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Scott Benner 0:00
Hello friends, and welcome to episode 1034 of the Juicebox Podcast

all these months and I still can't say the word myth with an S at the end but today is the second to last myth episode. And Jenny and I will be talking about cinnamon gets its own little episode cinnamon. While you're listening. Please remember that nothing you hear on the Juicebox Podcast should be considered advice, medical or otherwise. Always consult a physician before making any changes to your healthcare plan or becoming bold with insulin. If you're looking to support the podcast and help yourself at the same time cozy earth.com use the offer code juice box at checkout to save 40% on your towels you sheets and you're comfortables quality stuff at a good price. Cozy earth.com Then take 40% off and voila, you're wearing great gear on the discount. You can also get yourself some Omni pod products at my podcast the Linky linker Omni pod.com forward slash juicebox get in there get yourself a dash or now the pod five

this episode of The Juicebox Podcast is sponsored by us med us med.com forward slash juice box or call 888-721-1514 Call the number or go to the link get your free benefits check and you're on your way to getting your diabetes supplies the same way we do from us med us med.com forward slash juicebox Kenny we're here doing a myth episode. Yeah and we did early on in the episode we did the miracle cures but we very I can only guess yes we very purposefully we very purposely during the miracle cure episode did not bring up go ahead. Cinnamon Cinnamon, because it deserved its own episode. That's why because it deserves its own episode. So let's start off with why do people so widely believed that cinnamon cures diabetes? Do you have any idea?

Jennifer Smith, CDE 2:38
Well and cure there being an interesting word within the whole thing to because it isn't in no way is is cinnamon a cure. So that's just a complete single statement. Cinnamon is not going to cure any kind of diabetes. However, there are actually a fair number of studies that were done specifically in type two diabetes that showed with certain amounts of cinnamon, somewhat of a shift in glucose response in the body is somewhat of a shift to more optimal fasting blood sugar levels etc. So the cruddy thing is that now cinnamon is like the it's the it is the cure all it's the number one that most people hear about is I'm just going to take cinnamon, I mean, they're even I don't even know what the tablets are called. But there are cinnamon tablets and there are probably multiple brands at this point. But years ago, at one of my conventions, they actually had a they had a table instead of in the convention hall, the cinnamon product that was like a tablet just take the cinnamon tablets along with your meal times. I mean they had it at like a national clinical convention. They got a table.

Scott Benner 4:12
I don't so listen, I don't want to say that there's no benefit of from cinnamon. I I'm not saying that. But if I google cinnamon cure, I get there's this funny. Cinnamon cured bacon, which is the only Here you go cinnamon cures for high blood pressure for ulcers, infection, bad breath, toothache, throat pain, headaches, irregular menstruation, arthritis, skin allergies. And whenever

Jennifer Smith, CDE 4:44
lipid lipids are usually in their cholesterol levels are typically in there to

Scott Benner 4:48
these returns do not bring back diabetes. I have to type the deed to get toasting Yeah. So this is a thing that is bandied about so much in the world. that if you ask somebody with type one, what do people think? Here's type one diabetes, they're gonna say cinnamon. Like everyone has heard that at some point or another but in a Google search it does not pop right up. That's really interesting. Yeah, I that threw me off by the way. I thought it was gonna I thought it was gonna come up with lights on it at the top. And it wasn't there. But, but there's I mean, here's the Healthline article 10 evidence based health benefits of cinnamon, antioxidants. Let's see. I mean, it's the bark of a tree. Right? It may have anti inflammatory properties. It could protect against heart disease, it could improve sensitivity to insulin. Okay, here we go. Health Line. Why do you think that this essential for transplant? Don't explain insulin, Amanda was pretty isn't that funny? Isn't that funny? There's a headline here. Let me be clear. Number five on the Health Line 10 things that cinnamon might do list. Number five, it says could improve sensitivity to insulin, it doesn't make a distinction. Well, here we go. Insulin is one of the key hormones it explains what insulin is. This is all the text that's here. It's essential for transporting blood sugar from your bloodstream to your cells. However, some people are resistant to the effects of insulin. This is known as insulin resistance a hallmark condition like metabolic syndrome and type two diabetes. While more research is needed, some studies suggest that cinnamon may be able to reduce insulin resistance by increasing insulin sensitivity cinnamon can lower blood sugar levels and support better blood sugar control. I'm just gonna say something and no offense to helpline that doesn't say anything. That's a lot of words that doesn't say anything.

