Cinnamon for insulin resistance. We all can think of cinnamon rolls, or cinnamon toast crunch,
but is there a link with cinammon for increasing insulin sensitivity and helping with insulin
resistance. If you are currently diabetic, prediabetic, or just curious to learn how
an everyday spice can play such an important role metabolically, youre in the right place.
In this video we will look at: what some of the symptoms of insulin resistance are, how cinnamon
comes in to increase insulin sensitivity and improve insulin resistance, and what type of
cinnamon exactly may be the best type to take. If you guys are new here, this channel is all
about helping you make informed decisions as well as be in the know when it comes to your health and
wellness, and I would love for you all to gently tap on that like button down below, and if you
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more behind the scenes. Now without wasting any more time, lets get straight into it.
Now a quick recap on what insulin resistance is. Because I think its important to give some quick
context and for more info on it, ive made a video on it talking about the skin signs of insulin
resistance you should watch for after this video. A big one being skin tags. But basically Your body
breaks down the food you eat into glucose, which is your body’s main source of energy,
right. The Glucose then enters your bloodstream, which then signals your pancreas to release
insulin. Because Insulin is a chaefuer to drive your glucose into your muscles, fat, and liver,
to be used for energy, or stored for later use. And After the glucose gets in the cells, the
amount of glucose in your blood decreases, because its all in your cells, and not your blood anymore,
and that signals your pancreas to stop producing insulin. Because there are no more passengers to
be transported. All the glucose got to there final destination. Thats the normal case,
and that happens over and over again in the body. But with insulin resistance, your muscle,
fat and liver cells may not appropriately respond to that insulin, which means, the glucose cant get
dropped off, this leads to an increase in blood sugar, because the blood sugar has nowhere to go,
so the pancreas makes more and more insulin to try to overcome this, because it knows sugar left in
the blood is not a good thing, and with more and more insulin being produced, not being able to get
the sugar into the cells, its at this stage, where you have whats called insulin resistance. And here
are some of its symptoms: cravings for sweets and salty foods, fatigue, frequent bathroom trips,
darkening of the skin in certain areas, increased hunger thirst, and tingling sensations in the
hands and feet. And no, just because you have any of these symptoms, does not mean you have insulin
resistance. Only a proper diagnosis can verify that. But with that said, Anyone can develop
insulin resistance, sometimes its temporary and sometimes its chronic, which we know can lead to
prediabetes and diabetes. We also know the big causes of it: And if we know some of the causes,
we can remain hopeful in preventing it down the line. The first cause, is A waist measurement of
40 inches or more for men 35 inches or more for women, 2nd: having no physical activity or very
little, 3rd: a diet of highly processed foods, which if youre in the us, thats
just about everywhere, lets be honest, and 4th: certain disease states: like cushings syndrome,
acromegaly, and hypothyroidism, all can put you at risk for insulin resistance. And yes I get it,
its an over simplified explanation. But i think it helps paint the picture to what Im about to come
to. Which is the exciting part. The cinnamon. And no, not these. Cinnamon has been shown
to be whats called an insulin mimetic, meaning that interestingly, this spice right here, can
mimic the effects of insulin. By stimulating the insulin tyrosine kinase receptor (IR), tyrosine
auto-phosphorylation, and then, the insulin receptor substrate molecules. Which is great
because it can help regulate the glycemia, which is referred to as the concentration of sugar in
the blood induced by type 2 diabetes. Moving onward, a second study actually showed us:
that cinnamon may also play a role in making insulin more efficient at getting sugar into
the cells by increasing what is known as GLUT-4, which is a super important insulin regulated
glucose transporter, that literally digs its way up from inside the cell, to the surface,
acting as a side door, to get the sugar inside the cell. And lastly, cinnamon was found in One study,
that followed 80 people with PCOS, and noted that taking 1.5 g of cinnamon powder daily for 12 weeks
caused a significant reduction in fasting insulin levels and improved insulin sensitivity compared
with a placebo. And I know that studies for this are in fact mixed, and more studies are needed
to gain validity. I do think future studies on this very issue, will be so exciting to come by
and can be promising.And now the most obvious next question: What type of cinnamon. There
are 2 types. You got: ceylon and cassia. And the difference matters. Cassia is going to be
the most common cinnamon you find, coming from Indonesia and China. Its less expensive and is a
sweeter flavor that people are used to. But the problem with cassia is: its high in coumarin,
which may act as a natural blood thinner and too much of it can lead to liver damage. Ceylon,
is usually sourced from Sri Lanka, Madagascar and the Seychelles and can be a lot more expensive,
its lighter and is more on the spicier side, and you can see has a lot less coumarin,
which means it is a safer version if youre thinking of supplementing it. And in terms
of how much cinnamon, Generally, most of the research has studied the effects of anywhere
from 1–6 g per day, either as a supplement or powder added to foods. For the cassia. It’s
probably best not to exceed 0.5–1 g of Cassia daily, but taking up to 1.2 tsp or roughly 6
grams daily of Ceylon cinnamon is likely safe. Because you dont want to overdo it.
And using cinnamon for treating insulin resistance should not be the only option you resort to.
You can improve your insulin response through lifestyle measures such as eating a balanced diet,
staying active, and making an effort to maintain a moderate body weight. I made a
series of videos that focus on certain foods and supplements that help with weight loss, which is
going to help you tremendously in improving your insulin sensitivity that ive left below
in the description that you can check out down there. And in the meantime, if you want to know
how turmeric can help with weight loss, click the video to watch me make a liquid turmeric diy tea.
Also, I would love to hear your thoughts down below and in the meantime, Click the
subscribe button if you found any value in this and ill see you on the next one.