Cinnamon to the Sorta-Rescue

Happy Day-After-the-Day-After-Easter!  Today I bring you a sweet treat to consider instead of the traditional belly-busting leftover giant chocolate bunnies that adorn so many tables across the country this week.  Instead of milk chocolate - or, even worse - PEEPS (yikes) - try and spice it up.  Cinnamon is where it's at!

As an apple-shaped type of person, meaning I carry some tummy chub instead of thigh & butt-based chub (though there is a bit there as well), I am constantly on the hunt for legitimate 'belly-fat' fighting foods and exercise tactics.  Subsequently, I've tried many a variety of twisty-turny kickbox pilate'd tae bo crunch and burn.  While I tackle those moves, I search for food-based strategies to help me out.  Recently, cinnamon has piqued my interest.

I've test-run the 'Flat Abs' diet, chock full of MUFAs (monounsaturated fatty acids), the Mediterranean diet, and general low-Glycemic Index foods.  I like parts of each, and I did lose a bit on the South Beach diet years back, (but it was too restrictive, and as you often hear - it came back).  Lately, I've modified my personal food pyramid to include more protein - it's time to test one side of the Great Protein Debate.  So far, very filling.  Thumbs up.

However, I am a firm believer in whole grains and fruit intake.  But - conundrum!  To get the best benefit from this higher protein regimen, I'm trying to limit the amount of sugars I take in.  Fruit is sugary, and the general consensus shows that too much sugar can cause excess fat to localize aorund one's mid-section, if one's body is so inclined to dump it there.  (The grass is always greener...)  I keep reading about cinnamon as an aide to block the sugar spike you might get after eating sugary (whether added or natural) foods, thus lowering the hotly-debated 'Glycemic Index rating' of that food.

Smelling trickery by cinnamon growers and spice manufacturers, I decided to investigate.  Because if this held up at all, I could totally add more cinnamon to my daily intake, no prob.  ...I am tentatively excited to report that I found a few legitimate sources to back this up. Hoo-rah!  One article is found in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association, the other in Diabetics Care, and the other was easily Google-able and based on the second article I found.  The test was a small group of 60 people, but technically, that is an adequate number for results to be considered significant.  The gist of the cinnamon deal is as follows:

Cinnamon contains an active polyphenol ingredient called methylhydroxy chalcone polymer, or MHCP.  MHCP is an insulin-mimicker, meaning that it can act like insulin in the blood and help lower blood sugar levels. Consuming about 1/2 teaspoon of ground cinnamon per day (which is approximately 2.5 grams) is enough to help lower blood sugar levels.  MHCP can also act like insulin in other ways, like neutralizing free radicals (gotta love polyphenols!) and helping purge 'bad' cholesterol from the blood (from 10-26% improvement vs 0% in the placebo group).

The fat cells in your belly are very effective at storing energy – far more so than fat cells in your legs and butt.  There is an extensive network of blood vessels circulating in the abdomen, and so there are many opportunities for excess sugar from your blood to empty into belly fat cells.  So, when you eat a sugary food, and there's suddenly a lot of sugar in your blood, your pancreas suddenly goes a little crazy with producing insulin.  This spike of insulin tells your body that plenty of energy (sugar) is readily available and that it should stop burning fat and start storing it.  Not good for weight loss.  If you put extra MHCP in your blood, the sugar in your blood is mediated better, and can be more easily converted to energy, instead of being dumped into long-term fat cells.  You still need to exercise to use up the energy, but you have a better chance of using it before it gets too comfy being a storage fat cell.

And don't think I'm suggesting sprinkling cinnamon on your Eastr Peeps will help you out!  Don't run for the mall to grab a Cinn-a-bon.. or to Starbucks for THE scone.  Instead, sprinkle some Saigon cinnamon in your coffee, tea, oatmeal, cereal, or even on yogurt.  I'm even trying Cinnamon capsules (again, not a huge fan of pill supplements, but this is just cinnamon, plain n' simple.) after I eat, say, an apple for a snack.

If you are diabetic, this is just something to consider talking to your doctor about - always as a secondary option.. Listen to your doctor, for Pete's sake!  Anyway, I'm not diabetic, but I'm gonna test out this cinna-theory, because I be tired of my belly jiggles.  I will keep you posted!