Common Spices May Help Diabetes

Study Shows Herbs And Spices May Help Block Inflammation

(WebMD)  The spice cabinet may prove to be a source of help for diabetes patients.

Some of the most commonly used dried herbs and spices may help block the inflammation believed to drive diabetes and other chronic diseases, laboratory studies conducted by researchers from the University of Georgia suggest.

The researchers tested extracts from 24 common herbs and spices and found that many contained high levels of inflammation-inhibiting antioxidant compounds known as polyphenols.

The early findings suggest that liberal use of cinnamon in your morning oatmeal or Italian seasonings in your spaghetti sauce could have big payoffs for your health, researcher James L. Hargrove, PhD, tells WebMD.

"We might all be better off if we used less salt and pepper, and focused more on herbs and spices," Hargrove says. "I've started putting oregano in my eggs. That's not a big change."

Cinnamon and Diabetes

Hargrove and colleagues found that ground clove had the most inflammation-calming polyphenols of any of the spice and herb extracts they tested.

Cinnamon came in second, but because it is used more in cooking and in larger amounts than ground cloves it has more potential to positively affect health, he says.

So much has been written about the benefits of cinnamon for lowering blood sugar that many diabetes patients now take cinnamon supplements.

But the research on cinnamon's effect on diabetes has been mixed.

Richard Anderson, PhD, was among the first modern researchers to link the antioxidants in cinnamon to increased anti-inflammatory response and blood sugar reductions in diabetes patients.

A scientist with the U.S. Department of Agriculture Beltsville Human Nutrition Research Center, Anderson tells WebMD that he made the connection after finding that instead of raising blood sugar as expected, apple pie lowered blood glucose in their test tube study.

"At first we thought it was the apples, but it soon became clear that it was the cinnamon," he says.

In a 2003 study, Anderson and colleagues reported that as little as half a teaspoon of cinnamon a day significantly reduced blood sugar and improved cholesterol in people with type 2 diabetes who took cinnamon in capsule form after meals.

But combined results from five other studies examining cinnamon supplementation in diabetes patients showed little evidence of a benefit.

"Taking cinnamon supplements for the purposes of either improving glucose control or improving cholesterol levels is not supported by the evidence that is currently available," analysis co-author William L. Baker, PharmD, of Hartford Hospital in Connecticut, tells WebMD.

But Baker adds that the combined studies included just 282 patients treated with either a placebo or various doses of cinnamon.

"These were small studies," he says. "Larger studies may show that supplementation is beneficial, but it seems unlikely."

Herbs and Spices: Variety Is Best

The newly published study by Hargrove and colleagues appears in the latest issue of the Journal of Medicinal Food.

Hargrove tells WebMD that he purchased the 24 spices used for the study at a nearby Wal-Mart.

"We showed that herbs and spices are powerful sources of antioxidants and anti-inflammatory agents," Hargrove says. "About a teaspoon of cinnamon, for example, is plenty to get these beneficial effects."

When blood sugar levels are high a process known as protein glycation occurs, which produces compounds that promote inflammation. These are known as AGE compounds (advanced glycation end-products). The researchers found a strong correlation in polyphenol content in herbs and spices tested and their ability to block the formation of AGE compounds.

Spices -- derived from seeds, berries, bark, or roots -- tended to have higher levels of polyphenols than dried herbs, derived from plant leaves.

Of the herbs tested by the researchers, oregano, marjoram, and sage had the highest polyphenol levels, followed by thyme, Italian seasoning, tarragon, mint, and rosemary. Black pepper had the lowest polyphenol content of any of the tested herbs and spices.

But researcher Diane Hartle, PhD, says it is best not to focus on any single herb or spice, suggesting that seasoning foods with a variety of spices is best.

In a news release, Hartle noted that different polyphenols have different mechanisms of action within the body. "If you set up a good herb and spice cabinet and season your food liberally, you could double or even triple the medicinal value of your meal without increasing the calorie content."

[superdem]

Cinnamon is good in spaghetti sauce and in chilli, too. It adds a very complex flavor, just don''t use too much. They didn''t say anything about cumin - cumin is great in chilli too. Tumeric is another great seasoning, really great in curries. Hmmmm I''m getting hungry.

[barbaraf4]

"And here''s something that "may" cure cancer: Bury some chicken bones in your backyard by the light of a full moon, do the chicken dance, light three f@rts, then sing the Star Spangled Banner backwards." Posted by Extremophil
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sadly, there are stage 4 victims who are desperate enough to try this.

