Cinnamon
This familiar spice not only reduces blood sugar, but also lowers cholesterol and triglycerides, and best of all, cinnamon is delicious sprinkled on oatmeal and other whole grain breakfast cereals. In a study conducted by the USDA's Beltsville Human Nutrition Research Center in Maryland, 30 women and men with type 2 diabetes dusted cinnamon on food. Their blood sugar dropped by 18 to 29%, total cholesterol by 7 to 27%, and their triglycerides plummeted 23 to 30% in just 40 days. "Effects of this magnitude could help prevent or alleviate diabetes-and its complications," says Richard Anderson, PhD, of the USDA's Human Nutrition Research Center. "I took about 1/2 teaspoon a day and after 3 months, my cholesterol dropped by 60 mg/dl."
