Cinnamon health benefits

Deep within the inner recesses of your kitchen pantry is a spice that’s been prized for thousands of years. It’s even mentioned in the Bible.

 

In the United States, cinnamon is mostly used for baking and flavoring, but recent research suggests that cinnamon health benefits are numerous, though somewhat controversial.

 

Besides sweetening your morning oatmeal or cup of coffee, other benefits of cinnamon may include:

 

• Lowering blood sugar
• Killing bacteria
• Reducing inflammation
• Improving digestion
• Speeding up blood flow and circulation
• Staving off Alzheimer’s Disease
• Lowering cholesterol

 

Can cinnamon cure diabetes? 
By itself, not likely. But cinnamon has demonstrated that it contains compounds that lowers blood sugar after meals and increases insulin sensitivity.

 

A study from VIT University in India examined cinnamon’s effect on diabetic rats and demonstrated that cinnamon bark is effective in reducing post-meal high blood sugar (hyperglycemia) levels. A meta-analysis of clinical studies on cinnamon published in the Journal of Medicinal Food concluded that cinnamon lowers fasting blood glucose levels in people with Type II diabetes.

 

Another study led by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Department of Human Nutrition, involved 60 people and concluded that cinnamon reduces serum glucose, triglycerides, LDL cholesterol and total cholesterol in people with Type II diabetes. It also suggested that adding cinnamon to the diet of people with Type II diabetes will reduce risk factors associated with diabetes and cardiovascular diseases.

 

Despite these and other studies, not everyone sees cinnamon as a panacea for blood sugar metabolic disorders.

 

Who’s not buying the hype?
According to the American Diabetes Associaiton, “There is not enough evidence from research to claim that including cinnamon in your daily diet will help regulate blood glucose in people with diabetes.” The ADA points to a study by University of Connecticut and Hartford Hospital researchers that found a lack of efficacy in cinnamon’s ability to reduce blood sugar and fat.

 

New York University’s Langone Medical Center also doubts the usefulness of cinnamon for diabetes and for other health issues. On its website, it says, “At present, it would be premature to consider cinnamon an evidence-based treatment for Type II diabetes or high cholesterol, but it has definitely shown some promise.”

 

The Langone Medical Center points to the aforementioned USDA study involving 60 people, who were given doses of one, three, or six grams of cinnamon. The center concluded: “This study has some odd features. The most important is that it found no significant difference in benefit between the various doses of cinnamon. This is called lack of a dose-related effect, and it generally casts doubt on the results of a study.”

 

The critique continues, “The researchers counter that perhaps even (one gram) of cinnamon is sufficient to produce the maximum cholesterol-lowering effect, and therefore, higher doses simply didn’t add any further benefit. There is another problem with this study as well: no improvements were seen in the placebo group. This too is unusual, and also casts doubt on the results.”

 

‘Hogwash,’ says one researcher

Richard Anderson is the lead scientist at the Human Nutrition Research Center (a branch of the U.S.D.A.) in Beltsville, Md., and author of the study that NYU’s Langone Medical Center concluded was flawed.  Anderson told the Mother Nature Network, “I disagree, vehemently. All doses worked. That’s not a negative. We had 3 groups of 20 people in each group and a corresponding placebo for 1, 3, and 6 grams. In essence it’s three studies in one, so for them to say it’s a weak study is absolutely false. To say cinnamon doesn’t have an effect on humans is wrong.”

 

Anderson adds that some of the studies that failed to prove that cinnamon is effective in lowering blood sugar levels in patients with Type II diabetes has to do with the fact that the studies were done on people who were already taking blood sugar-lowering drugs such as Glucophage.

 

“To give cinnamon to people who are already on blood sugar-lowering drugs is ridiculous,” says Anderson.

 

Studying diabetic rats and mice is easier than humans
“It’s harder to duplicate the studies on cinnamon’s efficacy in humans because you can easily control a rat or mouse’s diet,” says Don Graves, a former distinguished professor at Iowa State University and current adjunct professor at University of California Santa Barbara.

