CAN CINNAMON HELP IN CURING DIABETES

CAN #CINNAMON HELP IN CURING DIABETES  & REAL VS FAKE CINNAMON

INTRODUCTION 

[If  in a hurry , you can scroll down to see the study of cinnamon VS diabetes ]

Diabetes has become one of the most common diseases now a days which has affected approximately 415 million people in the world i.e. roughly 1 in every 11 person is a diabetic !! The figures are expected to rise upto 642 million by 2040 (source : diabetes.co.uk).

Image source : Wikipedia 

  What is CINNAMON ?

It is spice that has been extracted from the inner bark of cinnamonum verum tree having the properties of anti immflamatory , anti diabetic anti cancer , immunity booster , anti bacterial & fungal , heart friendly among others . It's has the highest anti oxidant in comparison to top 26 herbs  like oregano garlic clove etc . (Sources NCIB/NLM.)

SO WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED ?

Cinnamon is widely used in Indian dishes from veg pulao to non veg biryanis to ayurvedic medicines . It's used in the treatment of arthritis ,weight loss , lowering heart diseases (cuts bad cholesterol LDL and triglycerides) , treatment of Alzhimer's & Parkinson diseases etc and the most important in diabetic treatments .

An IT professional Mr John ,58 years old , had started consuming cinnamon to control his diabetes but after some time developed liver problems . Later it was found out that use of cassia , a cheap species imported from Vietnam & China , was the real culprit. It resembles cinnamon. After mr John stopped taking cinnamon his liver started recovering gradually .

Indian govt states that the annual consumption of cinnamon is 12000 tonnes annual . It imports 10000 tonnes of cassia from China Vietnam & Indonesia and 200 tonnes of cinnamon from Srilanka.India's domestic production rate is just 80-100 tonnes/yr. But contrary to the govt reports one trader from Kanpur had alone imported 9500 tonnes so the consumption rate may be way way above the govt figures. And guess what the market is surely flooded with these fake cassia , which replaces the original cinnamon . Import rates of cassia around 2015 was RS 35/kg and cinnamon was RS 200/kg which is further sold @ 150 -600/kg . A study by IITR , Lucknow found that coumarin , a chemical found in cassia , the fake cinnamon , damages liver & kidney . (Source - downtoearth.org.in)

Cassia imports from Vietnam were temperorily banned (around aug 2016) but again the ban was revoked around March  2017 , which definately is not a good news

   

REAL VS FAKE IDENTIFICATION METHODS !!

Have you ever gone to the market and bought those hard dark brown cinnamon sticks or sometimes bought sticks in the name of cinnamon , which do not emit any or little fragrance ? I now remember the mistakes which I had done earlier as I did not know how to differentiate btw fake & real cinnamon 

Fake cinnamon or cassia , is generally grown in China Vietnam and Indonesia where as the real cinnamon grows in Srilanka. In India it's grown  in Kerela and some parts of North East . Cassia , other than causing liver &kidney damage may cause headaches & digestive problems . An article in Oct ,2015 TOI stated that cassai may be carcinogenic i.e. may cause cancer .

THE DIFFERENCES : 

• The real cinnamon will have many spirals designs inside (see the cover pic properly) where as the fake cinnamon will have a tunnel kind of hole inside it .There will be nothing spiral inside it . 

• The real cinnamon is very fragile / weak , hence it breaks easily but the fake cassia is not easy to break • The real cinnamon is light brown in colour where as the fake cinnamon will have a dark brown or reddish brown colour

• Real cinnamon can be grounded to powder very easily at home but it won't be the same case with fake cinnamon 

• Real cinnamon has a delicate aromatic smell where as the fake cinnamon gives a pungent strong aromatic smell 

• Real cinnamon powder will be smooth where the fake cinnamon powder will be coarse (Sources - downtoearth.org.in / Dr . Vivek Joshi )

Will update it when I find any new trick/news on this . 

HOW WILL IT HELP .

Sometimes we may find real cinnamon in our local markets or shops . Use the above mentioned tricks to spot the differences . Further more , buy from trusted shops/aruyveic centres  in your area who sell organic products . Buy whole cinnamon than buying it's powdered form .

CINNAMON VS DIABETES 

Cinnamon reacts with the following herbs
Bitter melon , garlic , Siberian ginseng , panax , Devils claw , Fenugreek , chromium , horse chestnut and certain diabetes medicines so cheak with your doc before using them .Find all the evidences / sources at the end of the post .

CAN CINNAMON REVERSE DIABETES .

The article was published on the website diabetes.co.uk (1) dated ?? , The ARM found that consumption of 1 gram / day of cinnamon can increase insulin sensitivity and management or curbing diabetes totally and cinnamon was shown to be the most effective one (2)  The basis was a research done by Dr Anderson & team on animals to see the effectiveness of 49 herbs including falxseed , gensing basil etc , in which cinnamon proved to be the most effective one . Further more the article states that consumption of 6grams of cinnamon after meal reduced high blood sugar levels .

SO WHATS NEW .

A test on 8 individuals aged 25 yrs + showed that it can imitate as insulin and lower blood sugar by moving glucose to the cells (3)

In a small study of 7 humans aged 26+ , it was found that consuming 5g of cinnamon powder reduced insulin sensitivity( acts as natural insulin ) immidiately after consumption  for a period of12 hours (4)

CONCLUSION

Cinnamon has the potential to curb diabetes though more tests on a large basis is required . Always use original cinnamon powder and not cassia cinnamon , which is a fake cinnamon .
As in all the tests 1-6 grams of powder has been used , you can drink 1-6 grams(appx. 1 and half teaspoon) of cinnamon powder one hour before breakfast with a glass of water . Do not eat anything one hour after or before consuming the powder . Consult your doctor for the amount of powder you should eat . Over consumption of anything is harmful for health so always follow dosage instructions .
Last two lines , also make necessary changes in your life styles . Do exercise , walking for min 1 hr per day and avoid junk foods , colas , alcohol , smoking as this disease can be countered by leaving/avoiding those things/habit which aggravates the blood sugar level . Be relaxed , do not take stress . Eat fresh seasonal green leafy vegetables , fruits & foods . Good luck 😊

Sources 1  https://bit.ly/2M4E2eM  2. https://bit.ly/2SxxVB1
4 https://bit.ly/30Unnz5
3 https://bit.ly/2xXa8AT

Article credit - diabetes.co.uk