Jennifer Smith, CDE 6:45
Yeah. And in no way does it. And thankfully it doesn't it No way. Does it say anything about it being a cure.

Scott Benner 6:52
It doesn't matter type one diabetes either.

Jennifer Smith, CDE 6:55
No, it doesn't. Because this this studies are. There are astounding numbers of type two studies. There are not in type one. And in fact, years ago, I actually did an article for a nutrition publication that was about it was supposed to be about the benefits of cinnamon in diabetes management. And honestly, what I uncovered is the fact that there are multiple kinds of cinnamon. Did you know that?

Scott Benner 7:24
I'm learning that now? Yeah.

Jennifer Smith, CDE 7:27
And I mean, the one that we commonly have here in the United States? Well, there are two of them, actually. One of them is called Cassia. That's the most common type. Also kind of called Saigon cinnamon. And it wasn't actually even made in Saigon, it was just the place perfect name, then it was a trading post essentially. Right. Right. So it didn't it wasn't even produced there. There's nothing grown cinnamon there. Through and then the one that actually is not. And I hate using the word detrimental, but unfortunately, a lot of the studies prove that there is actually an amount of cinnamon that is too much. And caseus cinnamon especially has a high concentrations of something called coumarin. Okay, which can be not great for your liver function.

Scott Benner 8:29
So here my diabetes is cinnamon. I mean, it's

Jennifer Smith, CDE 8:31
right like this is that rolling ball that if you sprinkle cinnamon on your toast or your oatmeal or you know, on your bacon every single morning, fine, absolutely. You are no detriment whatsoever, obviously. But the type of cinnamon that, you know, the studies were done with is certainly not a sprinkling. I mean it's a fair amount of cinnamon in order to be able to show benefit to insulin resistance. And the better type of insulin is actually called Ceylon. It's ce YLON has a much softer sweeter you don't need very much of it. And of course, Are there studies using that one? No.

Scott Benner 9:16
What about this here? I'm still in this hell fine article. I've now scrolled down number six. It says apart from the beneficial effects on insulin resistance. Cinnamon can lower blood sugar through several mechanisms. First, Cinnamon has been shown to decrease the amount of sugar that enters your bloodstream after a meal. That I mean,

Jennifer Smith, CDE 9:37
did they give you a portion? It means not a portion but a dose.

Scott Benner 9:40
What they don't say is that by how much right? Like I know if I eat something and my blood sugar was gonna go up 200 points from it. If I have type one, but it only goes up 195 points then I you know, I also think that they are very specific. Well, I don't want to use the word specifically. This article is not specifically talking about type to diabetes, but I think that's what they're talking about. I would expect Yeah. It interferes with numerous digestive enzymes, which slows down, which slows the breakdown of carbs in your digestive tract. So that's how like ozempic works, right? It slows digestion. So if you could slow digestion, you could spread out the impact. But again, that's not going to help a type one. I mean, it like a lot. I mean, it might help a little, but it's not going to be any big impact.

Jennifer Smith, CDE 10:30
It's not going to be a big impact. So I think that's the that's the detriment of saying your or saying, hey, everybody should use, you know, this whopping amount of cinnamon on a day to day basis. I mean, I love cinnamon, I use cinnamon every single day. But I don't take it in tablet form.

