Academics in Turkey found that supplementation reduced body weight and visceral fat, and improved carbohydrate metabolism.
It also boosted insulin, and free fatty acid and lipid profiles, lipid peroxidation and antioxidant enzymes.
For the study, rats were divided into four groups: control, cinnamon supplementation, high-fat diet (HFD) and high-fat diet with cinnamon supplementation.
Writing in the journal Oxidative Medicine and Cellular Longevity, the academics wrote: “Cinnamon polyphenol extract treatment decreased body weight, visceral fat, and liver weight by 8.4%, 36.6%, and 17.7% in the HFD-fed rats
“The hypertriglyceridemia and elevated lipid indicators in HFD-fed rats were also reduced with cinnamon polyphenol extract supplementation.”
It also improved carbohydrate, protein and antioxidative levels.
Protein expression
However, the HFD-fed rats treated with cinnamon still had a final body weight and visceral fat higher than those of the control rats.
The researchers believe that cinnamon polyphenol successfully reduced hyperlipidaemia, inflammation, and oxidative stress by activating transcription factors and the defence signalling pathway in the liver.
“Another important mechanism contributing to cinnamon antiobesity is the upregulation of antioxidant-dependent proteins,” they added.
“We found that expression of the proteins Nrf2 and HO-1 increased in HFD rats with cinnamon intake, indicating that this antioxidant mechanism may underlie reduced levels of lipid peroxidation in liver tissues.”
The study was sponsored by OmniActive Health Technologies and supported in part by the Turkish Academy of Sciences.
Source: Oxidative Medicine and Cellular Longevity
https://doi.org/10.1155/2017/1583098
“Cinnamon Polyphenol Extract Inhibits Hyperlipidemia and Inflammation by Modulation of Transcription Factors in High-Fat Diet-Fed Rats”
Authors: Zeynep Tuzcu, et al.