Daily cinnamon supplement could help lower blood sugar, study says

BOSTON - Cinnamon has been used for thousands of years, not only in cooking but also for medicinal purposes. The spice may have antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. Now a new study has found it may have antidiabetic effects.

Researchers at UCLA took 18 people with obesity and prediabetes and randomly assigned them to take daily cinnamon supplements or a placebo for four weeks, then had them switch. They found that when the participants took the cinnamon, they had significantly lower 24-hour glucose concentrations, lower peaks in blood sugar, and lower triglyceride levels, suggesting that people with obesity-related prediabetes could achieve better glucose control with cinnamon supplements.

That said, critics have raised some concerns over how the study was designed and its small size, so more research needs to be done before you run out and buy cinnamon supplements, which are available in stores.

In:
• Health
• Obesity

Mallika Marshall, MD

Mallika Marshall, MD is an Emmy-award-winning journalist and physician who has served as the HealthWatch Reporter for CBS Boston/WBZ-TV for over 20 years. A practicing physician Board Certified in both Internal Medicine and Pediatrics, Dr. Marshall serves on staff at Harvard Medical School and practices at Massachusetts General Hospital at the MGH Chelsea Urgent Care and the MGH Revere Health Center, where she is currently working on the frontlines caring for patients with COVID-19. She is also a host and contributing editor for Harvard Health Publications (HHP), the publishing division of Harvard Medical School.

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