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Cinnamon A Natural Version Of Insulin
posted 04/22/04
Cinnamon might be a natural -- and inexpensive -- treatment
for diabetes because of its molecular similarity to insulin, scientists report.
Research on mice has shown the spice, when taken regularly with water, behaves
remarkably like insulin, a hormone that regulates the level of glucose in the
blood.
With preliminary results on the mice, and promising data from a separate human
trial, scientists speculate they have found a natural version of insulin that
could be used by diabetics who require injections but cannot afford them.
Cinnamon may be more than a spice -- it may have a medical application in
preventing and combating diabetes. Cinnamon may help by playing the role of an
insulin substitute in type II diabetes, according to cellular and molecular
studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara, Iowa State University
and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
"Cinnamon itself has insulin-like activity and also can
potentiate the activity of insulin," said Don Graves of UCSB. "The latter could
be quite important in treating those with type II diabetes. Cinnamon has a
bio-active component that we believe has the potential to prevent or overcome
diabetes."
The healthful effects of cinnamon on mice with diabetes are being studied in a
joint project at the UCSB and the Sansum Diabetes Research Institute in Santa
Barbara.
The researchers have been studying the effects of cinnamon on obese mice, which
have been fed water laced with cinnamon at Sansum's lab.
The study began six months ago and final results are expected in about six
months.
Using nuclear magnetic resonance and mass spectroscopy, the researchers obtained
results which allowed them to describe the chemical structure of a molecule with
"insulin-like" activity in cinnamon. Graves and others reported earlier that
this compound, a proanthocyanidin, can affect insulin signaling in fat cells.
Richard Anderson of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, a
former Graves student and the discoverer of the insulin-like activity, recently
completed a human study with associates in Pakistan using cinnamon. Promising
results were obtained by 30 test subjects with type II diabetes after only 40
days of taking cinnamon. They had a significant decrease in blood glucose,
triglycerides, LDL, and cholesterol. The researchers hope that a human trial may
begin in the US, possibly in Santa Barbara, using cinnamon and its water-soluble
extract to treat type II diabetes.
Graves said that other major diseases could possibly be helped by cinnamon. For
example one prospect is pancreatic cancer, a disease in which abnormal amounts
of insulin are produced by the pancreas in response to the cancer tumor causing
insulin resistance in the cells of the body. The resistance prevents glucose
availability to the cells. Graves believes that cinnamon might help overcome
this resistance. "It's speculative but exciting," he said.
Graves suggests cinnamon might be a promising alternative to insulin shots for
people with Type II, or "adult onset" diabetes, in which cellular sensitivity to
insulin is reduced.
Source: Diabetes In Control.com.
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