3 Powerful Spices to Lower Blood Sugar and Inflammation
3 Powerful Spices to Lower Blood Sugar and Inflammation
According to the CDC, over 37 million Americans have diabetes (2022). Millions more have prediabetes. Diabetes causes many problems in the body including chronic inflammation and excess sugar in the bloodstream. Excess sugar in the blood is dangerous because it can “clog” up the vascular system. As we know, sugar is sticky. Too much sugar in the bloodstream can interfere with proper blood flow. Poor blood flow can limit nutrient delivery to critical parts of the body and can lead to serious complications to all organs of the body including the heart, kidneys and eyes. It can even cause nerve damage.
What is meant by chronic inflammation?
There is confusion over what is meant by inflammation. Think of inflammation as fire in the body. There are two main kinds of inflammation, acute and chronic, which we can think of as big fires and smoldering fires.
If someone stubs a toe, the body goes on high alert and begins to produce very noticeable inflammation. The results are dramatic. The toe may swell to prevent the person from using it. Excruciating pain is a clear warning sign to stay off the foot and let the toe heal properly. The area may also turn red and be warm to the touch. Acute inflammation, like a big fire, is hard to ignore.
Chronic inflammation is something different. People aren’t always aware that they suffer from chronic inflammation until they see elevated markers of inflammation in blood work.
More often than not, chronic inflammation is caused by unhealthy lifestyle practices, including poor nutrition. An unhealthy lifestyle forces the body to constantly put out lots of tiny little fires caused by daily assaults. The result can be chronic aches and pains. On the other hand, sometimes the inflammation smolders for a long time without causing outward signs like discomfort. Chronic inflammation contributes to many health problems, including type 2 diabetes.
Today we are going to look at three kitchen spices that may be able to help with type 2 diabetes by both lowering sugar and reducing inflammation.
Let’s start with cinnamon, which has numerous benefits for people with type 2 diabetes. In many cultures, cinnamon has a long history of helping improve symptoms of diabetes. As it turns out, there are clinical studies that support the use of cinnamon to lower blood sugar.
Cinnamon can help lower fasting blood sugar.
In a recent meta-analysis of various studies that used cinnamon to lower fasting blood sugar, the authors concluded that cinnamon does indeed help to promote insulin release. It also helps improve the body’s sensitivity to insulin. The studies that were analyzed ran from 4 to 18 weeks. The doses of cinnamon varied from 120 mg to 6 grams daily (Allen et al., 2013).
Cinnamon may help reduce inflammation
While the studies are contradictory, many health experts believe that cinnamon also helps reduce inflammation. The main constituent of cinnamon, cinnamaldehyde, is rich in antioxidants and gives the spice its distinctive smell and flavor.
If you have diabetes, I suggest you add as much cinnamon to your diet as possible. The smell and taste of cinnamon trick the brain into thinking the dish is already sweet. The liberal use of cinnamon reduces the need for added sugar. By the way, one teaspoon of cinnamon is equivalent to almost 3 grams.
What kind of cinnamon is best?
Be careful to choose the best quality cinnamon. Many people do not realize that there are two types of commercially available cinnamon, Cassia and Ceylon. Ceylon is of higher quality. It also has a more subtle taster, making it easier to incorporate into recipes.
Cassia contains an ingredient that may be harmful if consumed in very large doses. Ceylon cinnamon from the inner bark of trees found in Sri Lanka and parts of India. Most Cassia comes from China and is the typical cinnamon sold in grocery stores. Check your labels!
How can we incorporate more cinnamon into our diet?
Many traditional diets already use cinnamon. This spice will add a burst of warming flavors while helping to lower blood sugar and inflammation. If you aren’t accustomed to using cinnamon, here are some easy suggestions:
Use cinnamon sticks to stir and flavor your morning coffee or tea
Add cinnamon to recipes like smoothies, lentils, rice, and stews.
Sprinkle cinnamon over the fruit to add a subtle, sweet flavor
Turmeric can help lower fasting blood glucose
Tumeric is a spice that has been used for thousands of years, especially in curry dishes. It has well-known health-promoting properties. For example, it is considered an antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, cardio-protective, and helpful for lowering blood sugar.
In a recent clinical trial, turmeric was shown to help prevent diabetes. In a group of 240 prediabetic patients, half were given a placebo, and half were given 250 mg of a turmeric supplement for 9 months. In the placebo group, 14.6 % of participants progressed to diabetes, while in the group given turmeric, none progressed to diabetes (Pivari et al., 2019)
Tumeric helps lower inflammation
Over the past 20 years, over 7000 articles have been written about the health-promoting properties of turmeric, including its role as an antioxidant and its ability to bring down inflammation. It is also thought to be a free radical scavenger. Free radicals are unpaired electrons that are dangerous because they can rip electrons from healthy cells. Tumeric is thought to protect the body by providing the extra electrons needed to calm down free radicals.
One specific way in which turmeric may help lower inflammation is by suppressing the body’s production of a common proinflammatory cytokine or chemical messenger, TNF-alpha (He et al., 2015). TNF-alpha is known to promote insulin resistance.
Have you ever heard of fenugreek?
Fenugreek is another herb with a long history of use both in traditional medicine and traditional cooking. The earliest reported mention of fenugreek dates back to the ancient Egyptians.
