I read somewhere here (but cant remember where) that cinnamon is good for diabetics. So i bought some today. What do i do with it, please?

I got the powdered stuff and i suppose i shove it on cereal or something? I eat dry cereal for brekkie, cos i hate milk so i hope it doesnt sort of make me cough or anything like that.

Looking forward to your helpful advice, thank you.

coffeefetcher

I read somewhere here (but cant remember where) that cinnamon is good for diabetics. So i bought some today. What do i do with it, please?

I got the powdered stuff and i suppose i shove it on cereal or something? I eat dry cereal for brekkie, cos i hate milk so i hope it doesnt sort of make me cough or anything like that.

Looking forward to your helpful advice, thank you.

coffeefetcher

Most folks take it as capsules because it is much more concentrated. I'm not sure how well just plain cinnamon is - it may not be enough. Some people drink it as tea, too. Maybe you could try that?

Best of luck.

Cora

Well, Cora, cinnamon tea sounds quite yucky but i suppose i could try adding it to boiling water and seeing what it tastes like. I dont like actual tea, either.

I didnt think of capsules. i was just thrilled that i thought about cinnamon at all, lol!

coffeefetcher

Try putting it on the back of your tongue and then washing it down with liquid. This was easy for me though I mixed a bit of Splenda with it first.

OK, just surfing through threads (new user) and came across this one...what does cinnamon do for diabetics? I'm a T1, can it help me in any way? If so, when is it used and how often?
Thanks
~Bilinda~

Cinnamon is most often used by T2s to help with insulin resisitance. if you are a T1 like me, if you take it you may find your insulin requirements drop.

Cora

I've been in the habit of adding spices, including ground Vietnamese cinnamon (from Penzey's) to my coffee grounds. I add about 1 teaspoon to the grounds to make one large mug of coffee. I use a Melitta one-cup cone (#2 filter) with 2 scoops of coffee grounds and 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon. I also like a dash of ground cardamom, a few gratings of fresh nutmeg and maybe some allspice. I drink my coffee with Splenda and some fat-free half-and-half or milk.

When I buy coffee in shops like Caribou or (gag) Starbuck's, I shake about a teaspoon of ground cinnamon into a 12 ounce coffee and add Splenda and milk.

I confess I have no idea how much cinnamon is beneficial or if this amount is helping me, but I sure do enjoy my coffee!

That was very intresting about the Cinnamon as I was just eating my lunch (porrage with Cinnamon sprinkled on top of it). Are there any other spices/foods that would help control diabeties?

Fool

I don't THINK Splenda is recommended now as it was in advertising at first. If I remember correctly, I didn't like my results with it.

I'm glad of the reminder that cinnamon is available in capsules, and a lot stronger. At health food stores? My cinnamon toast w/Equal does not seem to be working as well any more. I take Glipizaide in addition to Metformin and used to also take Avandia, looking for something to replace it.
Starlix taken before a meal is supposed to prevent sudden spikes.

I switched recently from plain Metformin 2000 a day, the limit, to Metformin ER because of heartburn indigestion, now 4 pills a day instead of 2, and my readings don't seem to be as good. I have advanced retinopathy and didn't read on the bottle to take 4, so for about 3 wks I was only taking half my dose, have a recurrence of foot ulcer, on a bunion, which gets infected, recurring, and if it goes to the bone can cause amputation.

I'd appreciate any other hints for very long-term diabetics. May even go to classes again when I get some time. My A1c usually is 6.5 but after so many years the complications, which can maybe be delayed or lessened, sometimes happen anyway.

Decades ago at diabetes classes we were told one slice of bread three times a day helps with control. The short-lived low-carb diets didn't do us any better than that. I wonder if they still teach that.

Hey Eagle, A lot of people still use low carb for bg control. I took my A1c from 10 to 6.1 without ever taking medication. I'm still trying to get it lower and the next step for me is to stop all cheating and hopefully start exercising. Going to PT now for arthritis in my hip in hopes of being able to start soon. Also a lot of people that I know still use splenda but I have better luck with a no carb stevia.

To the OP, I use cinnamon in a combo diabetic supplement formula but I can't say how much it has helped. The only supplement that I can say I can see an immediate drop in my bg is capsaisin (sp?) Problem with it, is that it causes me a lot of heartburn and if I take it later in the day the heartburn will wake me up at night. I just remembered that I also had heartburn with a pure cinnamon capsule that I took for a while. Hope you are doing well with the pwdred form.
Glennette

Well, actually i'm not doing anything with the cinnamon in powdered form 'cos i didnt like it on my dry cereal. I have yet to remember to look for the capsules and i suppose i'm going to have to make a concerted effort to visit a healthfood shop for the capsules.

