Monday, March 28, 2011

Cinnamon Can Lower Blood Sugar And Aid In Diabetes

Type 2 diabetes is when glucose is prevented from entering the cells of the body, particularly muscle, liver and fat cells. This causes high blood sugar levels to appear. Insulin is a facilitator for the transport of glucose though the cell walls. This role as a facilitator is a highly complex set of chemical reactions. The pancreas produces insulin in response to elevated blood glucose levels. Once it enters the blood it signals the body's cells to take up the excess glucose until normal blood glucose levels are then again achieved. In diabetics this highly complex set of chemical reactions is disrupted.

Insulin molecules bind to receptors on cell walls, this creates a tiny molecular "gateways" that opens up and allows glucose molecules to pass though. If this system is not functioning properly these gates will not respond correctly to the insulin signal and prevent glucose from entering the cell. When this happens the common tern is "insulin resistance". This problem is a common occurrence in people that have an obesity problem. When insulin resistance is present the levels of glucose in the blood remain abnormally high and can be very dangerous in the long run. The pancreas will attempt to compensate for this by making more insulin, but this only works for so long. The pancreas will eventually become overworked and starts to make less insulin. This is the time that things can go from bad to worse.

One of the more exciting medical discoveries regarding blood glucose levels happened at the USDA testing center in Maryland totally by accident. There scientists were looking at the affect that various foods have on blood sugar levels. They were very surprised to find that good old apple pie actually lowered the blood glucose levels of patients in their studies.
This promoted them to look at cinnamon and how it may fit into this observation.