Both fenugreek seeds and dried plants are used in medicine and in cooking. Both these forms can help with prediabetes and diabetes. Fenugreek is also known for improving milk flow in nursing mothers as well as increasing male libido.
If you are less familiar with fenugreek than cinnamon or turmeric, perhaps start with fenugreek tea. It tastes delicious with grated nutmeg.
Fenugreek can help lower fasting blood sugar
In a 2018 study, 62 patients were divided into two groups. One group received 5 grams of fenugreek powder twice daily before meals and the other received 5 grams of wheat flour twice daily before meals. The group receiving fenugreek saw significant improvements in both their fasting blood glucose and AIC (Hassani et al., 2018).
Fenugreek helps lower inflammation
Fenugreek seeds have been used in many cultures including Iran to treat colic, flatulence, and diabetes as well as various inflammatory conditions.
In a study of lab animals fed a diet rich in fenugreek seeds, the spice lowered inflammatory markers. The anti-inflammatory properties of fenugreek may be explained by the high amount of both linolenic and linoleic acids (Hassani et al., 2018).
Confused about what to do with all this information?
Although I often include clinical trials in my blog posts, the practical application of such detailed information can be confusing. For example, if you decide to supplement with cinnamon, turmeric, or fenugreek, a wide variety of high-quality products exist on the market. Should you take one? How about all three? Should you take 250 mg or 500 mg and for how long? Can you mix products?
I recommend you start by using these three kitchen spices in your daily cooking. Start experimenting with the different flavors before you buy supplements. You can also start by consuming spices by drinking them as tea. Be sure to buy organic tea.
Don’t worry if you aren’t getting the exact amounts of each spice that was used in the clinical trials. Just start experimenting with the spices and figuring out how to add them to your diet. After you’ve done that – and if you suffer from pre-diabetes or chronic inflammation – by all means, consider adding in a high-quality supplement version of one or more of these kitchen spices in order to guarantee you get a therapeutic dose and a noticeable improvement to health markers.
Never forget that clinical trials of traditional spices often just emphasize the health benefits of just one of a plant’s chemical constituents when in reality they are made up of many parts, most of which we don’t comprehend. Furthermore, those plant chemicals are part of a food system or tradition that all works together synergistically to promote health in complex ways barely understood.
Many clinical trials test one component at a time and strive to eliminate other so-called compounding variables. Even if a trial includes the whole spice, a supplement is by its very nature completely divorced from other elements of a healthy diet which may increase the healing ability of herbs and spices – for example, the presence of healthy oils such as ghee and olive oil.
For example, turmeric is best known for the plant chemical curcumin. But curcumin is just one of three powerful curcuminoids found in the rhizome. Turmeric also contains certain resins and volatile oils. My guess is that all these plant constituents play an important role in promoting health. However, clinical trials often focus on just one plant constituent, curcumin.
When in doubt about the healing properties of spices, first look at the history of their use. If a culture has been using turmeric, for example, for thousands of years, I’m going to assume they know what they are doing. I then go to the clinical trials for a possible explanation. I always have the utmost respect for traditional healing practices that have been around since ancient times and I hope you are now motivated to incorporate cinnamon, turmeric, and fenugreek into your cooking.
Who should use caution with these spices?
Anyone with known food allergies to one of the spices
Avoid cassia cinnamon in supplement form due to the high content of coumarin which is potentially toxic in high doses.
Fenugreek may not mix well with blood thinners
Tumeric supplementation may be not be approved for pregnant or lactating women
Disclaimer
The included information is not meant to or should not be used to replace or substitute medical treatment, recommendations, or the advice of your physician or health care provider. The information contained within is strictly for educational purposes and is based on evidence-based nutrition. If you believe you have a medical problem or condition, please contact your physician or healthcare provider.
References:
Allen, R.W, Schwartzman, E., Baker W.L., Coleman, C.I & Phung, J. (2013). Cinnamon use in type 2 diabetes: an updated systematic review and meta-analysis. Annals of Family Medicine, 11(5) https://www.annfammed.org/content/11/5/452
CDC (2022) Diabetes and prediabetes, https://www.cdc.gov/chronicdisease/resources/publications/factsheets/diabetes-prediabetes.htm
Hassani, S. S., Fallahi Arezodar, F., Esmaeili, S. S., & Gholami-Fesharaki, M. (2019). Effect of Fenugreek Use on Fasting Blood Glucose, Glycosylated Hemoglobin, Body Mass Index, Waist Circumference, Blood Pressure and Quality of Life in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus: A Randomized, Double-Blinded, Placebo-Controlled Clinical Trials. Galen medical journal, 8, e1432. https://doi.org/10.31661/gmj.v8i0.1432
He, Y., Yue, Y., Zheng, X., Zhang, K., Chen, S., & Du, Z. (2015). Curcumin, Inflammation, and Chronic Diseases: How Are They Linked? Molecules, 20(5), 9183–9213. MDPI AG. Retrieved from http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/molecules20059183
Pivari, F., Mingione, A., Brasacchio, C., & Soldati, L. (2019). Curcumin and Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus: Prevention and Treatment. Nutrients, 11(8), 1837. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu11081837