Cinnamon for Diabetes and High Triglycerides
Answered by: Susan Eagles
Question from: Brenda
Posted on: September 28, 2005

I heard that drinking cinnamon tea is a good way to lower trigliceride levels. Is this true and if so, what are some of the other medicinal properties of cinnamon?

Thomas Bartram, in Bartram’s Encyclopedia of Herbal Medicine (available at Richters) includes the following actions for cinnamon (Cinnamomum zeylanicum): stimulant astringent to the stomach, carminative (expels gas from the stomach and intestines), anti-spasmodic, anti-diarrhea, anti-worm, a warming remedy for cold conditions, antiseptic, anti-diabetic, stimulates bone healing. Bartram includes the following uses for cinnamon: weak digestion, flatulence, vomiting, hyperacidity, to promote secretion of gastric juices, irritable bowel, summer diarrhea, influenza, colds and "the tea is used in China to boost insulin activity".

Recent studies on diabetes type 2 patients have shown that 1 to 6 grams of cinnamon, taken for 40 days, reduced triglycerides, cholesterol and blood sugar. You can see the results of this study on the web site http://www.ars.usda.gov/research/publications/publications.htm?SEQ_NO_115=150324.

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