Living with Diabetes
The great thing about moving to a Training and Doctrine Command such as Fort Benning, is that the possibility of meeting old friends, people who you have served and gone to combat with in past locations, are found in large numbers all over post.
I was recently reacquainted and now work with a friend and platoon sergeant of mine I once knew from Germany, and he kept telling me how his vision was getting worse and worse. Now, as time goes by for us old soldiers, so does the eyesight – an inevitable fact of life. However, with this guy, things were much different than the typical age-related vision loss: his eyesight was actually leaving him day by day, not year after year. Following a check-up with a medical professional, he was delivered some heartbreaking news…he had diabetes. The outlook on his life and career is not so much laid out in such black and white six months ago and pre-diagnosis; in addition to his rigorous physical routine, he now has to check his blood three times a day.
My suggestion for him, as his friend, was to take cinnamon as a supplement. He must have looked at me like I had grown antlers and a ‘caught in headlights’ look on my face, because he did not believe that cinnamon could help him in any way.
So I pulled out some information:
According to Livingstrong.com, probably best known as an alternative treatment for diabetes, cinnamon has been found by some studies to lower blood sugar levels. A study that appeared in a December 2003 issue of Diabetes Care looked at the effects of cinnamon consumption by type 2 diabetics. Participants were divided into six groups, with three taking various dosages of cinnamon — 1 g, 3 g or 6 g– and three groups taking a placebo. After 40 days, subjects using the cinnamon extract lowered their fasting glucose levels by 18 to 29 percent, while the placebo group did not demonstrate any statistically significant drop.
A study mentioned in the December 2006 issue of the Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition found cinnamon supplementation helped reduce fasting glucose levels in pre-diabetic obese subjects. For 12 weeks, participants either took 250 mg of cinnamon extract twice a day with meals or used a placebo. Those using the supplement also experienced an increase in lean body mass and a small, but statistically significant decrease in body fat. Healthy weight plays a central role in preventing and controlling diabetes.
My buddy is now taking a blood sugar supplement that helps him control his fasting glucose level while at the same time working hand in hand with his insulin regimen. He’s also been given the green light to continue working and leading soldiers.
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I really liked your article. You should write more about that topic.
In the studies done on cinnamon that demonstrated it’s blood sugar lowering potential there were two additional benefits -Cinnamon also exhibited an ability to lower cholesterol and triglycerides.