A teaspoon of cinnamon a day keeps diabetes away

washington: an extract of cinnamon, an easily available indian spice, could be an answer in the fight against adult-onset diabetes, say american scientists. the spice, more normally found as part of indian ''garam masala'' (spices) or as an ingredient of apple pie, may help the body deal more effectively with sugar in the body, scientists at the us agricultural research service''s nutrition labs in beltsville, maryland, have said.an expert behind the trials has even issued the recommendation that people could benefit now by adding the spice to their food. clinical trials of this chemical are due to begin within a year, said leading scientist richard anderson. in the meantime, however, he said it would be a good reason for diabetics to add the spice to their diet. he said: "we recommend people take a quarter to a full teaspoon a day of cinnamon, perhaps in orange juice, coffee, or on oatmeal." adult-onset, or type ii diabetes is far more prevalent than insulin-dependent diabetes, which normally begins earlier in life and requires a regimen of blood testing and insulin injections. it affects many millions of people worldwide, and leads to a great number of premature deaths. it happens when cells in the body normally responsible for dealing with excess blood sugar lose their ability to respond to insulin, the hormone which instructs them to perform this function. experiments to find a cure for diabetes have found that an extract of cinnamon can actually revitalise this function of cells, making them far more responsive to insulin. the increased blood sugar levels cause symptoms such as fatigue, weight loss and blurred vision, and can make the patient far more prone to heart disease and stroke. patients often have to greatly modify their diets and exercise to protect their health. in fact, in laboratory experiments, glucose processing was increased by up to 20 times. the chemical responsible is called methylhydroxy chalcone polymer (mhcp), and unpublished studies on mice found that abnormally high glucose concentrations indiabetic mice fell dramatically when given mhcp. however a spokesman for the charity diabetes uk disagreed, saying it was too early to recommend adding cinnamon to the diet. she said: "any work in this area is welcome -- we look forward to the results of further research." this is not the first illness which may be helped by cinnamon. other researchers have found that the spice appears effective against the e.coli bacterium, which can cause food poisoning. (ians)