 

“It’s very hard to control the diet of humans, it varies so much,” says Graves, who was Anderson’s graduate advisor.  Nonetheless, Graves concludes, “Both in animals and humans, without a doubt, cinnamon is very effective in helping manage diabetes.”

 

What other benefits?
Israeli researchers at Tel Aviv University have isolated a section of the cinnamon plant capable of delaying the development of Alzheimer’s disease. The findings were published in a peer-reviewed online science journal.

 

Cinnamon also fights the E. coli bacteria in unpasteurized juices, according to research byDaniel Fung, Professor of Food Science at Kansas State University.

 

“Cinnamon has tremendous killing power in controlling some microbes,” Fung tells MNN. “At a minimum, it can preserve food longer, and in some cases it can kill bad organisms,”

 

So, go ahead and relocate cinnamon front and center in your spice rack. It may be good for you.

Caffeine withdrawal symptoms

Reading this with a cup of coffee in your hand? Well, you’re not alone. In North America, approximately 90 percent of adults say they drink a caffeinated beverage every day.

 

But, what happens when you stop?

 

After sudden caffeine cessation, withdrawal symptoms develop in a small portion of the population, according to a research paper by Jasvinder Chawla, M.D. and Amer Suleman, M.D.

 

The study notes that the effects of caffeine withdrawal are often mild and transient but typical symptoms include:

 

• headaches
• fatigue
• weakness
• drowsiness
• impaired concentration and work difficulty
• depression and or anxiety
• irritability
• increased muscle tension

 

Tremor, nausea, and vomiting can also occur in extreme cases of caffeine withdrawal.

 

When do withdrawal symptoms start?

Withdrawal symptoms generally begin 12-24 hours after sudden cessation of caffeine consumption and reach a peak after 24-48 hours, says Daniel Evatt, Ph.D., a psychiatry research fellow at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore. 

 

For those more sensitive to caffeine, withdrawal symptoms can appear within three hours and last up to a week if no caffeine enters the body to abate withdrawal symptoms.

 

“The most common symptom we see in people who stop using caffeine is headache, and that’s only in about a half the population who abruptly quit,” says Evatt.

 

170 years of medical literature

Roland Griffiths, a professor of behavioral biology at Johns Hopkins University, co-authored a paper in Psychopharmacology that reviewed 170 years of caffeine withdrawal mentions in medical literature.

 

In 57 experimental and nine survey studies, 13 percent of research participants experienced significant distress or functional impairment. The most severe cases of caffeine withdrawal occurred in those subjects who consumed high doses of caffeine.

 

But the study also revealed that it takes only 100 mg of caffeine a day (the typical amount of caffeine in a moderate-strength 8-ounce serving of coffee) to experience withdrawal symptoms.

 

Griffiths’ study, published in 2004, concluded that caffeine withdrawal symptoms are serious enough to merit inclusion in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM).

 

As of the fourth edition of the DSM, caffeine withdrawal has not been included but caffeine-induced anxiety, sleep disorder and intoxication are included. The fifth edition will be released in 2013. A proposed revision to the DSM-V suggests that caffeine withdrawal may be included in the next edition.

 

Caffeine’s benefits overstated?

Evatt says that feelings of anxiety, irritability, depression, as well as sluggishness are all symptoms that are opposite of what the supposed benefits of caffeine offer. Evatt has found that to enjoy the benefits of caffeine, only a little bit is required.

 

“You can get the benefits in less than 100 milligrams,” says Evatt, also cautioning that above 300-400 mg per day of caffeine may lead to more serious withdrawal symptoms.  

 

Jack E. James, Ph.D., the editor-in-chief of the Journal of Caffeine Research, tells MNN via email that the beneficial effects of caffeine are inflated.

 

“The widely-held beliefs of superior performance and mood after caffeine consumption are simply due to a reversal of adverse withdrawal effects,” James writes.

