Cinnamon extracts may reduce diabetes

BELTSVILLE, Md., Aug. 27 (UPI) -- Cinnamon extracts -- a water soluble extract of cinnamon -- may reduce diabetes and heart attack risks by lowering glucose levels, a U.S. researcher says.

Chemist Richard Anderson of the U.S. Department of Agriculture in Beltsville, Md., and colleagues say the extract increased antioxidant variables by as much as 13 percent to 23 percent. The improvements in antioxidant status were linked with decreased glucose in the blood.

"Only more research will tell whether the investigational study supports the idea that people who are overweight or obese could reduce oxidative stress and blood glucose by consuming cinnamon extracts that have been proven safe and effective," U.S. Agricultural Department scientists say in a statement.

The study, published in the Journal of the American College of Nutrition, was conducted in Ohio by co-author Tim Ziegenfuss, currently with the Center for Applied Health Sciences in Fairlawn, Ohio.

Twenty-two obese participants whose blood glucose values were classified as prediabetes were randomly divided into two groups and given either a placebo or 250 milligrams of a dried water-soluble cinnamon extract twice daily. Fasting blood tests at the beginning of the study and after six and 12 weeks measured blood glucose and antioxidant changes.

The study included researchers at Integrity Nutraceuticals International of Spring Hill, Tenn., and Joseph Fourier University in Grenoble, France.