The Buckets by Greg Cravens for November 20, 2012

This old-world spice usually reaches most men’s stomachs only when it’s mixed with sugar and stuck to a roll..Why It’s Healthy: Cinnamon helps control your blood sugar, which influences your risk of heart disease. In fact, USDA researchers found that people with type-2 diabetes who consumed 1 g of cinnamon a day for 6 weeks (about 1/4 teaspoon each day) significantly reduced not only their blood sugar but also their triglycerides and LDL (bad) cholesterol. Credit the spice’s active ingredients, methylhydroxychalcone polymers, which increase your cells’ ability to metabolize sugar by up to 20 times..How to Eat It: You don’t need the fancy oils and extracts sold at vitamin stores; just sprinkle the stuff that’s in your spice rack (or in the shaker at Starbucks) into your coffee or on your oatmeal..You’ll see a ton of cinnamon this winter, along with a bunch of other unhealthy fare..Read more: http://www.menshealth.com/mhlists/best_healthy_foods/Cinnamon.php#ixzz2ClrP471m