 

“Overall, there is little evidence of caffeine having beneficial effects on performance or mood under conditions of long-term caffeine use as opposed to abstinence,” adds James, who had a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine concluding that even low to moderate consumption of caffeine resulted in half of the subjects experiencing headaches.

 

Advice for cutting back on caffeine?
According to Evatt, you should not quit cold turkey. Instead, reduce consumption by 25 percent every week and if your goal is total elimination, within three weeks you should be able to abstain.

 

As for the maximum amount of caffeine allowed per day, Evatt says it’s hard to pin down.

 

“Due to the massive differences in how people react and metabolize caffeine, it’s impossible to give one guideline,” says Evatt.

 

Decaf latte, anyone?

Can Calamari Cure Cancer?

Omega-3 Essential Fatty Acids are fattening the wallets of supplement distributors. These sources of healthy fats that we can only get from food are clinically proven to reduce the risk of heart disease and other early death sentences.

It's no wonder Omega-3s are one of the top-selling supplements in the $60+ billion dollar supplement industry.

I've jumped on the Omega-3 bandwagon, having purchased several bottles and capsules...even waffles.

But as mentioned in a previous article for MNN.com I covered on Omega-3s for vegetarians, not all sources of 3s are created equally. Humans tend to absorb plant-sources of 3s (ALAs) pretty easily but ALAs don't efficiently convert into the more potent EPA and DHA forms of Omega-3s that are primarily found in cold water oily fish like wild-caught salmon.

Though plant sources don't contain enough EPA and DHA, can it be concluded that vegetarians aren't as healthy as those who eat cold-water sources of oily fish that are rich in EPA/DHA?

That wasn't meant to be the focus of this week's Fit Friday, but it does pose an interesting question, one that was answered at the end of the blog I linked to earlier on Omega-3s for vegetarians who don't eat fish or pop fish oil pills: Does a vegetarian's health suffer by not consuming EPA/DHA-rich fish?

Not if they:

• Eat several meals a day, all with protein
• Doesn't over-compensate for the loss of animal protein by eating lots of quick-burning carbs
• Combines the right foods to get all essential amino acids 
• The obvious: doesn't smoke or abuse liquor or drugs or eat lots of unhealthy fats (anything hydrogenated or trans fats and too many cooked polyunsaturated fats) and junk food

Although my parents manage to eat salmon the recommended two to three times a week (Good for them!), I don't eat it religiously like they do. So, should I take fish oil supplements? Even if one researcher I interviewed for the Omega 3 for veggies article said until research proves it, supplements aren't necessarily as effective as natural sources. 

I'm banking that DHA/EPA supplements are at least partially as potent as cold water oily sources. We don't need that much to begin with (despite what the health marketers would lead us to believe); we primarily need to make sure we don't consume breads and other baked goods that lead to inflammation throughout the body. 

The overwhelming majority of traditional cultures that have been studied and been documented with very little chronic modern diseases like heart disease have included animal sources of Omega-3s. 

Almost everybody by now has heard about Eskimos being very healthy despite eating whale blubber (not despite; because of!). Eskimos also consume fish oil and krill oil, supplements of which have flooded the markets. 

And before long, you'll likely hear about squid (calamari), particularly wild line caught from Scandinavia. Squid is especially rich in DHA. Although DHA and EPA are often lumped together as especially rich Omega-3s, DHA, some researchers believe, is the body's preferred Omega-3. 

So don't be surprised if you soon see in your local health food store squid in a bottle. 

Just don't eat it fried too often.

How to Stop Sugar Addiction

We take for granted the idea that sugar is bad for our bodies. And yet, we eat more and more of the stuff. Why? Well, we can’t say for sure but there’s some evidence to suggest sugar is an addictive substance.

A 2008 study by researchers at Princeton University supported the hypothesis that under certain circumstances, rats can become sugar dependant. The animals in the experiment displayed behaviors similar to those associated with addictive drugs, including binging, craving and opiate-like “withdrawal” marked by signs of anxiety and behavioral depression.

