a base of cinnamon from a company called Designs for Health (www.designsforhealth.com) -- I love it and it's not that expensive.

[puffin2424]

I've herd of it but haven't tried it yet.

[angelzmom]

After reading these posts - I have tried the cinnamon - it's only been about 4 days now. I have been mixing one teaspoon of cinnamon into my Zone shake that I have for snack in the morning. I had been mixing it in vanilla, but I bought the chocolate shake mix last night and can't wait to try that.

I just wanted to share another way that you can include the cinnamon. Oh, and I really liked it mixed in yogurt too. Thanks for the ideas ladies.

Kath

[simone]

Hi. I tried cinammon in soy milk (vanilla flavoured) and it worked really well (especially if you don't like the starchy taste). This is great because I'm really sensitive to carbs (they make me extremely tired) and have trouble finding foods to eat for desserts or treats.

Simone

[nae]

my desire to eat has improved to where I eat smaller portions and less often.... the only problem I've had so far with cinnamon is I feel like a person would feel if they had "LOW" blood sugar. Can you over do cinnamon? I feel as if it's truly powerful...

[aprilreneeb]

I just found this post and wanted to bump it back up since it hasnt been replied to in a LONG while. I found it very interesting and I was just wondering if any of you are still using cinnamon? How are you doing with it?

[*Ellie*]

Oh I am really going to have to try this! I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE cinnamon!!! Has anyone who has been doing this for a while noticed any results? I would love to hear if you have!!!

[nobimbo]

Cinnamon spice produces healthier blood

New Scientist ^ | November 24, 2003 | Debora MacKenzie

Just half a teaspoon of cinnamon a day significantly reduces blood sugar levels in diabetics, a new study has found. The effect, which can be produced even by soaking a cinnamon stick your tea, could also benefit millions of non-diabetics who have blood sugar problem but are unaware of it.

The discovery was initially made by accident, by Richard Anderson at the US Department of Agriculture's Human Nutrition Research Center in Beltsville, Maryland.

"We were looking at the effects of common foods on blood sugar," he told New Scientist. One was the American favourite, apple pie, which is usually spiced with cinnamon. "We expected it to be bad. But it helped," he says.

Sugars and starches in food are broken down into glucose, which then circulates in the blood. The hormone insulin makes cells take in the glucose, to be used for energy or made into fat.

But people with Type 1 diabetes do not produce enough insulin. Those with Type 2 diabetes produce it, but have lost sensitivity to it. Even apparently healthy people, especially if they are overweight, sedentary or over 25, lose sensitivity to insulin. Having too much glucose in the blood can cause serious long-term damage to eyes, kidneys, nerves and other organs.

Molecular mimic

The active ingredient in cinnamon turned out to be a water-soluble polyphenol compound called MHCP. In test tube experiments, MHCP mimics insulin, activates its receptor, and works synergistically with insulin in cells.

To see if it would work in people, Alam Khan, who was a postdoctoral fellow in Anderson's lab, organised a study in Pakistan. Volunteers with Type 2 diabetes were given one, three or six grams of cinnamon powder a day, in capsules after meals.

All responded within weeks, with blood sugar levels that were on average 20 per cent lower than a control group. Some even achieved normal blood sugar levels. Tellingly, blood sugar started creeping up again after the diabetics stopped taking cinnamon.

The cinnamon has additional benefits. In the volunteers, it lowered blood levels of fats and "bad" cholesterol, which are also partly controlled by insulin. And in test tube experiments it neutralised free radicals, damaging chemicals which are elevated in diabetics.

Buns and pies

"I don't recommend eating more cinnamon buns, or even more apple pie - there's too much fat and sugar," says Anderson. "The key is to add cinnamon to what you would eat normally."

The active ingredient is not in cinnamon oils. But powdered spice can be added to toast, cereal, juice or coffee.

Anderson's team were awarded patents related to MHCP in 2002. But the chemical is easily obtained. He notes that one of his colleagues tried soaking a cinnamon stick in tea. "He isn't diabetic - but it lowered his blood sugar," Anderson says.

The group now plans to test even lower doses of cinnamon in the US, and also look at long-term blood sugar management with the spice


Linda

[sorrel75]

Hi...I was wondering if anyone knew if boiling the cinammon sticks would yield the same results as consuming the powder?

[berta]

I'm so silly. Last week after reading this post. I thought I'm going to have a spoonful of cinnamon right now (plain). I put a big old bunch of cinnamon on a spoon and put it in my mouth. Yuck! It was so dry and awful, bitter. So please try some of the other methods here or you will be sorry..