Effects of Cinnamomum zeylanicum on glycemic levels in patients with type 2 diabetes: Randomized clinical trial

Objective: To evaluate the effect of Cinnamomum zeylanicum (cinnamon) supplement use on the glycemic levels of Mexican adults with type 2 diabetes. Methods: A single-blind randomized clinical trial was conducted with 30 patients over 18 years of age with type 2 diabetes. They were randomized into intervention and control groups where they took 2- gram capsules of Cinnamomum zeylanicum or wheat flour (placebo) daily for 12 weeks; then the anthropometric and biochemical variables HbA1c, FPG, triglycerides, total cholesterol, HDL and LDL were measured. IBM SPSS version 23 software was used and the Student's t-test and Mann-Whitney U test for independent samples (according to the behavior of the variable) were applied for differences between groups, p-values <0.05 were considered statistically significant. Results: No significant changes in HbA1c were seen between the two groups (p>0.05). However, post-treatment, the HbA1c value in the intervention group decreased significantly when compared to their baseline (-0.41%, p=0.01), while no differences were found in the control group (+0.03%, p=0.64). There were no significant differences in the anthropometric or biochemical variables. Conclusions: The consumption of 2 g of Cinnamomum zeylanicum in Mexican people with type 2 diabetes did not produce significant changes between the groups. New studies evaluating cinnamon supplementation on a larger sample size are suggested. ClinicalTrials.gov; NCT04023539.