Scott Benner 10:53
Right, the expectation is going to bring, see I think here's the problem, right? Like, the effective dose here they're talking about is one to six grams or a half to two teaspoons of cinnamon per day. Have you found that getting your diabetes supplies can be a pain in the butt. I have to but not any longer because now we're getting Arden's diabetes supplies from us med to get a free benefits check, just call 888-721-1514 or go to us med.com forward slash juicebox. US med has served over 1 million diabetes customers since 1996. And they want you to know that they're offering you better service and better care than you're getting now. US med always provides 90 days worth of supplies, and fast and free shipping. They carry everything from insulin pumps and diabetes testing supplies to the latest CGM like the FreeStyle Libre two and the Dexcom G six. Arden gets her Dex comps and her on the pods from us med. US med accepts Medicare nationwide and over 800 private insurers. US med is the number one distributor for FreeStyle Libre systems. The number one specialty distributor for Omnipod dash, number one fastest growing tandem distributor, the number one rated distributor index com customer service satisfaction surveys. And they are proud of the white glove treatment that they offer their customers. Us med.com forward slash juicebox or call 888-721-1514. And that 888 Number is special just for Juicebox Podcast listeners. Now if you decide to go to the website, it's super simple. Here's what it tells you when you get there Getting started is easy. from the comfort of your own home or office. You can now join over 1 million satisfied customers who rely on our staff of courteous knowledgeable and trained us med customer care representatives to keep you up to date with your medical and diabetic supplies delivered right to your door. Super simple benefits check name phone number email zip code, and then just hit the button that says Request a free benefits check. It's that easy. Let us med take care of your supplies so you don't have to worry

Jennifer Smith, CDE 13:14
that's a that's a lot of cinnamon. Yeah, like if you think about ever cooking with cinnamon if you make any kind of like banana bread or cookies or whatever right the whole recipe which probably makes 20 servings includes a half to a full teaspoons but yeah, I mean you're not going to sit down and be like this teaspoon of cinnamon is really lovely.

Scott Benner 13:36
I think we're the the shame of this is and I'm not just listen health lines what popped up There's any number of articles that you could find I'm not defending health, I'm just saying I'm not coming after them either. But the idea that there's there's no quantification here there's no like, Yeah, you like, like, Look, if if, if your if your insulin to carb ratio is one unit covers 100 You know, lowers you 100 points and I can say look, use a unit of insulin, your blood sugar come down 100 point, nothing like that as being said here, it's not a teaspoon is gonna buy you in a one C of blah blah blah. Like, I think what I think is it wouldn't hurt you to eat some cinnamon, but it's

Jennifer Smith, CDE 14:16
sure Yeah, in fact, cinnamon is a great additive flavor to something that you might have used something like sugar or extra, you know what I mean? You might have used something that actually isn't as beneficial for your blood sugar control. So if you add in a little bit of a flavor, it's much like using something like Mrs. Dash instead of salt, you add a whole bunch of flavor and it replaces essentially for you. So absolutely there's nothing wrong with using Cena

Scott Benner 14:45
and we've had a really popular episode of this podcast where somebody talked about like eating foods and certain orders or certain foods and like you know things that might help keep your blood sugar from spiking and I've heard back from a lot of people we've had a lot of success with it. I'm not like Pooh poohing it. I'm trying to tell All right, I think it all comes from. But I just have to say like, if you go through this article, it is littered with phrases like may help, could be has been known to a lot of a lot of legal phrasing, which means any promising you anything.

Jennifer Smith, CDE 15:20
And even if you go to more not just what is usually looking at health line you said, right. So even if you go to someplace that's got a bigger name something like mail, right, yeah, just very well known. Their information that you can find also uses those words. So it's not just that it's coming from a source that's collectively looking at something as a potential, it's coming from the fact that nowhere has proven 100% Worth and or the the specific dose or amount that you should or could use in a safe way that provides this true 100% benefit. So they have to say, May, it could do this for you give it a try. I mean, you know, it could be like trying, right? There's no harm in trying. Yeah,

