Cinnamon lowers BP but not blood sugar

Dr. Julio Wainstein, head of Israel Diabetes Association, said 1,200 milligrams of cinnamon will help lower blood pressure.

By JUDY SIEGEL-ITZKOVICH
Cinnamon 311 (photo credit: courtesy)
Cinnamon 311
(photo credit: courtesy)
Cinnamon has been found not to have a natural ability to reduce blood sugar but it will lower blood pressure if 1,200 milligrams are taken on a daily basis, the head of the Israel Diabetes Association said Monday.
“Contrary to expectations and common beliefs, including pharmacists and natural food stores, cinnamon has not proven itself as reducing blood sugar levels,” Dr. Julio Wainstein, who is also the Wolfson Medical Center diabetes unit director, said. “But it has been found to lower systolic blood pressure.”
The higher figure while the heart is beating is systolic blood pressure; diastolic is the lower number in the blood vessels between heartbeats.
Lowering blood pressure will help type 2 diabetics and hypertensives.
The Holon hospital diabetologist studied adults over the age of 30 who have type 2 diabetes, mostly caused from lifestyle or being overweight, not the autoimmune type 1 diabetes.
He divided them into two groups on a random basis.
One consumed 1,200 mg. of cinnamon daily, while the other received a placebo that tasted like cinnamon. All participants underwent physical exams by a doctor.
Twelve weeks after taking the cinnamon or the placebo, the participants were examined again. They were tested for blood pressure, the threemonth blood sugar measure of HbA1c, glucose while fasting, cholesterol and triglyceride profiles and liver and kidney function, plus a general urine test.
Wainstein said that that while blood sugar was not affected, the systolic blood pressure in those who had cinnamon declined by an average of 3.4 mm. of mercury on the sphygmomanometer, or blood pressure meter, with a range of 11.4. Those in the placebo group had blood pressure averaging 1.9 mm higher than before.