Oh and while we’re on supposedly natural remedies against disease (how natural is processed, sweetened chocolate?), there is a nice feature article over in Science-Based Medicine [no relation, Ed] that debunks the deceived wisdom about cinnamon and its supposed benefits to people with diabetes.
Here’s what Scott Gavura has to say:
“Cinnamon’s effectiveness as a treatment for diabetes has not been established. A prescription drug as ineffective as cinnamon likely wouldn’t pass FDA muster.”
He points out that there are existing therapies for diabetes that are inexpensive, effective and well tolerated. And emphasises that we don’t know if cinnamon can reduce morbidity (nasty symptoms) or the risk of mortality in diabetes. “For my patients that insist on trying cinnamon, I’d caution them of the risks, and reinforce that cinnamon is no alternative for lifestyle [basically, weight loss and exercise] changes and medication if necessary,” he says. He emphasises my old sawhorse about “natural”, it may well be from nature but “that doesn’t mean it’s either safe or effective.”