Role of cinnamon as beneficial antidiabetic food adjunct: a review

Diabetes mellitus (DM) is the most common of the endocrine disorders. It is an important human ailment, afflicting many, from various walks of life in different countries. Insulin is the ideal treatment for diabetes in the conditions where blood glucose levels cannot be controlled. The introduction of insulin and oral hypoglycemic agents has revolutionized the management of diabetes. Despite advances in drug management of diabetes, the adverse drug effects have made scientists to look towards hypoglycemic agents of plant origin, especially in the developing countries. It is postulated that spices play a major role in the management of diabetes. Spices are a group of esoteric food adjuncts that have contributed to taste and flavor of foods for thousand of years. Cinnamon is one such spice, which has the potential to attenuate the development of diabetes and its complication. It also does not have much troublesome side effects. The present paper reviews the outstanding ability of cinnamon, to tackle diabetes by boosting insulin function. It also points to the areas of future research, to further control many of the pathological mechanisms that cause diabetes.