Scott Benner 16:14
but just it's just you just have to be careful when you're reading. I mean, there's a sentence here that says widely studied, which makes you go widely studied Oh, a lot of people think this, but then the words potential come up afterwards. So potential use of don't forget, it's been limited to test tubes and animal studies that suggest like it's the phrasing is interesting, but it doesn't matter because once it gets into the world, it's cinnamon cures diabetes, and you're like it's insane. Alright, ready? Here we go. Cinnamon will cure you. cinnamon apple cider vinegar. I have heard somebody telling me that cinnamon will cure me so many times. I can't count. I have had colleagues who are scientists tell me that I need to just have cinnamon. It will cure my type one diabetes. Have more cinnamon. I was told that's gonna cure it. More cinnamon will get you off of insulin.

Jennifer Smith, CDE 17:13
So oh, let's see. Those are the worrisome. Giant.

Scott Benner 17:17
This isn't gonna stop by the way. Cinnamon have it with ginseng, then it really works. You just if you just mix that cinnamon with ginseng. Now you're on to something. Hold on.

Jennifer Smith, CDE 17:30
Well, why don't you just mix it with your beverage of choice? To right, like, throw it all together?

Scott Benner 17:37
Hold on. Ready? I'm literally Oh, I have to eat cinnamon but I have to drink it with okra water. Oh, let's see this person. That person. This is one from another episode where they said a foot massage would cure my diabetes. And the woman joked and said but only if I probably sprinkle cinnamon on my foot first. So many different variations of the cinnamon things. The ladies like I've heard from so many people that have taken this idea. Cinnamon cures it and then they commingle it with something else. And then they tell us what I think Jewish people would call Booba Meister a big story about it. Oh, just takes over my sister. My Yiddish. I know just enough to be dangerous. Just take cinnamon and you'll get better. Oh, has it gotten worse? You should increase your cinnamon. That's it those that's the things that people talked about. But since that sentiment, I just wanted to make sure that cinnamon got its own shout out here. Because it deserves it deserves Yes, I

Jennifer Smith, CDE 18:44
you know, and years ago, like I said, when I did that article, I learned a lot about it, which was interesting to me. And I actually changed the kind of cinnamon that I use, because of the cause of doing the research, right? The majority of the research around the type of cinnamon to use, like I said earlier is the case sia or Cassia. I don't know exactly how you say it or pronounce it. And that's the one that actually does have more information about dos being too much at one time. And you know, potentials to that causing problems, especially for those who might already have liver disease or it may cause issues. I mean, again, I like cinnamon. So it's like well, I can easily switch to the other kind of cinnamon it's more expensive, but I actually like the flavor a lot better and it doesn't carry the same

Scott Benner 19:42
I think I think you're also making a point that you're not really coming out and saying is that if you turn a little screw over here and turn a little screw over here and turn it off a little screws you might actually see a little different. Yeah, a little difference, right? So zactly like, you know, cinnamon by the fistful is not going to make You're diabetes go and

Jennifer Smith, CDE 20:00
nor have I tried, right? I'm like, I'm gonna just try this whole big screw over here. I'm just gonna give it all the cinnamon, I'm not going to take my insulin for the day and see that we're clearly right.

Scott Benner 20:11
I mean, if you listen, if I don't know if if okra water or I don't know apple cider vinegar in that way I don't know, I'm just saying like, if you got a tiny bit of benefit out of all these things, or if it just made you feel better, like, right on like you and me, like I'm not telling anybody not to do anything, and I'm a proponent of taking supplements or things I take a fair amount of supplements every day, and they have definitely benefited me. The problem with any kind of supplementation, I think, is that it doesn't hit you fast enough for you to be 100% sure that it actually did anything. And you have to have this very big view of it. Like, I'm going to take this for weeks or months. And I'm gonna see like, do I feel different now? Like, can I look back and say, I feel better now than I did before? If I stopped taking it, do I see myself going in the other direction? Like, there's a lot of trial and error that needs to be used.

