Cinnamon May Add Healthy Spice to Diabetics' Lives

By GAIL GALLESSICH

Cinnamon may be more than a spice—it may have medical applications 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 UC 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 UCSB researcher Don Graves. "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."

Diabetic, obese mice are being studied in a joint project at UCSB and the Sansum Diabetes Research Institute in Santa Barbara. They have been fed water laced with cinnamon at Sansum's lab, according to Graves, who is running the project with Lois Jovanovic, Sansum's research director.

When the trials are completed, 60 diabetic mice will have been studied, sponsored by a grant to UCSB from Cottage Hospital. The study began six months ago and final results are expected in about six months.

"More than 170 million people worldwide suffer from diabetes, and for many, drugs or other forms of treatment are unavailable," said Graves. "It may be possible that many of these people could benefit from readily available natural products, such as cinnamon."

Type II diabetes is a disease in which the body develops a resistance to insulin, preventing the cells from receiving the glucose that they need to function.

Graves, an adjunct professor of molecular, cellular, and developmental biology, came to UCSB in October 2000 after retiring from Iowa State University. He now divides his time between UCSB and the Sansum Institute.

Researchers have described the chemical structure of a molecule with insulin-like activity in cinnamon. Graves and others reported earlier that this compound, a proanthocyanidin, could affect insulin signaling in fat cells.

Richard Anderson of the Agriculture Department and a former Graves student discovered the insulin-like activity. He has recently completed a human study with associates in Pakistan. Promising results were obtained from 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 U.S., possibly in Santa Barbara, using cinnamon and its water-soluble extract.