Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Eat Cinnamon in Pregnancy & Postpartum Recovery

I found this technical abstract by the USDA Agricultural Research Service very interesting. It's supportive of statements made by Dr. Oz in his book You on a Diet. So if you're trying to avoid gestational diabetes or pregnancy induced obesity read more. The verbage is a bit technical so I've bolded the pertinent points for your convenience.

But make sure you do more than just read the article, add a dash of cinnamon to your salads, cereals, desserts, smoothies, and warm drinks. Afterall, cinnamon is an appetite suppressant!

Technical Abstract: In Western countries, over consumption of fat and/or refined carbohydrates are leading causes of insulin resistance, obesity, and the metabolic syndrome. Some nutritional factors, including many polyphenols, may be beneficial in counteracting insulin resistance associated with the metabolic syndrome.

We have shown that cinnamon and polyphenols in the aqueous extracts of cinnamon counteract insulin resistance in in vitro, experimental animal, and human studies. The objective of this study was to determine the effects of cinnamon on insulin resistance, glycogen synthesis, and body composition using an animal model of the metabolic syndrome, the high fat/high fructose-fed rat. Four groups of male Wistar rats (n=10) were fed for 12 weeks with (i) High Fat/High Fructose diet (HF/HF) known to induce insulin resistance, (ii) HF/HF diet containing 20g cinnamon/kg of diet, (iii) Control diet, and (iv) Control diet containing 20g of cinnamon/kg of diet. Insulin resistance was documented using the hyperglycemic clamp, with significant decreases in the glucose infusion rates in rats fed the HF/HF diet. Addition of cinnamon to the diet led to a return of the glucose infusion rates to the values of the control rats. Consumption of the HF/HF diet also led to significant accumulation of mesenteric white fat that was not present in animals consuming the same diet with added cinnamon. In addition, cinnamon added to the diet led to significant increases in liver and muscle glycogen, especially in animals fed the HF/HF diet. These results demonstrate that cinnamon improves insulin sensitivity with the metabolic syndrome and suggest that these effects are related to less accumulation of mesenteric fat and enhanced liver and muscle glycogen.



Project Team
ANDERSON, RICHARD
PARK, JAE
SCHOENE, NORBERTA



Publications

Publications



Related National Programs

Human Nutrition (107)



Related Projects

Chromium and Cinnamon Effects on Insulin Sensitivity

A Study to Determine the Effects of Cinnamon on Blood Glucose



Last Modified: 07/13/2010

No comments:

Post a Comment