Jennifer Smith, CDE 21:09
And I think there's a it's a good point to make, because I think when you start to add any type of supplement in particular, yes, it takes a while for it to start working. And to. To do a true experiment, you have to filter out variables, you have to filter out and not really change anything else. Well, maybe if this one's a supplement that you're taking behind the scenes is making a difference. And so you're feeling better. And so maybe that feeling better means that you can now have enough energy at six o'clock in the morning to get out and start taking a walk when before you didn't. You may not put those things together. And so then your health outcome later is it's it's better. But is it because you started taking the supplement? Or is it a combination of the supplements started making you feel better? And you started taking this daily walk? Do you know what I mean? Yeah, maybe

Scott Benner 22:02
you're just focusing on yourself more. And maybe the Ashwagandha is not helping you at all, but maybe it's got you focused on taking better care of yourself. So Correct. What's the harm? Yeah, I gotcha. Okay. I think it's a lot of mindset. It really is. I mean, if if putting a table a table, oh my god, honestly, a tablespoon. If putting a little sprinkle of like cinnamon on your food, makes you feel like you're doing something, then that might be good for you. Like, don't worry, don't worry. I take I take magnesium, vitamin D, zinc. I take ashwagandha every day, I don't know that it helps me or not, I really couldn't begin to tell you. I do feel better now than I ever have. I've also just lost 30 pounds. So maybe it's who cares? Like it's working? So like I'm moving in the right direction is the way I think of it.

Jennifer Smith, CDE 22:55
Yes. So you don't have a full on one particular thing evaluation. This is what worked because I didn't change anything else. You don't have that. Right. Yeah. Okay, well, it's all working together. So I'm just not gonna I'm gonna keep it.

Scott Benner 23:08
I can afford to spend $50 Every couple of months on these things. And I'm going in the right direction. So all right, Jenny, because this is the last episode. I want to thank you very much for doing this with me. I am very excited for the thing we're going to do next, which I don't think we're going to tell people about right here but I'm super excited about it. And as well. Yeah, and boba Meister has a long story or wives tale. That is something a grandma would tell it's Yiddish for bubba or grandmother. I asked about the family and she started in on a Baba Meister about hospitals. So

Jennifer Smith, CDE 23:43
interesting. Well, thank you for the little sure in for information about a word I had. I had not heard that before. I've heard many many words, but I've not heard that one.

Scott Benner 23:53
I gave a weekend talk at an orthodox event. And my knowledge of Yiddish was a huge people loved it. Let's just expand it Yes, I came in I said to you, am I using this word right there? Like how do you know that word? I was like, Haha, I am.

Jennifer Smith, CDE 24:07
I did my homework. Alright, hold on a second.

Scott Benner 24:19
Well, there's one more myth episode coming next week. But I want to thank Jenny right now for this one. Jennifer is available to you if you'd like to hire her. She works at integrated diabetes.com I also want to thank us med for being a longtime sponsor of the Juicebox Podcast us med.com forward slash juice box or call 888-721-1514 Get your free benefits check and get going today with us med. Of course us matters where Arden gets her Dexcom G seven and her Omni pod dash from if you know somebody who has type two or prediabetes, keep listening after the music for the rest of you. Thank you So much for listening. I'll be back soon with another episode of The Juicebox Podcast. If you have typed to or pre diabetes, that type two diabetes Pro Tip series from the Juicebox Podcast is exactly what you're looking for. Do you have a friend or a family member who is struggling to understand their type two and how to manage it? This series is for them. seven episodes to get you on track and up to speed. Episode 860 series intro 864 guilt and shame. Episode 869 medical team 874 fueling plan, Episode 880 diabetes technology episode 85 GLP ones metformin and insulin and an episode 889. We talk about movement. This episode is with me and Jenny Smith. Of course you know Jenny is a certified diabetes care and education specialist. She is a registered and licensed dietitian and Jenny has had type one diabetes for over 30 years. Too many people don't understand their type two diabetes, and this series aims to fix that. Share it with a friend or get started today.