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Cinnamon
Helps Stop Diabetes by Mike Hodge.
American scientists have claimed that a
teaspoon of cinnamon a day may help prevent the onset of diabetes.
The common spice could help millions of sufferers of Type II,
non-insulin dependent, diabetes. This condition usually develops in
middle-age and prematurely kills 100 million people around the world
every year. Type II diabetes causes cells to lose their ability to
respond to insulin, a hormone that tells the body to remove excess
glucose in the bloodstream. If glucose builds up in the blood,
tiredness, weight-loss and blurred vision are some of the resulting
symptoms. In extreme cases this can lead to blindness, heart disease and
premature death.
Data from the Agricultural Research Unit in Maryland was first published
in the New Scientist in August 2000. The researchers found that cinnamon
rekindled the ability of fat cells in diabetics to respond to insulin
and greatly increased glucose removal. It is believed that a substance
in cinnamon called MHCP is the main reason for its beneficial results.
When mice were given MHCP, their glucose levels fell dramatically and
tests on humans have begun this year. The researchers are so confident
that cinnamon will have the same dramatic effect of reducing insulin
tolerance in humans they recommend that type II diabetics should take a
quarter to one full teaspoon of cinnamon per day.
Many Type II diabetics have already found a new feeling of wellbeing and
improvement in health by using this simple cinnamon supplementation in
their diet.
Cinnamon has long been known as an "energizing" spice and it
is likely that increasing the intake of this common and cheaply
available food will benefit even non-diabetics, if used as a daily
energizing tonic. The Insulin resistance that leads to type II diabetes
develops relatively slowly as the body ages and even those who have not
yet experienced severe symptoms may have some degree of elevated insulin
resistance.
Cinnamon is also a rich source of Magnesium, which is essential for
maintaining bone density, electrolyte balance, certain enzyme functions
and many other crucial biochemical processes.
Magnesium is also linked to the more dramatic forms of diabetes that
occur earlier in life. Much research has been carried out to establish a
metabolic defect in diabetics that prevents the absorbtion of magnesium.
As Cinnamon provides a readilly available source of MHCP, magnesium and
possibly other beneficial substances it seems like a very cost-effective
way of offsetting future health problems related to glucose/insulin
imbalances as we grow older.
Cinnamon can be bought for a few cents in a convenient powdered form at
almost any food shop and taking it couldn't be easier; just use up to a
teaspoon a day in milkshakes or fruit juice. I personally take a
half-teaspoon daily in this way every morning and can confirm a distinct
energy benefit.
Diabetics should always inform their doctor before taking cinnamon as it
may affect medication requirements.
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