Cinnamon and Insulin Resistance

Keep reading to learn more about the evidence supporting cinnamon's impact on insulin resistance and blood sugar management! More research needs to be conducted to be sure of it's benefits, but adding cinnamon to your meals has the potential to regulate your blood sugars while also making your food even tastier!

This following reviews the amount of cinnamon that was involved in research studies, the benefits shown, whether the recommended amount of cinnamon can realistically be obtained from cinnamon powder/real food or if supplementation would make this more realistic, and how to incorporate more cinnamon in your diet.

How to Lower Insulin Resistance with Cinnamon

• Not only does cinnamon add a nutty and fragrant addition to many dishes, but research is also coming out showing that it may have a significant impact on regulating blood sugars (1, 2, 3)

• Multiple 12-week studies showed that consuming 500 mg of cinnamon × 3 daily (1.5 gm total) with meals resulted in lowered insulin resistance and HbA1c. Some studies also showed improvements in blood lipid panels and symptoms of PCOS in women (3)

• One meta analysis mentioned that cinnamon may have potential beneficial effects in managing inflammation, metabolic syndrome, lipids, and blood pressure (2)

• More research is needed to be conducted to support the impact of cinnamon on blood sugars in larger and longer studies, but the research so far looks promising (1, 2)

Note: 1 teaspoon of cinnamon provides 2.8g of cinnamon

Tasty ways to eat more cinnamon

• Sprinkle 1 tsp on top of high-protein oatmeal

• Add 1 tsp to a vanilla or chocolate smoothie

• Add 1/2 tsp to your coffee with vanilla extract OR hot cocoa

• Sprinkle cinnamon onto peanut butter and whole grain toast

• Toss sliced apples with 1 tsp cinnamon then dip in nut butter

• Layer cinnamon and blueberries into vanilla Greek yogurt

• Add cinnamon to protein pancakes

References

1. Moridpour AH, Kavyani Z, Khosravi S, Farmani E, Daneshvar M, Musazadeh V, Faghfouri AH. The effect of cinnamon supplementation on glycemic control in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus: An updated systematic review and dose-response meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. Phytother Res. 2024 Jan;38(1):117-130. doi: 10.1002/ptr.8026. Epub 2023 Oct 11. PMID: 37818728. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37818728/

2. Qin B, Panickar KS, Anderson RA. Cinnamon: potential role in the prevention of insulin resistance, metabolic syndrome, and type 2 diabetes. J Diabetes Sci Technol. 2010 May 1;4(3):685-93. doi: 10.1177/193229681000400324. PMID: 20513336; PMCID: PMC2901047. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC2901047/

3. Ziegenfuss TN, Hofheins JE, Mendel RW, Landis J, Anderson RA. Effects of a water-soluble cinnamon extract on body composition and features of the metabolic syndrome in pre-diabetic men and women. J Int Soc Sports Nutr. 2006 Dec 28;3(2):45-53. doi: 10.1186/1550-2783-3-2-45. PMID: 18500972; PMCID: PMC2129164. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18500972/