Background: Nutritional modulation remains central to the management of metabolic syndrome. Intervention with cinnamon in individuals with metabolic syndrome remains sparsely researched.
Methods: We investigated the effect of oral cinnamon consumption on body composition and metabolic parameters of Asian Indians with metabolic syndrome. In this 16-week double blind randomized control trial, 116 individuals with metabolic syndrome were randomized to two dietary intervention groups, cinnamon [6 capsules (3 g) daily] or wheat flour [6 capsules (2.5 g) daily]. Body composition, blood pressure and metabolic parameters were assessed.
Results: Significantly greater decrease [difference between means, (95% CI)] in fasting blood glucose (mmol/L) [0.3 (0.2, 0.5) p = 0.001], glycosylated haemoglobin (mmol/mol) [2.6 (0.4, 4.9) p = 0.023], waist circumference (cm) [4.8 (1.9, 7.7) p = 0.002] and body mass index (kg/m2 ) [1.3 (0.9, 1.5) p = 0.001] was observed in the cinnamon group compared to placebo group. Other parameters which showed significantly greater improvement were: waist-hip ratio, blood pressure, serum total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, serum triglycerides, and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol. Prevalence of defined metabolic syndrome was significantly reduced in the intervention group (34.5%) vs. the placebo group (5.2%).
Conclusion: A single supplement intervention with 3 g cinnamon for 16 weeks resulted in significant improvements in all components of metabolic syndrome in a sample of Asian Indians in north India.
Trial registration: The clinical trial was retrospectively registered (after the recruitment of the participants) in ClinicalTrial.gov under the identification number: NCT02455778 on 25th May 2015.
Keywords: Blood pressure; Body composition; Cinnamon; Fasting blood glucose; Glycosylated haemoglobin; Metabolic syndrome.