Not in place of standard diabetes medications. This might be an important point to emphasize to patients as insulin prices continue to rise.
Cassia cinnamon, also known as Chinese cinnamon, started getting a lot of attention back in 2004 when a small study showed that taking it could lower fasting blood sugar in people with type 2 diabetes. Since then, many different studies have yielded mixed results. An analysis of the research overall shows that taking about 1 gram of cassia cinnamon daily for 4-18 weeks modestly lowers fasting blood sugar and reduces cholesterol in people with type 2 diabetes. However, cassia cinnamon has not shown an effect on HbA1c, the gold standard long-term measure of blood glucose control. For more information on this analysis and its potential limitations, check out our monograph.
Overall, despite some evidence of benefit, it’s still too soon to recommend cassia cinnamon for patients with type 2 diabetes. However, if a patient with diabetes wants to take cinnamon, make sure they understand a few key points.
For more details on counseling diabetes patients on natural medicines, check out our CE/CME course.
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