Along with traditional treatments, diabetics can try eating cinnamon and doing yoga

Date published: 3/5/2006

ABOUT ONE IN FIVE Ameri- can adults has diabetes or prediabetes, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control.

As the diabetes epidemic grows, more people are searching for unconventional therapies such as cinnamon, chromium and even yoga.

Daily exercise, a healthy eating plan and medications are like the legs of a tripod. They are the three proven lines of defense against Type 2 diabetes and its complications, which can include heart disease and kidney failure.

I'm a strong proponent of diabetes self-management programs, where certified diabetes educators and dietitians teach the basics of testing blood sugar. They also teach empowering ways to control the disease and prevent complications.

But in addition to those traditional methods, diabetics might also be helped by things like laughing more, and eating more cinnamon and vinegar.

Getting enough sleep, managing stress and taking supplements with chromium and magnesium also can be beneficial.

Cinnamon, a sweet spice, can reduce blood sugar, according to researchers at the U.S. Department of Agriculture and others in Pakistan.

They found that taking a teaspoon of cinnamon daily for three weeks can reduce blood sugars 23 percent to 30 percent. Lower doses of cinnamon, about a half-teaspoon a day, also are effective. But they take more than a month to work.

So, sprinkle cinnamon on your oatmeal or stir your cup of tea with a cinnamon stick. Cinnamon tastes great, won't hurt you, and might even help, as long as you have it every day.

For unknown reasons, vinegar has been shown to reduce blood sugar after meals, according to the Journal of the American Dietetic Association.

One study had volunteers eat a meal accompanied by a drink of 4 teaspoons of apple cider vinegar mixed with water and saccharine, or plain artificially sweetened water. The vinegar group had blood sugars 55 percent lower.

Drinking vinegar doesn't sound appetizing, but I am willing to choose a vinaigrette salad dressing more often than ranch dressing. Even better, I like to splash a little balsamic vinegar on my salad and drizzle on some extra-virgin olive oil to make a delicious European-style dressing.

Date published: 3/5/2006