Although having a healthy lifestyle and diet are two of the most important factors in preventing or reversing type 2 diabetes, there are several herbs that have been shown to help diabetics.
Researchers for the United States Agricultural Research Service published a report last month in the journal Phytomedicine.
The study showed that cinnamon regulated the expression of genes that have to do with insulin and sugar in the fat cells of mice.
The article was consistent with an August 2006 report published in the journal Molecular Nutrition and Food Research.
Workers at the School of Dietetics and Human Nutrition, McGill University in Canada, looked at the ability of fat cells to take in glucose (sugar) in the presence of cinnamon.
In the presence of cinnamon, human fat cells were better able to take in sugar than were the "control cells".
When cells are able to take in sugar and use it, the sugar is unable to cause harm by traveling throughout your body via the bloodstream.
Clinical studies have been mixed.
In one study, volunteers who ate cinnamon for 40 days had 18 per cent reduction in cholesterol and 24 per cent reduction in their blood sugar levels.
In another study, volunteers eating rice pudding with cinnamon...
their after meals or post-prandial blood sugar readings were lower.
On the other hand, some clinical studies looking at cinnamon, blood sugar, and cholesterol have not shown any affect.
The American Diabetes Association does not recommend cinnamon for treating diabetes but, on the other hand, it is thought to be a safe spice, with at least some possibility of helping to control blood sugar.
As well cinnamon is a source of calcium, iron, fiber, and vitamins C and K.
Foods flavored with cinnamon do not necessarily have to be high in sugar or white flour.
The website, lowcarbdiets.
about.
com, offers a recipe for Microwave Apple Almond Dessert consisting of chopped apples with sugar-free syrup, cinnamon, almond meal, butter, and chopped walnuts.
The same website has a recipe for Flax Meal Peanut Butter Hot Cereal made with flax meal, boiling water, peanut butter, and cinnamon.
Drgourmet.
com recommends cinnamon for flavoring jasmine rice.
A cinnamon stick also makes a flavorful tool for stirring coffee, tea or cocoa.
It is true it is not time to throw away your medications in favor of cinnamon or any other spice or herb, but spices and herbs in moderation can be healthful in general.
Where cinnamon is concerned, its helpful effects may be explained by compounds called polyphenol polymers...
these are found in the spice and have an insulin-like action.