Learning how to stop sugar addiction can help prevent a life-long sentence in which addicts face the dangers of diabetes, obesity and a host of other health ailments.

What type of sugar addict are you?

Dr. Jacob Teitelbaum, author of four natural wellness books, including “Beat Sugar Addiction Now,” says that beating sugar addiction doesn’t take a one-size-fits-all approach.

Teitelbaum lumps sugar addicts into four categories:

1. Chronically exhausted, energy-drink addicts, or as Dr. Teitelbaum calls the beverages, ‘energy loan-shark drinks.’
2. Hungry, irritable sugar addicts who might be likely to tell you, “If I don’t eat now, I’m going to kill you.”
3. Those with chronic congestion, sinusitis or spastic colons.
4. Women who are perimenopausal (as well as some men who might have deficient levels of hormones like testosterone).

“Sugar cravings exist because food processors dump 150 pounds of sugar per person per year,” says Dr. Teitelbaum.

Reaching for sugar because you’re tired

The first of Teitelbaum’s type of sugar addict seeks a serotonin surge to bypass a rough day. Instead of popping into the local saloon for a quick beer, the sugar addict fantasizes about “[w]alking into a bar, asking for a pint of Ben and Jerry’s, and having the bartender obligingly slide a pint down the bar,” says Teitelbaum.

The problem with this approach: Initially, serotonin will rise, causing a feeling of euphoria, but the insulin resistance will backfire, causing further exhaustion.

The cure, according to Teitelbaum, is fairly simple: “Taking a good multivitamin powder, and adding in a five gram scoop of ribose [Ironically, a sugar, but one that is made naturally by your body], getting enough sleep, getting daily moderate-intensity exercise, and eating 4-5 balanced meals with all-natural food should help defeat sugar cravings.”

I’m hungry, I need sugar NOW!

The adrenal glands, which rest on top of your kidneys play a vital role in controlling blood sugar.

Teitelbaum’s second type likely suffers from adrenal fatigue. “This person is the ‘Feed me now or I will kill you’ variety,” says Teitelbaum. The adrenals also make the stress hormone, cortisol, helping us to adapt to ‘fight or flight’ situations. Cortisol speeds up production of blood sugar during stress.

“If the adrenals are exhausted from stress and sugar is the only food that’s fueling your system, you’re going to see a lot of irritability when hunger arises,” says Teitelbaum.

The solution, besides eating balanced meals: Getting enough Vitamin C, licorice (Opt for the root, which helps slow down cortisol production), Vitamin B5 and adrenal gland supplements.

Does sugar make your runny nose worse?

Candida yeast, which primarily colonizes in the digestive tract, feeds on sugar. Teitelbaum says that scientists have yet to isolate what exactly the candida yeast secretes that ends up stimulating sugar cravings.

For those with candida overgrowth or who often have runny noses, or more serious sinusitis and digestive complications like spastic colon or irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), Teitelbaum suggests taking probiotics every day, as well as an antifungal natural supplement and, of course, cutting down on sugar.

“When you kill the candida the sugar cravings go away,” says Teitelbaum, who adds that only addressing the problem with probiotics and not cutting down on sugar is like saying, “Will a fire hose help put out a fire? Yes — but not if you keep pouring gasoline on the fire.”

Chronological clock cravings for sugar

As people age, hormone levels, including sex hormones like estrogen and testosterone may plummet. According to Teitelbaum, depression and anxiety can result from hormonal imbalances. Sugar is often the go-to quick fix for the blues.

A simple solution, especially for peri- or menopausal women: eating a handful of edamame every day to make up for the depleted estrogen levels. Teitelbaum also suggests supplementing with bio-identical hormone replacements when needed.

Some sugar addicts may need dopamine

Karen Paquette, a naturopathic doctor based in Solana Beach, Calif., says that those who have insatiable sugar and food cravings might have an underlying condition with brain chemistry, most notably a lack of dopamine, the feel-good chemical.

