Old spice

Cinnamon is a small tree that grows in India, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Brazil, Vietnam, and Egypt. It's one of the oldest known spices. The bark of the cinnamon tree is dried and rolled into cinnamon sticks, also called quills. The characteristic flavour and aroma of cinnamon comes from a compound in the essential oil of the bark called cinnamonaldehyde.

In traditional Chinese medicine, cinnamon is used for colds, flatulence, nausea, diarrhoea, and painful menstrual periods. It's also believed to improve energy, vitality, and circulation and be particularly useful for people who tend to feel hot in their upper body but have cold feet.

In Ayurveda, cinnamon is used as a remedy for diabetes, indigestion, and colds, and it is often recommended for people with the kapha Ayurvedic type.

The study

Researchers at the Centre for Applied Health Sciences in Fairlawn, Ohio, USA studied 22 'pre-diabetic' obese people. Pre-diabetes occurs just before the onset of full-blown diabetes.

Half the participants were given 250 mg of water-soluble cinnamon to take everyday, the other half had a placebo.

Sufferers become resistant to higher-than-normal levels of insulin - the hormone used to regulate blood-sugar levels - produced by the pancreas.

What they found

Blood was collected at the start and end of the survey with the cinnamon drinkers recording a 13 to 23 per cent increase in antioxidants linked to lowering blood-sugar levels. 

Richard Anderson, who led the study for the US Department of Agriculture, told the Journal of the American College of Nutrition that more research was needed into the effectiveness of cinnamon juice in preventing diabetes and heart disease.

He said, "Only more research will tell whether the investigational study supports the idea that people who are overweight or obese could reduce oxidative stress and blood glucose by consuming cinnamon extracts that have been proven safe and effective. In the meantime, weight loss remains the primary factor in improving these numbers."

Pic: Ruxandra Moldoveanu