肉桂不止调味品那么简单
肉桂是很多人家中常备的调味品，它的使用可以追溯到几千年前。越来越多的研究发现，肉桂具有广泛的健康益处，包括：
富含抗氧化剂[1]；缓解炎症[2]；保护心脏健康[3]；稳定血糖[4]；保持大脑功能[5]；降低癌症风险[6]；对抗感染和病毒[7]；优化口腔卫生[8]；预防念珠菌[9]；保护皮肤[10]；减轻过敏症状[11]等。
就其保护性抗氧化水平而言，肉桂在26种常用香料提取物中排名第一[12]。近年来备受关注的是肉桂对糖尿病的作用。研究发现，肉桂皮中的原花青素A型聚合物是一种具有生物活性的植物营养素，有助于促进健康的血糖代谢。
一些糖尿病人已经开始常年食用肉桂，希望可以达到降糖的效果，实际上肉桂与血糖之间是如何作用的呢？
胰岛素介导的GLUT-4从细胞内囊泡向质膜的易位是由于胰岛素受体底物（IRS）引起的，促进了葡萄糖的进入。在这个过程中，胰岛素受体通过酪氨酸磷酸酶蛋白完成的去磷酸化而失活。因此，胰岛素的生物作用依赖于磷酸化和去磷酸化。
磷脂酰肌醇3-激酶 （PI3K）是胰岛素信号级联反应的重要因子，负责胰岛素对GLUT4易位和葡萄糖转运的代谢作用。胰岛素信号传导途径的紊乱，导致磷脂酰肌醇3-激酶的下游信号传导和活化减少，最终引起糖尿病和胰岛素抵抗的发生。
肉桂对胰岛素信号通路的作用机制[13]：
胰岛素受体（IRs）被肉桂提取的多酚激活，因为这些多酚促进了酪氨酸磷酸化活性的增强和磷酸酶活性的降低（负责受体失活）。此外，肉桂多酚还通过增加GLUT-4蛋白和胰岛素受体-β的数量来增强糖原的合成和积累。它还降低糖原合成酶（GS）激酶-3β（GSK3β）的活性，并提高三四脯氨酸蛋白的水平。
Cinnulin PF®是一种获得专利并经过临床研究的含有A类聚合物的肉桂水溶性提取物。与生肉桂粉不同，Cinnulin PF®专有的提取工艺有助于过滤掉肉桂中的香豆素和其他不良成分。
Cinnulin PF®是唯一一种标准化的双联A型聚合物提取物，特别是临床研究中显示具有许多健康益处的四聚体和三聚体，对代谢综合征尤其有益。
一项为期12周的随机、双盲、安慰剂对照临床试验测试了Cinnulin PF®[14]，该试验针对具有代谢综合征特征的糖尿病前期男性和女性，每天服用500mg的Cinnulin PF®或安慰剂，与安慰剂相比，Cinnulin PF®在空腹血糖、收缩压方面有显著改善，瘦体重增加，体脂减少，各种抗氧化评估都有所改善。
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