I found the powder just too dry on the cereal and i never have milk (yukky) so there seemed no point in trying further with it.

coffeefetcher

Hi, Everyone, Sunday morning,

I plan to look at some other health food store for maybe 400 MG capsules if there is such a thing. I'm having to take a Pepto-Bismol tablet, and I forget which med should not be taken within 2 hrs of an antacid, but let's remember there is one. Maybe someone knows what it is. Not thyroid, right? Which you take on an empty stomach.

The Cinnamon capsules really do help! Just got mine 2 or 3 days ago and morning b.g. has been 90, first day, 83 this morning. It replaces Avandia, which I used to take in addition to Metformin 2000 per day, Glipizide 2X a day, three things. Now Cinnamon is my Avandia. A1c has been 6.5 for a long time, can't seem to get it any lower. Highest ever was something over 8. And I have all sorts of complications. They don't start until about 20 yrs, and may happen even with good control, but you might be able to delay and lessen severity.

With proliferative diabetic retinopathy, they laser about 1000 spots at a time, of the rogue new blood vessels that can cause blindness, and of course they use the deadening drops, three times where I go and where I have a gentle woman doctor, but some places, well, just one employee I guess, was adamant that deadening drops one time, after the doctor is actually in the treatment room, was enough, and it was so painful I had to ask him to stop the treatment, knew the woman doctor could do it with little or no pain. Her laser she uses doesn't make noise either. Be forewarned that male doctors sometimes, maybe usually, like to haul out their big guns, almost like an air hammer, to do delicate work in the eye, and I heard about one who actually caused some damage. The patient then went to a university and they were able to repair it. Said he'd used too big a laser. If you ever see big black spots, not just lifelong floaters, you need a retina specialist fast. I was told it was already too late for that eye, but they've managed to save most of it. The treatments cause cataracts, but that happens to a lot of people anyway.

Hey, I forget if this is an eye forum or diabetic foot problems, sorry. If it's about feet, a callus when it gets too thick can crack open and get infected, I'm sure everyone knows, and you have to offload the foot, take antibiotics, or could need an amputation if it spreads too far. Usually I need a debridement two or three times when mine flares up, from rubbing in my gardening shoes which I'm throwing away, but my hole closed in only 2 wks this time, when he'd scared me half to death about amputation, thinking I wasn't taking it seriously, and I was really careful to stay off of it, bandage it every day the way he said, took the new antibiotic, etc.

One guy who rides in the van service for eye treatments has to go to dialysis 3X a week, which would really be a hardship, so maybe all this will encourage us about control. He's cheerful and grateful to just be alive.

I went to diabetes classes, about 3 times, about 20 yrs ago, probably need to go again to catch up on all the latest and maybe get some meal plan ideas. Good luck to everybody.

Crumbs, that all read as very depressing and scary. I'm really sorry you've had such a rough time of it and i am hoping and praying i dont suffer as you do.

I see the optician this week for an eye test and then we'll go from there. I'm not worried that i'd ever be treated indelicately by an eye consultant - the local hospital has all the latest gadgets in its new specialist opthamology dept.

The latest NICE guidelines, btw, quote 6.5 as the desired fasting bg level so your own levels seem ideal.

I'll order the cinnamon capsules online and that way shant have to remember to go shopping into the shopping centre.

And i'll check with my GP that there arent any side-effects from taking the capsules, such as you describe with heartburn etc. I'll take some, see how i go, then if i do experience problems, see what the GP says.

Take care.

coffeefetcher

Actually, to get such good morning readings I may have taken a second cap later in the day, can't remember for sure, but the heartburn starts immediately.

Maybe if we took it after eating a meal instead of on an empty stomach.

I didn't mean to sound like I'd suffered. It's been an adventure. Just got back from an outdoor band concert where I was supposed to play, two instruments, but took a well-earned leave of absence thinking I might go ahead and have my bunion toes repositioned and you have to wear a (sometimes removable) walking cast for maybe 8 wks, then use crutches for two more. Actually I just now looked it up and found there's now removable casts. They had me scared. It was so great to see the gang of musicians after being out 2 wks.

If you don't let your eyes go as long as I did, probably you'll never have some of these problems. I was just illustrating that we need to pay attention to our control. Good luck.

Hi Everyone

I heard that cinnamon lowers blood sugar. I put it on a food that I liked. It lowers my blood sugar.

Put it on a food that you like. It is best to put it on a food that you want to sweeten a little.

Love Ruth:cool:

Maybe the heartburn lessens as the body adjusts to the 500mg caps.

My indigestion wasn't as bad yesterday, and this morning's reading, about 4 am, was in the sixties, just had one capsule yesterday. I was thinking about opening one and taking out some of it if I'd felt the need for more.

Another thing, I found that eating something, taking the cap, and then eating some more helped with the indigestion. Also drinking a whole glass or cup of something.

Just cinnamon toast or sweetening cereal may not be enough if you've had diabetes 25 or 30 yrs, but not to worry, there's these caps at health food stores now. Aren't we lucky!