Cinnamon is a popular spice at Christmas, used to flavor everything from mulled wine to pumpkin pie. And, unlike many Christmas foods, this one might actually be good for you.
Cinnamon, the bark of a small evergreen tree, has been used as medicine for centuries, even millennia. It is widely used in traditional Chinese medicine to treat, among other things, acute traumatic pain and “weak digestion”. In Ayurvedic medicine, it is used to treat arthritis, diarrhea and menstrual irregularities.
In Western medicine, it has been known for decades that cinnamon contains biologically active substances (polyphenals) that act similarly to insulin. As a result, it has been proposed that the spice could be beneficial for diabetics. However, a systematic review of the evidence, posted in Diabetes care in 2008, did not support the use of cinnamon for blood sugar control in patients with type 1 or type 2 diabetes.
Effect on blood cholesterol
Recent studies, however, suggest that cinnamon may be helpful in lowering blood cholesterol levels. Rising cholesterol is a huge public health concern as it increases the risk of heart disease and stroke. the World Health Organization estimates that 2.6 million deaths – 4.5% of all deaths worldwide – are linked to high cholesterol.
A recent review of 13 randomized controlled trials investigated whether there was a link between cinnamon supplementation and blood lipid concentrations. There were 750 participants in total – most of them diabetics. They each took one to six grams of cinnamon powder daily, for up to four months.
The review authors found that cinnamon supplementation significantly reduced blood triglyceride and total cholesterol levels, but had no effect on low-density lipoprotein (LDL) and cholesterol levels. high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, separately. However, when one of the studies was removed from a “sensitivity analysis,” cinnamon supplementation was found to be significantly associated with an elevation in HDL cholesterol, known as the good cholesterol.
Another recent study compared cinnamon supplementation with a placebo (a capsule containing flour) in 116 Asian Indians with metabolic syndrome. The researchers found that those in the experimental group (those given three grams of cinnamon for 16 weeks) had significant reductions in total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, and triglycerides, compared to the control (placebo) group. The experimental group also showed a significant increase in HDL (good) cholesterol.
So, in summary, the best available evidence shows that cinnamon may be able to lower blood lipids in people with diabetes or metabolic syndrome. Unfortunately, there is not enough data to show benefits in people without diabetes, especially those with high cholesterol.
But is it safe?
Cinnamon is considered safe for most people when used in small amounts. However, the spice contains a compound, called coumarin, which can cause or worsen liver disease. (Coumarin is also chemically related to the blood-thinning drug, warfarin.)
Of the two common types of cinnamon: cassia cinnamon (Indonesian, Vietnamese, Chinese) and so-called true cinnamon (Ceylon cinnamon), true cinnamon has much lower levels of coumarin (0.04%) than cassia cinnamon. (4-8%) .
The tolerable daily intake recommended by the European Food Safety Authority in coumarin
is 0.1 mg per kilogram of body weight. However, no long-term experimental studies have established the safety of cinnamon supplementation, or of taking cinnamon with statins.
If you want to lower your total or LDL cholesterol levels, there are known effective and safe ways to do so. These include losing weight, being physically active and eating a balanced and varied diet low in saturated and trans fats.