“We can get a temporary uplift in dopamine from food so that’s why some people indulge in sugar, to make up for the deficit of the dopamine neurotransmitter,” says Paquette, who recommends those with sugar addiction receive a neurotransmitter panel test along with a blood test for a genetic marker for enzyme deficiency.

Do you need to go 100 percent sugar-free?

No, says Teitelbaum. "Why bother living to 120 years old if you have to give everything up?" he says. "Indulge a bit in dark chocolate, which I consider a health food."

Eating fruit is also not a concern according to Teitelbaum, but he does strongly urge sugar addicts to abstain from fruit juices.

"They’re just as bad as regular soda."

Carrots and Carotenoid Compounds

Did your mother nag you when you were a kid to eat your vegetables, especially carrots? Turns out mom was right, carrots have several health benefits.

Here are some carrot nutrition facts to prove mom knew best.

The Office of Dietary Supplements at the National Institutes of Health claims that foods rich in Vitamin A, like carrots, can help with the following:

• ·       Bone growth
• ·       Cell differentiation (cells know which tissue to become a part of, like blood, brain, lungs, etc…)
• ·       Immune system regulation (white blood cell production to fight off viruses and bad bacteria)
• ·       Surface lining integrity (eyes, lungs, intestines and urinary tracts)

Carrots contain antioxidants called, appropriately, carotenoids, which are natural red, yellow, or, of course, orange-colored compounds found in plants. Beta-carotene, one of approximately 500 types of carotenoids, is the well-known antioxidant component in carrots.

All carotenoids are important, as a diet rich in them may reduce the risk of developing several types of cancers, including bladder, cervix, colon prostate, larynx and esophageal.

Several studies (such as this one focusing on lung cancer, published in the American Journal of Epidemiology) have proven that a diet high in carotenoids leads to a reduced risk of cancer.

In the book ‘150 Healthiest Foods on Earth,’ author Johnny Bowden, Ph.D. in nutrition, dedicates an entire chapter on carrots. He says in the book that although carrots are best-known for their beta-carotene, they also contain alpha-carotene, which might be equally as protective against diseases, if not more so, than beta-carotene.

One study by Japanese biochemists suggested that alpha-carotene was ten times more powerful than beta-carotene in inhibiting tumor growth.

Alpha- and beta-carotene convert in the body to Vitamin A, hence the reason for a single serving of carrot’s 200 percent suggested Daily Value (DV) of Vitamin A.

Aren’t carrots good for the eyes?
The micronutrients in carrots that promote optimal vision are two other of the five major carotenoids: lutein and zeaxanthin, which are the only carotenoids found in the retina. They may help in the prevention of macular degeneration and cataracts, according to one study in the Archives of Opthamology.

The aforementioned Dr. Bowden’s ode to carrots also mentions that carrots contain a purple pigment—rhodopsin—which helps with vision in dim lighting.

Nutrition data for carrots
Eating just three medium-sized carrots contain:

·       6-8 mg of calcium

·       58 mg of potassium

·       Approximately 7 percent DV of magnesium, phosphorous and Vitamin C

·       30,000 International Units (IUs) of Vitamin A

·       15,000 IUs of beta-carotene

·       6,000 IUs of alpha-carotene

·       5 grams of fiber

But aren’t carrots high in sugar?
Nutrition data from the FDA says that one-half cup of baby carrots contains three grams of sugar. One gram of carbohydrates (sugar) equals four calories, thus a single serving of carrots has 12 calories of sugar out of the 30 total calories.

So, should you ditch carrots?

No, suggests Diane Madrigal, a San Diego-based clinical nutritionist. “Carrots are extremely healthy whether or not you have diabetes, because in its whole nutritious form, you’re getting all the nutrients and fiber, which will slow down the release of sugar,” she says.

But Madrigal says that because Vitamin A, which carrots are loaded with, is a fat-soluble vitamin, to get the most out of carotenoids, eat them with a little fat.

“Hummus, guacamole, tzatziki and babaganoush are excellent dips for carrots,” says Madrigal.

