Cinnamonforce for Healthy Blood Sugar and Weight Loss
by Ken Babal C.N. - Healthy Living Article

The appeal of cinnamon can’t be denied. Its aroma evokes pleasant thoughts of oatmeal, apple pie and other comfort foods spiced with cinnamon. And that’s not all it spices. A study to determine which scents caused sexual arousal in men found that the smell of cinnamon buns had more of an effect than any other odor!

Cinnamon has numerous beneficial properties. It’s warming and stimulating; it increases vitality, promotes metabolism and circulation, and supports digestive function.

Before it was used in the kitchen, cinnamon was a medicine, and references to the spice can be found in Chinese medical texts dating back nearly 5,000 years. Eastern and Western cultures consider it a remedy for appetite loss, bronchitis, colds, cough, fever, indigestion, sore throat and tendency to infection. In Germany, where herbal medicines are officially reviewed and authorized, cinnamon is approved for loss of appetite and digestive disturbances, such as mild gastrointestinal spasms, bloating and gas. More important, recent scientific studies have found that cinnamon decreases high blood sugar levels and may reduce the risk of diabetes and obesity.

Diabetes and Syndrome X

It may be no coincidence that cinnamon pairs so nicely with sugar in recipes. Laboratory experiments indicate that cinnamon’s potency helps the body make better use of insulin, the hormone that lowers blood sugar, by facilitating its entry into muscle cells for energy use. A constituent of the spice, called methyl hydroxy chalcone polymer (MHCP, and contained in Cinnamonforce from New Chapter), mimics insulin by activating insulin receptors on cells, increasing glucose metabolism by approximately 20 times. Cinnamon’s insulin-like properties were discovered by United States Department of Agriculture scientists completely by accident. Investigators were looking at the effects of common foods on blood sugar. One was apple pie spiced with cinnamon. They expected the pie to be bad, but it helped! Fortunately, cinnamon’s insulin action is quite effective for diabetes.

In the U.S., there are over 20 million people with diabetes, equal to 7 percent of the population. An additional 60 million, or about 1 in 4 Americans, are said to have a pre-diabetic condition called metabolic syndrome or syndrome X.

Syndrome X is a cluster of symptoms including high triglycerides, low HDLs, high blood pressure and abdominal obesity that increases the risk of diabetes, heart disease and other life-threatening diseases. Some doctors make the diagnosis if the patient has two or more of the symptoms.

The chief underlying cause of syndrome X is insulin resistance, a condition in which cells lose their sensitivity to insulin. It develops gradually over years due to excessive sugar intake and constant stimulation of insulin. As it worsens, both insulin and glucose levels rise and remain high.

Cinnamon to the Rescue

Studies suggest that cinnamon may be the herb of choice for improving insulin resistance and managing type 2 diabetes. In one study, diabetic patients were given one, three or six grams of cinnamon. After 40 days, no matter which amount they got, their fasting blood sugar levels were 25 percent lower than those of a similar placebo group. In addition, their triglyceride, total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol levels came down. No such changes were seen in those who received the placebo. Study authors concluded that compounds present in cinnamon may have beneficial effects on glucose, insulin and blood lipids, and may be beneficial for the prevention and treatment of diabetes.

In a recent German study, cinnamon improved blood glucose levels in type 2 diabetics, adding to the growing body of science linking the spice to improvements in diabetics. In the new study, 79 overweight diabetic patients (average age 63) were randomly assigned to receive either cinnamon capsules or an identical-looking placebo. The subjects were not receiving insulin therapy but were controlling their disease by oral medication or diet.

After four months, researchers found that fasting glucose levels improved by over 10 percent for the group supplementing with cinnamon. No significant difference was observed in the placebo group. The lead author of the study concluded, “The positive correlation between baseline plasma glucose and the decrease of plasma glucose in our study…suggest that subjects with poor glycemic control may benefit more from cinnamon intake.”

Cinnamon for Weight Loss

Obesity is a common result of insulin resistance, and an obese person with an elevated insulin level has a hard time losing weight. The hormone sends a message to fat cells to store incoming fat and sugar. Thus, blood sugar control is a critical factor for achieving a healthy weight.

A placebo-controlled, double-blind study of pre-diabetic men and women found that cinnamon supplementation produced statistically significant increases in lean body mass and a reduction in overall body fat. Moreover, participants didn’t change their usual levels of physical activity or dietary patterns throughout the course of the study.

More Benefits

Cinnamon has been used as a food preservative since ancient times, and research does confirm that it has powerful antimicrobial properties. The spice even proved effective against E. coli, killing 99.5 percent of the bacteria in a sample of apple juice in three days. If it can knock out one of the most virulent food-borne microorganisms, it probably will kill other common bacteria such as salmonella. Cinnamon is also antifungal and is found in preparations that treat athlete’s foot.

Cinnamon is a powerful antioxidant and more effective in scavenging free radicals than most any other analyzed spices and is comparable or superior in activity to synthetic antioxidants. Animal studies with antioxidant-rich foods have demonstrated a protective effect against age-related diseases, suggesting they may reduce the risk of cancer, atherosclerosis and Alzheimer’s disease. A Japanese study found that chromosome damage was suppressed when cinnamaldehyde, a fat-soluble antioxidant in the spice, was given orally after X-ray irradiation. Also, a cinnamon extract significantly enhanced the rate of wound healing of punctures and incisions of the skin. The combinations of active principles in the spice exert a synergistic effect of inhibiting inflammatory compounds.

Choosing a Cinnamon Supplement

Along with a healthy diet and lifestyle, supplementing with cinnamon supports normal blood sugar metabolism. Since there are no optimal drug treatments for diabetes, dietary measures are all the more important. Also, by maintaining proper blood sugar and insulin levels, cellular energy is improved, blood lipids are controlled, and weight is much easier to manage.

Cinnamonforce by New Chapter is the world’s only dual extract of cinnamon available in a capsule—and this is important to impart the full phytochemical force of cinnamon, including both the water- and fat-soluble portions. (New Chapter is also a Green Patriot™ Green 100™ company whose mission is to build a safe and secure future through environmental actions.)

The New Chapter company is always a leader. Cinnamonforce combines the full spectrum or complements of two species of organic cinnamon (Cinnamomum verum and Cinnamomum aromaticum); importantly, each has slightly different phytochemical profiles and work synergistically.

Their advanced supercritical extraction process, which does not use chemical solvents and only carbon dioxide, yields a superior product that is highly concentrated. What you wind up with is an extremely broad, bold representation of the herb’s precious phytochemical complexity. What we don’t want is a “drug.” New Chapter does not isolate out single ingredients or spike their extracts with synthesized additives.

The supercritical extraction process provides both water- and fat-soluble components. The fat-soluble portion of cinnamon delivers cinnamaldehyde, a phytochemical that possesses antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. The water portion provides antioxidant phenolics. A serving of Cinnamonforce (two capsules) is the equivalent of one gram or about a half-teaspoon of whole cinnamon. Cinnamonforce, you might say, is the whole spice and nothing but the whole spice. So with one purchase of powerful, potent Cinnamonforce, you can do something great for your waistline, blood sugar—and also for your country

The statements contained in this article have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. The information contained here is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. Suggestions and ideas presented in this article are for information only and should not be interpreted as medical advice, meant for diagnosing illness, or for prescriptive purposes. Readers are encouraged to consult their health care provider before beginning any cleanse, diet, detoxification program, or any supplement regimen. The information in this document is not to be used to replace the services or instructions of a physician or qualified health care practitioner.