Does Cinnamon Lower Blood Pressure and Cholesterol? | Health Grow

Cinnamon is a spice used for at least 4000 years of our recorded history. Cinnamon may also help prevent many health problems. In this article, I am going to discuss Does Cinnamon Lower Blood Pressure and Cholesterol?. 

So let's begin this Health Sachet. As i said earlier, cinnamon has been used extensively for   thousands of years in foods and medicinal uses. So, its health benefits and toxicity aspects are very well known. Cinnamon is anti inflammatory and antioxidant. It has also been found to be useful in management of various medical conditions such as insulin resistance, diabetes, heart disease, cancer, infections, inflammation, and neuro-degenerative diseases. But, in this Article, we'll restrict ourselves to the benefits of cinnamon in blood sugar control. 

Now, before we proceed a word of caution do not use cinnamon as the only product for managing your blood sugar. Consume it along with your regular medicines and discuss with your doctor if you are going to take cinnamon regularly. Also, I will be making many claims about cinnamon in this article;   but, i never speak without any scientific proof. So, I can always quote the modern pharmacological   research papers based on which the scientific claims are made. 

In fact, if you are interested, you can check the description below the video on this YouTube channel to get the links to the research references. 

One more thing: I will use some scientific words in the video. Do not worry, if you don't understand them. They may be useful for those who are trained in the healthcare world. Having said this let's look at the benefits of cinnamon in blood sugar control. 

1. Slowing Down Carbohydrate Digestion:

The first way cinnamon helps in sugar control is in slowing down the carbohydrate digestion. An enzyme in the intestine, called α-glucosidase, breaks down complex carbohydrates, such as starch or polysaccharides, into glucose. If a nutrient can inhibit or slow down the action of α-glucosidase,   carbohydrate digestion will reduce and the blood sugar will not rise as much after a meal. Another enzyme called amylase also helps break down complex carbohydrates in our food into sugar. Your saliva makes a few amylase but your pancreas makes most of the it. Cinnamon reduces carbohydrate digestion by inhibiting or reducing the actions of   intestinal α–glucosidase and pancreatic α–amylase. 

2. Slowing Down Stomach Emptying:

The second way cinnamon helps blood sugar control is by slowing down stomach emptying. Reducing stomach emptying rate, or GER, lowers post-meal blood sugar levels. A study showed that 6 g a day of cinnamon slowed down stomach emptying rate and reduced post-meal blood sugar levels without affecting the feeling of satiety. 

3. Lowering Insulin Resistance:

The third way cinnamon helps in blood sugar control is by lowering insulin resistance. A study showed that cinnamon reduced insulin resistance. It also showed the benefits of cinnamon for blood glucose, blood lipids—or   as we call them—fats, blood pressure, obesity, antioxidant status, and digestion. This was attributed to chromium and polyphenols found in cinnamon. 

4. Mimicking Insulin Action:

The fourth way cinnamon helps blood sugar control is by mimicking insulin action. A few compounds in cinnamon act like insulin in some, but now not all, biochemical techniques. As a result, they help an insulin-resistant body to utilize blood glucose better and thereby lowering blood sugar. Cinnamon inhibits a compound called TPT1B,   or Tyrosine Phosphatase 1B, which inactivates insulin receptors. So, insulin receptors are able to function better. 

Once again, don't worry about remembering all this scientific jargon. In a way, I'm just trying to tell you that cinnamon has been studied in depth in recent times. I often discover some science mavens speaking down traditional medicinal drug, pronouncing that it's miles previous knowledge. But, that is not the case here. I am giving you the conclusions of articles in peer-reviewed scientific journals in the last 20 years. So, this is as much scientific information as your medical research is. It is just that there is no one financing this research, since traditional herbs and food items cannot be patented. As a result, you may not hear about them much. 

5. Controlling Blood Sugar Directly:

The 5th way cinnamon enables blood sugar manage is by means of controlling the blood sugar itself. Some research shows that cinnamon helps lower blood sugar levels by 10% to 30%. Some other research, on the other hand, shows no benefit. But, no research has shown that cinnamon increases blood sugar. A study showed that consuming 1 g of cinnamon per day can increase insulin sensitivity, which is a good thing and help manage or reverse type 2 diabetes. Another look at confirmed that eating 1, 3, or 6 g of cinnamon per day reduces serum glucose, triglycerides, ldl–cholesterol, and overall cholesterol in people with type-2 diabetes. Still any other take a look at confirmed 10.3% lowering in fasting blood sugar with cinnamon   compared to 3.4% decreasing with a placebo

Now, why am i telling you all these disparate findings? It is to tell you about how scientific research progresses. Often, it is not clear-cut this way or that way. Now, you are welcome to wait till there is some final conclusion   after another 25–30 years, 40 years, 50 years. 

Question to ask before acceptance are: 

1. Was there any harm or side effects of taking the nutrient in the trials? 

2. Can this nutrient be a part of our normal life easily? That is, can it be consumed as a part of food or through   an easily available dietary supplement, and 

3. Especially in developing countries such as mine, will it involve a lot of cost? 

So, Its answer: 

1. Cinnamon did not have any harm in any of these trials; 

2. Cinnamon is a common food ingredient; and 

3. Most people can afford consuming cinnamon or its supplements. 

Other Benefits of  Cinnamon: 

Finally, cinnamon is also beneficial in heart problems, cancer,   inflammation, infections, Alzheimer's disease, and Parkinson's disease. But, this Article is about cinnamon and blood sugar control. So, I'll cover these other benefits of cinnamon in some other article in future. 

In summary: 

Cinnamon helps in blood sugar control in five different ways: 

1. Slowing down carbohydrate digestion; 

2. Slowing down stomach emptying; 

3. Lowering insulin resistance; 

4. Mimicking insulin action; and 

5. Controlling blood sugar directly. 

Now, I hope this information was useful to you. If you like it, please forward the link to this Article to  others. You can Follow our page from right side For next health tips or health related information. Remember, ignorance is a very bad idea, when it comes to your blood sugar control. Thank you.