Spice Up Your Life with Cinnamon

Who would have guessed that a spice as common as cinnamon would have so many amazing health benefits? As I mentioned earlier, cinnamon has been shown to increase sex drive.

But did you know that Chinese, Ayurvedic, and naturopathic medicine all utilize cinnamon for a variety of conditions, including nausea, bloating, and GI upset? However, the health condition that cinnamon seems to be the most effective at both treating and preventing is insulin resistance.

Turns out, cinnamon improves glucose metabolism in fat cells by as much as twentyfold. It does this by reducing the insulin resistance of fat cells, which makes their insulin receptors more responsive.

To explain how this works, imagine trying to talk to your spouse while the kids are screaming, the television is blaring, and the dog is barking to go outside. Pretty unlikely they can pay attention, right?

Now, let the dog out, turn of the television, and settle the kids down with a snack and a game. Your spouse will finally be able to hear you!

That’s how insulin resistance/insulin responsiveness works. If there is too much insulin (noise) in your bloodstream, your cells cannot hear the message. But if you turn down the noise (i.e. improve glucose metabolism), your cells can hear the message and allow the insulin receptors to be more responsive. Of course, I can’t promise the same results with your spouse.

And, when cells are better able to hear insulin’s message and can better absorb and use glucose, the result is lower blood glucose levels.

And when you blood sugar levels are balanced, you have better appetite control. And that’s really the key for some many women battling excess weight. By keeping your insulin levels in check and your blood sugar levels in the healthy range, you are better able to follow any natural weight loss plan.

Putting Cinnamon to Use

Cinnamon is so common, you are likely already using it. But, to help you incorporate it into your every day life, here are a few suggestions:

You can add cinnamon to a hot liquid such as coffee or tea to make it more of an extract.

• Use cinnamon sticks to make tea.
• Add cinnamon powder to coffee beans before grinding to give your morning java a blood sugar boost.
• Add ? to 1 teaspoon to oatmeal or any hot cereal.
• Add ? to 1 teaspoon to your favorite smoothie.
• Make sweet potato cinnamon “fries.”  Cut a sweet potato into “disks.”  Spray a cookie sheet with olive oil and place potato disks in single layer on the cookie sheet. Spray the potatoes with the olive oil. Sprinkle potatoes with cinnamon and bake at 425°F for 20–25 minutes, turning halfway through the cooking time.
• Core an apple, then cut in half from top to bottom. Sprinkle with cinnamon and bake at 375°F for 20 minutes or until the apple is soft.

For more information on natural weightloss or tips on treating insulin resistance, visit Dr. Lark’s Web site.