Cinnamon effects on blood pressure and metabolic profile: A double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial in patients with stage 1 hypertension

Objective: Cinnamon effect on blood pressure remains controversial. The present pilot study assessed cinnamon effect on blood pressure, and metabolic profile of stage 1 hypertension patients (S1HTN). Materials and Methods: This double-blind placebo-controlled randomized trial was conducted between June and October 2019, in Mashhad, Iran. Study inclusion criteria comprised SUITN diagnosis, based on 24-hour ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM). Subjects were randomly assigned to two groups: cinnamon group (capsule, 1500 mg/day, 90 days) and placebo group. On days 0 and 90, ABPM derived systolic and diastolic blood pressure (SBP and DBP, respectively), blood lipid profile, and fasting blood sugar (FBS) were recorded. Results: The two groups did not differ significantly regarding vascular risk factors, educational status, lipid profile and blood pressure at baseline, except for lower HDL-c in cinnamon group (p=0.03). On day 90, there was no significant difference between two study groups for lipid profile and blood pressure. A statistically significant decrease in mean 24-hr SBP and mean day SBP was observed in the cinnamon group, while mean night SBP and mean night DBP were decreased significantly in the placebo group after 90 days. A statistically significant decrease in mean change of day value of SBP was found in the cinnamon group, compared to the placebo. On day 90, FBS remained practically unchanged but a significant increase in HDL-c (5.A unit; p=0.01) and a significant decrease in LDL-c levels (17.7 unit; p=0.009) were observed in the cinnamon group compared to placebo group. Conclusion: Cinnamon caused a statistically significant decrease in mean ambulatory SBP but in a clinically moderate way, and lipid profile was significantly improved. Therefore, cinnamon might be considered a complementary treatment in subjects with S1HTN.