Cinnamon

As a follow-up to this mornings notes on improving blood sugar, I wanted to also comment on the use of cinnamon to aid in improving blood sugar. There have been a number of studies, both animal and human, showing an improvement in post prandial (after meal) blood sugar levels and fasting (first thing in the morning) blood sugars. The therapeutic dose of cinnamon seems to be approximately 5g per day or 5000 mg. Improvement may be seen with smaller quantities, but this is the most common level studied. [Davis P, Yokoyama W. Cinnamon intake lowers fasting blood glucose: meta-analysis. J Medicinal Food. 2011;14(9):884- ]

5g of cinnamon is equivalent to approximately 3/4 of a Tablespoon. Try sprinkling some in your morning oatmeal or Add it to your latte or cup of hot cocoa.

If you don't care for cinnamon, or this amount proves to be a bit much, you can also easily find it in supplement form. Some companies offer it as a straight extract or capsule, and others may combine it with other beneficial "blood sugar lowering" ingredients, like chromium, fenugreek and nopal leaves - like this one from a company I like called SugarReg, by Nature's Sunshine.