What if I start turning yellow from eating too many carrots? Is that bad?
Beta-carotene may accumulate in your skin if you eat too many carrots, coating it with a yellowish tint. This discoloration, scientifically referred to as ‘carotenemia,’ is usually harmless. If your skin changes color, cut down on your dietary beta-carotene and discontinue any supplements that contain it. The whites of your eyes, however, should not turn yellow. If so, seek immediate medical help. 

Sugar Nutrition Facts

Sugar: Our brains can’t function without it, yet it’s considered a dietary evil.

Should sugar be avoided like the devil, or is it OK to have plenty of it as long as it’s in the form of fruit sugar (fructose)? Or does the answer lie somewhere in between?

Some sugar nutrition facts to ponder...

A nutritional paradox, sugar is vital for all life on Earth, supplying every muscle, organ and cell in our body, while simultaneously being blamed for the obesity and diabetes onslaught in this country.

Is sugar culpable in bloating the health care system, feasting on nearly 20 percent of the U.S. economy?

Perhaps Dr. Andrew Weil says it best on his website: “The problem with … sugar is not that [it is] ‘bad’ for you, but that we eat far too much of [it].”

No doubt nearly every nutritionist on this planet feels the same as Weil. The American Heart Association has the facts to prove it. The AHA recommends no more than 9 teaspoons a day of sugar per day for men (equal to 150 calories, or about a little more than a can of regular soda) and 6 for women (100 calories).

The average daily sugar consumption for an American: 22 teaspoons (330 calories, yikes!)

Consuming 330 calories a day, equals 2,130 calories per week, equals 9,240 calories per month. Trying to lose weight, specifically body fat? Consider that there are 3,500 calories in a pound of body fat. Doing the math, this is an excess of almost two pounds per month.

Gaining two pounds of body fat a month leaves you 24 pounds heavier in a year. It’s easy to see how the battle of the bulge is lost.

What about alternative sweeteners? Are they healthier?
What if people switched from white table sugar to one of the following alternative sweeteners:

• Agave nectar
• Molasses
• Raw organic honey
• Evaporated cane juice
• Brown sugar (raw)
  
  

The two biggest advantages of alternative sweeteners is that they contain trace minerals (calcium, manganese, iron, zinc and potassium) that aren’t found in white table sugar.

Some sweeteners also have a lower glycemic index (GI) rating than regular sugar, thus potentially raising blood sugar levels less quickly than white table sugar. High blood sugar levels may contribute to diabetes and other health problems.

For example, agave nectar has a glycemic index of only 30 compared to the simplest broken-down sugar known to man and the chemical compound that fuels our brain: glucose, which has a GI rating of 100.

Honey averages 55 on the GI scale; fructose averages about 20; lactose (milk sugar) checks in at 46 and sucrose (common table sugar; a combo of fructose and glucose) has a GI of 68.

If fructose has a lower GI, should I eat a fruit salad for dessert?

As Weil mentioned above, sugar is sugar and too much of it may cause you to gain weight, not to mention the damage to your teeth. Despite some sweeteners eliciting stronger, more effective insulin releases to help regulate sugar’s distribution in the bloodstream, all sugars are pure carbohydrate and contain mostly empty calories, with the exception of the trace minerals in alternative sweeteners and fruit.

But eating too much fruit at one time can cause both indigestion (including the embarrassing kind) and can cause blood sugar levels to crash below normal levels.

The bloodstream can only circulate so much glucose before the sugar gets processed by the liver and stored as body fat.

What about zero calorie sweeteners?

Most health experts recommend natural, plant-based sweeteners like xylitol; another recommendation by many natural health practitioners is to avoid artificial sweeteners like aspartame.

The American Cancer Society, however, claims that aspartame does not cause cancer and is safe for consumption.

The bottom line: if you’re trying to watch your weight, limit your intake of all sugars. If you have a sweet tooth, opt for small amounts of stronger-flavored alternative sweeteners that have lower GI loads. To keep blood sugar levels down, always eat some natural fat and protein either before or with a sweet food.