Cinnamon: Reformulated Diabetes Supplement is 300% More Effective Just By Adding One New Ingredient, Cinnamon

Back in 2002, US HSI Panellist, Jon Barrons goal was to help people lower their blood sugar. So he formulated a product called Glucotor, designed to help people with sugar management problems such as diabetes. At that time, he considered including cinnamon in his formula.

But at the time Barron was working on Glucotor, cinnamon wasnt practical for most people as a sugar management supplement as you would need anywhere from half to one heaped teaspoon a day to get the desired effect, and as small as that amount seems, adding that much to the existing formula would mean taking as many as 18 capsules a day. Also, when you start taking cinnamon at those levels, it has potential side-effects of bronchial constriction, skin rashes, and inflammation.

So Barrons original Glucotor formula went cinnamon-less. Since then, Glucotor has racked up an 82 per cent success rate, and Baseline Nutritionals, the manufacturer, tells us theyre constantly selling out of it.

Most people would look at those results and be satisfied. But Barron wasnt. So he decided to reformulate Glucotor. The result is a product called Glucotor-2, which includes an all-natural ingredient that has been proven to boost the bodys insulin response 20-fold. This one addition to the original formula has made the already miraculous Glucotor up to 300 per cent more effective than similar products without the potential of toxic side-effects.

Make your insulin receptors more receptive

But why reformulate at all when youve already got something with such a high success rate you literally cant keep it on the shelves? Simply put, Barron says the success rate just wasnt high enough considering its a human statistic. He couldnt see past the 18 per cent of people that he wasnt helping.

That led him on a search for other ingredients he could add to boost Glucotors effectiveness. And once again, he arrived back at cinnamon. But this time he found a specific cinnamon extract, called Cinnulin PF, which eliminated the roadblocks hed encountered before.

In diabetes, either the body doesnt produce enough insulin or the cells resist it, so the sugar remains in the blood, builds up to higher and higher levels, and ultimately starts damaging protein-based tissue and organs. Cinnulin PF helps trigger receptor sensitivity to insulin and prime the receptor for glucose uptake.

So just what is Cinnulin PF? Well, as Barron puts it, its pretty amazing. Its a patented cinnamon extract that operates at the cellular and molecular levels. It actually works to make the insulin receptor sites on your individual body cells more receptive. If you have enough cinnamon every day, you can actually increase your bodys insulin response threefold. Thats 300 per cent and thats a big deal.

All the benefit, none of the risks

Until recently methyl-hydroxy-chalcone polymer (or MHCP) was thought to be the active compound in this spice responsible for the beneficial effect on blood glucose. It turns out that early research misidentified the substances responsible for these actions as cinnamons MHCP fractions. The substances actually providing the blood-sugar lowering benefits are water-soluble polyphenol polymers called Type-A polymers.1

Integrity Nutraceuticals International (INI) a raw material supplier of bulk nutraceuticals and specialty compounds like Cinnulin PF, created a water-based cinnamon extract using a process that removes the potentially harmful compounds from whole cinnamon while leaving the Type-A polymers intact. This process doesnt use chemical solvents. Extracts made with solvents other than water contain photochemicals that are more likely to be toxic at higher doses.2

This process makes Cinnulin PF stronger: The lipid soluble portion of cinnamon has been shown to have no effect on glucose metabolism. But in contrast, the water-soluble portion has been proven to increase glucose uptake by 20-fold.3

Early research looks promising, a 29% reduction in fasting glucose levels

In one study, researchers tested cinnamons effects by using a water-based extract similar to Cinnulin PF on 28 people with Type II diabetes. Patients received 500 milligrams of a formula containing water extracts of cinnamon, heshouwu, and mushroom three times per day. Another 29 patients were given a placebo. After two months, researchers found that subjects in the treatment group had a 15 per cent reduction in fasting glucose (a measurement of the blood glucose in the morning prior to the ingestion of any food for the previous 12 hours).4

In another study, 60 Type II diabetics were divided into six groups: three placebo groups and three experimental groups. Participants took 1, 3, or 6 grams of cinnamon daily or the placebo. After 40 days, participants in the cinnamon groups had 18 to 29 per cent drops in their fasting glucose. They also experienced 20 to 30 per cent lower triglycerides, 7 to 27 per cent reductions in LDL cholesterol, and 12 to 26 per cent lower total cholesterol levels.5 There were no significant changes in any of the placebo groups. However, all of the patients in the study were also taking oral hypoglycaemic (blood sugar-lowering) medications, so its hard to say for sure in this case if cinnamon was the sole factor in the improvements.

There is a placebo-controlled, double-blind trial specific to Cinnulin PF currently under way. The study was designed to determine the effect of supplementation with Cinnulin PF on changes in glucose regulation, lipid profiles (cholesterol, triglycerides, etc.), and overall body composition. While the final results wont be available until later in the year, we promise to update you when they come in. 

What to take for best results

Glucotor-2 can be taken by people with either Type I or Type II diabetes. The recommended dosage for Glucotor-2 with Cinnulin PF is one or two capsules five to 10 minutes before eating. If youre currently taking medications for blood sugar, cholesterol, or heart disease, talk to your doctor before trying this formula.

Barron did note that some people have a problem digesting the capsules quickly enough to get the blood-sugar lowering effects. The problem, as Barron explains, is that many people, particularly as they get older, have burned out their ability to produce stomach acid. Once you get to that point, you no longer have enough stomach acid to easily break down capsules: It takes so long that the Glucotor cant get in place soon enough to block the receptor sites. But taking the formula out of the capsules lets you bypass that problem. So if you dont get the results you expect, try taking the Glucotor-2 powder out of the capsules and mixing it with a little apple sauce or a small glass of water.

1. J Agric Food Chem 2004;52(1): 65-70
2. ibid
3. ibid
4. FASEB J 2002;16(4): A647
5. Diabetes Care 2003;26(12): 3,215-18