"New research from the University of Michigan Life Sciences Institute has determined how a common holiday spicecinnamonmight be enlisted in the fight against obesity. Scientists had previously observed that cinnamaldehyde an essential oil that gives cinnamon its flavor appeared to protect mice against obesity and hyperglycemia. But the mechanisms underlying the effect were not well understood. Researchers in the lab of Jun Wu research assistant professor at the LSI wanted to better understand cinnamaldehydes action and determine whether it might be protective in humans too. Scientists were finding that this compound affected metabolism said Wu who also is an assistant professor of molecular and integrative physiology at the UM Medical School. So we wanted to figure out howwhat pathway might be involved what it looked like in mice and what it looked like in human cells.  Their findings which appear in the December issue of the journal Metabolism indicated that cinnamaldehyde improves metabolic health by acting directly on fat cells or adipocytes inducing them to start burning energy through a process called thermogenesis. Wu and her colleagues tested human adipocytes from volunteers representing a range of ages ethnicities and body mass indices. When the cells were treated with cinnamaldehyde the researchers noticed increased expression of several genes and enzymes that enhance lipid metabolism. They also observed an increase in Ucp and Fgf which are important metabolic regulatory proteins involved in thermogenesis. Adipocytes normally store energy in the form of lipids. This longterm storage was beneficial to our distant ancestors who had much less access to highfat foods and thus a much greater need to store fat. That fat could then be used by the body in times of scarcity or in cold temperatures which induce adipocytes to convert stored energy into heat. Its only been relatively recently that energy surplus has become a problem Wu said. Throughout evolution the oppositeenergy deficiencyhas been the problem. So any energyconsuming process usually turns off the moment the body doesnt need it.  With the rising obesity epidemic researchers like Wu have been looking for ways to prompt fat cells to activate thermogenesis turning those fatburning processes back on. Wu believes that cinnamaldehyde may offer one such activation method. And because it is already used widely in the food industry it might be easier to convince patients to stick to a cinnamonbased treatment than to a traditional drug regimen. Cinnamon has been part of our diets for thousands of years and people generally enjoy it Wu said. So if it can help protect against obesity too it may offer an approach to metabolic health that is easier for patients to adhere to. Now before anyone goes dumping tons of extra cinnamon in their egg nog in hopes of keeping holidayseason pounds at bay Wu cautioned that further study is needed to determine how best to harness cinnamaldehydes metabolic benefits without causing adverse side effects.  The research was supported by the Human Frontier Science Program Edward Mallinckrodt Jr. Foundation National Institutes of Health and American Heart Association. Other study authors were Juan Jiang Margo Emont Heejin Jun Xiaona Qiao Jiling Liao and Dongil Kim all of UM. The study is titled Cinnamaldehyde induces fat cellautonomous thermogenesis and metabolic reprogramming DOI .j.metabol...."