How Cinnamon Lowers Blood Sugar And Fights Diabetes

How Cinnamon Lowers Blood Sugar and Fights Diabetes

Diabetes is a disease characterized by abnormally high blood sugar.
If poorly controlled, it can lead to complications like heart disease, kidney disease and nerve damage.
Treatment often includes medications and insulin injections, but many people are also interested in foods that can help lower blood sugar.
One such example is cinnamon, a commonly used spice that’s added to sweet and savory dishes around the world.
It provides many health benefits, including the ability to lower blood sugar and help manage diabetes.
This article tells you everything you need to know about cinnamon and its effects on blood sugar control and diabetes.
What Is Cinnamon?
Cinnamon is an aromatic spice derived from the bark of several species of Cinnamomum trees.
While you may associate cinnamon with rolls or breakfast cereals, it has actually been used for thousands of years in traditional medicine and food preservation.
To obtain cinnamon, the inner bark of Cinnamomum trees must be removed.
Consuming 500 mg of cinnamon extract daily for 12 weeks decreased a marker of oxidative stress by 14% in adults with prediabetes.
The bark then undergoes a drying process that causes it to curl up and yield cinnamon sticks, or quills, which can be further processed into powdered cinnamon.
Several different varieties of cinnamon are sold in the US, and they are typically categorized by two different types:
Ceylon: Also called “true cinnamon,” it’s the most expensive type.
Cassia: Less expensive and found in most food products containing cinnamon.
While both types are sold as cinnamon, there are impo Continue reading

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Mastery in Diabetes Management: Doxycycline Treatment for Insulin Resistance

Erjola Balliu, MD
Erjola Balliu, MD, of Stony Brook Hospital in New York, spoke with MedPage Today at ENDO 2017, the annual meeting of The Endocrine Society, where she reported finding that use of the antibiotic doxycycline was associated with improved fasting glucose when compared to placebo in a proof-of-concept study. Her full poster may be downloaded by clicking here.
Following is a transcript of her remarks:
Obesity is a state of inflammation and the inflammatory process may be contributing to the development of insulin resistance and the associated metabolic abnormalities such as dyslipidemia, diabetes, hypertension, and cardiovascular disease. We all know that obese individuals compared to normal weight individuals are four times more likely to develop diabetes, about two to four times more likely to develop heart disease, and about two times more likely to die from hypertension-related heart disease. So, it is very important to be able to reduce the prevalence of these health problems associated with obesity.
In the past, there have been a lot of trials looking at medications to reduce inflammation, but they've had a lot of serious side effects. They've looked at pioglitazone, but that is associated with bone loss and bladder cancer. They've used TNF-alpha antagonists and they are at increased risk for developing tuberculosis and myocardial infarction. They've used salicylates, but they cause very severe tinnitus and gastrointestinal symptoms. Metformin has shown to improve insulin sensitivity, but in those trials hypertension got worse.
So, we're very in need of a Continue reading

Effective Diabetes Treatment

The most effective diabetes treatment is one which helps people with diabetes lower carbohydrate intake. Eating a large amount of sugar and starch at one time causes blood sugars to spike after the meal. That large blood sugar surge then requires a large insulin response from the pancreas (or in an injection). Too much insulin then crashes blood sugar down. The image below is from a study which looks at blood sugar reactions to high carb meals.
This blood sugar "roller coaster" is rooted in a belief in the mainstream medical community and diabetes organizations that carbohydrates should make up between 45-65% of daily calories. They try to hide this with vague language, but the 2017 medical recommendations from the American Diabetes Association specifically says 15-20% of calories should come from protein, and 20-35% of calories should come from fats. That means the balance of calories (45-65%) come from carbohydrates. See page S36 of this document.
On a daily calorie intake of 2000 calories, that works out to between 225 and 325 grams of carbohydrate. Advising people with diabetes to eat 45-65% of their calories from carbohydrates causes high blood sugar (hyperglycemia) which sticks to or glycates body cells and tissues and guarantees the development of long term complications such as peripheral nerve pain (neuropathy), kidney damage (nephropathy), a loss of eyesight (retinopathy) and other common diabetic complications.
Worse, for those who take insulin injections, the large doses of insulin that have to be given to match high blood sugar spikes can result in low blood su Continue reading

Study Shows Ketogenic Diet May Reverse Type 2 Diabetes

If you’ve ever read about health on the internet, you’ve probably seen stories and ads claiming to reverse diabetes. Maybe you saw the article about juicing bitter gourds, or the one that suggests boiling cinnamon powder in water. And isn’t there one out there that suggests rubbing your pancreas with aloe vera twice a day? Maybe you’ve tried one of the above, but hopefully every time you’ve seen the words reverse diabetes, you quickly closed your browser’s tab. However, while there is definitely no way to reverse type 1 diabetes yet, a new study suggests type 2 diabetes really can be reversed (but not by pancreatic massage). Recently, a trial conducted by Stephen Phinney and Jeff Volek, of The Art and Science of Low Carb, showed the positive effects of a low-carbohydrate diet. Phinney and Volek have been low-carb advocates for some time, and you can see their other research here. This particular trial provides evidence that a low-carb diet can improve blood sugar levels and facilitate weight loss in adults with type 2 diabetes. In almost 60% of participants, medication was decreased or stopped altogether.
The study, conducted in Indiana in partnership with Indiana University Health, and published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research publications, looked at 262 people with type 2 diabetes who were also overweight. Each participant restricted their carbohydrate intake to 30 grams or less per day, and they increased fat and protein intake. This practice induces what is known as “nutritional ketosis” and is considered a ketogenic diet, forcing the body to Continue reading

What's the Best Yogurt for People With Diabetes?

Yogurt, typically made from cow's milk (however, nowadays there are many alternatives), is a source of carbohydrate which is also full of good bacteria, calcium, and protein. If you have diabetes, yogurt can be a smart food choice; however, the trick is to know which kind of yogurt to choose and which to skip out on.
What to Look for in a Yogurt
In the best kinds of yogurt, you get a good balance of protein and carbohydrate, along with calcium and healthy probiotics.
You also don't get a lot of added sugar, additives, food coloring, or saturated fat. Choosing a low-fat or non-fat yogurt version can help you to reduce your total calorie intake as well as keep your saturated fat (the type of fat that increase bad LDL cholesterol) low. In addition, since yogurt is a source of carbohydrate, you'll want to choose a yogurt that is low in added sugars such as fruited yogurts or those yogurts with added granola, or other toppings that are rich in sugar. Therefore, it's best to choose plain, low-fat yogurt. If you need to add sweetness, top your yogurt with some berries or peaches. Frozen varieties can make your yogurt seem "syrup-y", too, for more fiber and less added sugar.
Greek Yogurt vs. Regular Yogurt
Greek yogurt is regular yogurt that's been strained, removing some of the whey and leaving behind a thicker, more protein-rich yogurt. Greek yogurt is readily available in regular grocery stores; find it in the refrigerated dairy section.
Regular yogurt provides 5 grams of protein per 6-ounce serving, while Greek yogurt provides up to 20 grams, depending on the brand. Because it Continue reading