Cinnamon and insulin resistance (a bit off-topic)

[Guest guest]

Cinnamon Extract Spices Up Sugar Metabolism

Cinnamon adds zest to more than just

food. The spice contains substances that, in test tube studies at least,

wake up body cells to the hormone insulin. Because insulin regulates

glucose metabolism and thus controls the level of glucose in the blood,

the substances may have the potential to delay or prevent adult-onset, or

type 2, diabetes.

ARS has filed a patent application on the active substances. The most

active—methylhydroxy chalcone polymer (MHCP)—increased glucose metabolism

roughly 20-fold in the test tube assay of fat cells. MHCP and the other

active compounds are water soluble and so are not found in the spice oils

sold as food additives. Whether they are effective in people remains to

be tested.

Nearly 6 percent of the U.S. population—15.7 million people—have

diabetes, and one-third of them don't even know it. The large majority of

diabetes cases are type 2, the kind that emerges when body cells fail to

recognize and respond to insulin as well as they once did.

A search for a natural way to keep blood sugar levels normal began more

than a decade ago, when ARS scientists assayed plants and spices used in

folk medicine. They found that a few spices, especially cinnamon, made

fat cells much more responsive to insulin. With help from other ARS

chemists, the researchers identified the compounds in cinnamon

responsible for its activity. None of the approximately 50 other plant

extracts they evaluated have come close to MHCP's level of activity.

For more information, contact

A.

, (301) 504-8091,

Nutrient Requirements and

Functions Laboratory, Beltsville, MD