As the weather gets colder, many diabetic patients often feel cold in their hands and feet, and even holding a hot water bottle doesn't help. Fang Zhaohui, Chief Physician of the Endocrinology and Rheumatology Department at the Anhui Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, suggests that diabetic patients who are particularly sensitive to the cold could try drinking cinnamon-infused water.
Cinnamon has the effects of warming the body to boost yang, dispelling cold to relieve pain, and warming the meridians to ensure smooth circulation, which can help warm the body.
Foreign studies have shown that a compound in cinnamon can enhance the responsiveness of fat cells to insulin, making its blood sugar-lowering effect quite significant. Therefore, for diabetic patients, drinking cinnamon-infused water can have the dual benefits of warming the body and lowering blood sugar.
Clinically, the effect is better for patients with yang deficiency syndrome and both yin and yang deficiency syndromes. In addition to being sensitive to the cold, patients with yang deficiency syndrome often experience soreness in the lower back and knees. For them, a recommended remedy is 6 grams of cinnamon, 12 grams of coix seed, and 9 grams of cistanche, decocted in an appropriate amount of water and taken orally. For patients with both yin and yang deficiency syndromes, who may experience frequent urination, a pale tongue with a white coating, the aforementioned method can be supplemented with Liuwei Dihuang Wan (Six-Ingredient Rehmannia Pill).
However, diabetic patients with yin deficiency syndrome, who often have a dry throat and mouth, and a dry, red tongue, should not use cinnamon. For them, taking Liuwei Dihuang Wan is sufficient.