[extremophil]

"Common Spices May Help Diabetes"

And here''s something that "may" cure cancer: Bury some chicken bones in your backyard by the light of a full moon, do the chicken dance, light three f@rts, then sing the Star Spangled Banner backwards.

[bioresearch]

In November Harvard Medical School published consecutive papers in the journals Cell and Nature showing that biotivia Transmax, a commercially available extract of the resveratrol compound found in red wine, prevented the occurance of diabetes in aged and obese mice, transmax also increased stamina two fold and extended the lifespan of mice by 31%. No other compound has been able to do this. Resveratrol also prevented the normal diseases of aging and obesity in these mice. The extract used in lab studies of resveratrol, biotivia transmax, allows scientist to obtain an equivalent dose of resveratrol equal to 200 bottles of red wine. Now, scientists at Sirtris Pharmacuetical are trying to develop a patented version of transmax to treat diabetes. In their trials over 92% of the subjects experiences lowered blood glucose levels and other beneficial effects. University medical schools are frantically studying resveratrol in an attempt to understand how it can be so effective against so many different symptoms of both cancer and diabetes.

[closethippy1]

"Big pharma is like big oil, they work and connive their schemes to the bone (along with their pet bureacrats in the FDA) to rape and pillage consumers."
Posted by cbsblogger at 11:27 PM : Aug 07, 2008
AND...
"If anything natural cures any disease you can put your house on Big Pharma and their buddies in the FDA banning it..."
Posted by drinuk at 09:10 PM : Aug 07, 2008

I''ve worked in a health food store for over ten years where I had the chance to hear endless complains from customers about the "Pharmaceutical and Doctors" conspiracies to suck money out of you, or even prevent you from knowing how to heal yourself "naturally".
The two quotes above are an example of those conspiracy theories.
My take in all of this is that since the US doesn''t have a Universal Health Care system people are forced to go to a health food store to help themselves, meet other people who are as desperate, and then blame the whole thing on some conspiracy instead of admitting to themselves that, after all, the US does need a Universal Health Care system!
If everyone had access to medical care there would never be these kind of conspiracy theories against the very people who''re trying their best to come up with medications and therapies that on most occassions help relieve our health problems.

[alphaa10-2009]

Those considering cinnamon for blood sugar control should read the research suggesting whole cinnamon intake, over the long term, may become a problem.

For example, Life Extension Magazine, October 2006, reports--

"Using an animal model, researchers investigated the blood pressure-modulating effects of both whole cinnamon and aqueous cinnamon extracts. Supplementing the hypertensive animals%u2019 diets with either whole cinnamon or aqueous cinnamon extract led to decreases in systolic blood pressure.

While both extracts promoted beneficial changes in blood pressure, scientists have expressed concerns regarding the toxicity associated with long-term consumption of high doses of whole cinnamon.

Aqueous cinnamon extracts may thus provide an ideal way to safely capture the benefits of cinnamon."

[cbsblogger]

Big pharma is like big oil, they work and connive their schemes to the bone (along with their pet bureacrats in the FDA) to rape and pillage consumers.

[tngreen]

I''m surprised that the article didn''t mention the implications for inflammatory diseases such as arthritis and lupus. I''m in a two-week-long flare-up, but I felt better this morning, after having had...cinnamon toast last night! I never would have made the connection if not for this article.

And I agree with the other posters--next thing you know, cinnamon will be declared a Class A narcotic. I''m going to start growing it now, before they pull it off the shelves!

[kenhamlett]

Why should anyone but the doctors be surprised? Many of the medicines they sell today are synthetic copies of natural components of herbs, berries, bark, etc.
As far as I can tell (that''s a cop-out phrase) the synthetics are sold because they can be patented. The natural stuff can not. That does not prevent big business from trying though.
We have everything we need around us but it is up to us to learn to use it wisely. Eastern medicine is often natural or extracts of natural products and works very well if we look at the long productive lives of many in the orient. Maybe they have had the answers all along but we laughed because it was not sold in blister packs.

[drinuk]

If anything natural cures any disease you can put your house on Big Pharma and their buddies in the FDA banning it. At the very least they will contrive with the government to bend the patent laws to control it.

[estabwary]

Spices and herbs help decrease food poisoning as well.

Use garlic, herbs & spices liberally & often.

[cyberus-2009]

----
This is the kind of thing that could seriously freak out the drug companies. I''''m surprised it got published.

Posted by dnamj
----
Never fear .. for every positive study published the pharma-corps will fund 3 "prove it wrong" studies.

[dnamj]

This is the kind of thing that could seriously freak out the drug companies. I''m surprised it got published.