30 Days Of Superfoods: Slash Your Diabetes Risk With Cinnamon

Welcome to 30 Days of Superfoods, Prevention's 30-day challenge to incorporate more healthy fuel into your diet all November long. Superfoods have myriad benefits, from boosting your immune system and fortifying your body to warding off disease and even managing menopause. Here's what, why, and how to incorporate more cinnamon into your diet—starting today!
This warm spice can do more than add an extra dose of cozy sweetness to your cooking. Cinnamon contains polyphenol compounds that are thought to help with glucose control. In fact, research shows that eating 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon daily can make cells more sensitive to the hormone insulin. As a result, your body won’t have to produce as much insulin to move glucose from your blood into your cells. That can promote steadier blood sugar levels and help fight insulin resistance—which can help keep type 2 diabetes at bay.
(Find out how to stop the craving cycle before it starts and burn fat around the clock with the naturally sweet, salty, and satisfying meals in Eat Clean, Lose Weight & Love Every Bite.)
MORE: This Everyday Hygiene Habit Could Up Your Risk For Diabetes
HOW TO USE CINNAMON
You know that a sprinkle of cinnamon is delicious in sweet foods. But it can also be a flavor booster for savory foods like meat, pork, winter squash, or tomato sauce. And don’t forget drinks! Stir cinnamon into coffee, tea, or lattes for extra flavor—without the added sugar or calories.
This apple pie smoothie is happiness in a glass:
CINNAMON RECIPES WE’RE CRAZY ABOUT
Apple Cinnamon Cookie Bites
apple-cinnamon-cookie-bites- Continue reading

Rate this article

Total 1 ratings

This Everyday Hygiene Habit Could Up Your Risk For Diabetes

Back away from the mouthwash.
A just-published study in the journal Nitric Oxide found people who use over-the-counter mouthwash twice daily were 50% more likely to develop diabetes or prediabetes than those who use mouthwash once a day or not at all.
Yes, that sounds nuts. But experts say there’s a likely explanation. And, like so many other things these days, it seems to revolve around the helpful bacteria that live inside our bodies.
(Like what you're reading? Sign up for FREE to get healthy living tips, weight loss inspiration, slimming recipes and more delivered straight to your inbox! )
Some “oral microbes” seem to play a beneficial role in metabolic health, says study author Kaumudi Joshipura, ScD, an adjunct professor of epidemiology at the Harvard School of Public Health.
MORE: I Mailed My Poop To A Company That Promised To Analyze My Gut Health, And Here’s What Happened
"Many bacteria in the mouth are able to metabolize nitrate into nitrite, which is then swallowed into the gastrointestinal tract, and then converted to nitric oxide,” she explains. Nitric oxide (NO) is “an important signaling molecule,” that helps regulate your metabolism, energy balance, and your body’s insulin levels, she says. Insulin helps keep your blood sugar levels in check so when it malfunctions, type 2 diabetes can result.
If you like making your own products, check out this easy DIY shampoo recipe:
What’s the problem with mouthwash?
Nearly all commonly used mouthwash formulas include some kind of antibacterial ingredient that kills bacteria, Joshipura says. These antiba Continue reading

Can Silicon Valley Cure Diabetes With Low Carbs And High Tech?

Imagine a treatment for Type 2 diabetes that requires neither surgery, medication nor calorie restriction, but rather relies on adherence to a low-carbohydrate, high-fat diet, tracked by regular finger-stick checks of blood chemistry and guided remotely by a team of physicians, coaches and algorithms.
That’s the premise of Virta Health, a San Francisco-based digital health company formed in 2014 and launched officially today, with $37M in the bank from investors including Dr. Robert Kocher of Venrock. The kickoff follows Tuesday’s publication of the results of an uncontrolled clinical study of several hundred patients in Indiana, who will be treated and followed for two years; the just-published data--an interim report of sorts--represent the first 10 weeks of study, sponsored by Virta.
(Disclosure: I am Chief Medical Officer of a genomics data management company, DNAnexus, and do not have a personal, professional or financial relationship with Virta Health; I trained in endocrinology and have previously written about therapeutic approaches to diabetes, including surgery and prevention.)
The number of patients with A1c levels below 6.5% (a measure of diabetic control) increased from 52/262 when the study began to 147/262 after 10 weeks. The majority of patients had one or more diabetes medications reduced or eliminated by the end of the study, and the average patient lost 7.2% of his or her starting weight. 90% of patients who started the study remained enrolled after 10 weeks. Finally, the average beta-hydroxybutyrate level (a measure of degree of dietary carbohydrate Continue reading

Low-Carb Diet vs. Bariatric Surgery for People With Diabetes

A September 2016 commentary in The New York Times called for a trial of low-carb diets before committing to bariatric surgery. This has an immediate, superficial appeal to those of us committed to lifestyle as medicine. Here’s to remedies in the kitchen, rather than the operating room! Unfortunately, however, this commentary is misleading. There is no basis for a selective argument for low-carb diets; they are just about as apt to work in the short term, and fail over time, as any other.
While there is quality coverage of diet and health out there, there is much that perpetuates misconceptions and fallacies; it would be impossible to tackle them all here. But this particular New York Times piece is worth exploration and clarification, particularly because of the larger, important conversation it prompts.
Garth Davis, MD, is a True Health Initiative Council member and is uniquely qualified to reveal how the authors of this article misrepresented the role of surgery for weight loss, which is quite effective when applied judiciously. He practices medical and surgical weight loss in Houston, where he is medical director of weight loss surgery at Memorial City Hospital. He is also the author of the books Proteinaholic: Why Our Obsession With Meat Is Killing Us, and An Expert's Guide to Weight Loss Surgery.
Dr. Davis looks from altitude and provides a reality check about the dietary patterns most reliably and consistently linked to lasting control of weight and lifelong promotion of health.
A Weight Loss Surgeon’s Perspective: Garth Davis, MD
As a weight loss surgeon and spec Continue reading

Bariatric Surgery versus Intensive Medical Therapy for Diabetes — 5-Year Outcomes

Long-term results from randomized, controlled trials that compare medical therapy with surgical therapy in patients with type 2 diabetes are limited.
We assessed outcomes 5 years after 150 patients who had type 2 diabetes and a body-mass index (BMI; the weight in kilograms divided by the square of the height in meters) of 27 to 43 were randomly assigned to receive intensive medical therapy alone or intensive medical therapy plus Roux-en-Y gastric bypass or sleeve gastrectomy. The primary outcome was a glycated hemoglobin level of 6.0% or less with or without the use of diabetes medications.
Of the 150 patients who underwent randomization, 1 patient died during the 5-year follow-up period; 134 of the remaining 149 patients (90%) completed 5 years of follow-up. At baseline, the mean (±SD) age of the 134 patients was 49±8 years, 66% were women, the mean glycated hemoglobin level was 9.2±1.5%, and the mean BMI was 37±3.5. At 5 years, the criterion for the primary end point was met by 2 of 38 patients (5%) who received medical therapy alone, as compared with 14 of 49 patients (29%) who underwent gastric bypass (unadjusted P=0.01, adjusted P=0.03, P=0.08 in the intention-to-treat analysis) and 11 of 47 patients (23%) who underwent sleeve gastrectomy (unadjusted P=0.03, adjusted P=0.07, P=0.17 in the intention-to-treat analysis). Patients who underwent surgical procedures had a greater mean percentage reduction from baseline in glycated hemoglobin level than did patients who received medical therapy alone (2.1% vs. 0.3%, P=0.003). At 5 years, changes from baseline observed in Continue reading