The Miracle of Cinnamon?
As is known to at least a few of you out there, I am one of the many people who struggles with her weight. I had been at peace with my zaftig self--shapely and strong as I am--until a recent bit of weight gain that many have associated with my return to graduate school.
Due to a rather annoying (but thankfully not dangerous) health issue, losing weight is not something that is particularly easy for me. Fortunately, I do have a bit of an advantage; my twin sister once weighed as much as I do (although she was not nearly as physically active as I am) and managed to lose A LOT of weight. (I would tell you how much, but then I'd probably give away more information than I'd like to regarding how much I currently weigh.) It is safe to say that I would be well-advised to follow her noble example. The main difficulty with such a plan is that my lovely sister is, well, much more disciplined than I am about her eating habits. She basically went on a diabetic diet and ate a number of mini meals every day. I am not quite ready for that level of dedication. I've been trying to limit my food intake and make much better food choices, but apparently that's not quite enough: my weight has continued to waffle consistently by about six or seven pounds but has not stabilized at a lower number.
However, my sister did do a couple of things that are more manageable. One of these things was to add a significant amount of cinnamon to her diet. She simply dumped a ton of it into her oatmeal at breakfast; I'm opting for a supplement (since I tend to prefer the ease of cold cereal). I started taking the cinnamon pills about ten days ago and have already dropped down three pounds below my the previous range of my waffling weight. And I actually had a couple stress-related ice cream binges last week.
Cinnamon has also been noted as an anti-bacterial and anti-fungal agent. Chewing gum containing cinnamon oil not only masks the smell of bad breath but also kills halitosis-causing bacteria. Other research is testing the extent of cinnamon's anti-bacterial ability, and there are some signs that it can kill E. coli, S. typhimurium, E. faecium, and E. faecalis, pathogens commonly present in poultry feed and communicable to humans. For a study of anti-bacterial efficacy of oils added to infected apple juice, see here. For those interested, a number of other spices are also generating interest among conventional physicians and researchers. Chief among these seems to be turmeric and its component curcumin, which has been linked with a slowing of Alzheimer's disease by UCLA researchers. (Ironically, a UCLA on-line exhibit of spices from 2002 was very conservative in its assessment of the medical benefits of spices.) It is also being researched as a possible anti-cancer agent (on a leukemia study, see here).
Due to a rather annoying (but thankfully not dangerous) health issue, losing weight is not something that is particularly easy for me. Fortunately, I do have a bit of an advantage; my twin sister once weighed as much as I do (although she was not nearly as physically active as I am) and managed to lose A LOT of weight. (I would tell you how much, but then I'd probably give away more information than I'd like to regarding how much I currently weigh.) It is safe to say that I would be well-advised to follow her noble example. The main difficulty with such a plan is that my lovely sister is, well, much more disciplined than I am about her eating habits. She basically went on a diabetic diet and ate a number of mini meals every day. I am not quite ready for that level of dedication. I've been trying to limit my food intake and make much better food choices, but apparently that's not quite enough: my weight has continued to waffle consistently by about six or seven pounds but has not stabilized at a lower number.
However, my sister did do a couple of things that are more manageable. One of these things was to add a significant amount of cinnamon to her diet. She simply dumped a ton of it into her oatmeal at breakfast; I'm opting for a supplement (since I tend to prefer the ease of cold cereal). I started taking the cinnamon pills about ten days ago and have already dropped down three pounds below my the previous range of my waffling weight. And I actually had a couple stress-related ice cream binges last week.
Could cinnamon be my little magic pill toward weight loss?I started checking out the research. A USDA-sponsored study released last year shows that some components of cinnamon are effective not only in stabilizing blood sugar but also cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol and triglycerides. The amount needed: one-half teaspoon or less of plain cinnamon, or a comparable amount of cinnamon tea or a supplement. (I've been using one from New Chapter.) Please note, though, that cinnamon oil does not contain the active compound. For supporting research see here. Cinnamon is being considered helpful to those with mild insulin resistance (including that caused by PCOS) to full-blown Type 2 Diabetes.
Cinnamon has also been noted as an anti-bacterial and anti-fungal agent. Chewing gum containing cinnamon oil not only masks the smell of bad breath but also kills halitosis-causing bacteria. Other research is testing the extent of cinnamon's anti-bacterial ability, and there are some signs that it can kill E. coli, S. typhimurium, E. faecium, and E. faecalis, pathogens commonly present in poultry feed and communicable to humans. For a study of anti-bacterial efficacy of oils added to infected apple juice, see here. For those interested, a number of other spices are also generating interest among conventional physicians and researchers. Chief among these seems to be turmeric and its component curcumin, which has been linked with a slowing of Alzheimer's disease by UCLA researchers. (Ironically, a UCLA on-line exhibit of spices from 2002 was very conservative in its assessment of the medical benefits of spices.) It is also being researched as a possible anti-cancer agent (on a leukemia study, see here).
posted by Rochel Leah at
1:56 PM
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