Why cinnamon is essential for those with type 2 diabetes
Type 2 diabetes is a disease that causes an individuals' blood sugar to be too high because of complications with insulin. Whether you use oral medication or insulin injections to regulate it, there are ingredients and foods that you can add to a comprehensive diabetes diet plan to make blood sugar management easier.
One ingredient that should play a significant role in your diet is cinnamon. While cinnamon is a common spice cabinet item, it offers several health benefits including lowering blood sugar to help manage diabetes.
Cinnamon offers essential antioxidants for individuals with type 2
Cinnamon offers much more to the body than flavor in sweet and savory dishes. For individuals with diabetes, the prevention of future cell damage is critical, and the health benefits of cinnamon can help when added to a type 2 diabetes-friendly diet plan. Primarily, cinnamon contains an immense amount of antioxidants, which reduce damage from free radical atoms to cells. Free radicals are a natural by-product that can be found in fried foods, alcohol, pesticides, pollution, and more. When there is an increase of free radicals in the cells, they lose their ability to function normally, and will lead to several chronic illnesses overtime, especially diabetes.
An ingredient in cinnamon can decrease insulin resistance
A normal pancreas releases sensitive insulin in your blood to direct sugar to cells for using and storing energy. When you have type 2 diabetes, this function is hindered because insulin becomes resistant (doesn’t direct sugar to cells) causing glucose to stay stagnant in the bloodstream resulting in high blood sugar. However, an ingredient found in cinnamon, methylhydroxychalcone polymer or MHCP, will make your body more sensitive to insulin and allow it to work more efficiently. MHCP essentially mimics the function of insulin. Meaning, MHCP increases the process of moving blood sugar through the cells to lower blood sugar. If you’re someone who has diabetes, adding cinnamon to your daily diet can help increase your insulin sensitivity from MHCP.
Cinnamon can help improve fasting blood sugar levels
Fasting blood sugar is the result of glucose levels when you have not eaten recently. For those who don’t have diabetes, blood glucose spikes after you eat. However, if you notice your blood sugar is still at a high level when you haven’t eaten recently, this may be a primary indicator of type 2. When adding cinnamon and its health-promoting ingredients to your diabetes-friendly diet plan, your fasting blood sugar levels will lower. This is because your blood sugar will better regulate from the increase in insulin sensitivity discussed above. When adding just one gram of cinnamon to your diet a day you will help your body use glucose more efficiently. As always, talk to your healthcare provider to ensure cinnamon is an appropriate addition to your diabetes treatment and diet.
