In otherwise healthy adults with mildly elevated triglycerides (150–300 mg/dL), does cinnamon supplementation lower triglyceride levels?

Does Cinnamon Reduce Triglycerides?

Cinnamon supplementation modestly reduces triglycerides by approximately 7–30 mg/dL in adults with type 2 diabetes, but it is not a guideline-recommended therapy and should never replace proven lipid-lowering interventions like statins, fibrates, or icosapent ethyl for managing hypertriglyceridemia or reducing cardiovascular risk.

Why Cinnamon Is Not Part of Standard Lipid Management

The European Society of Cardiology, American College of Cardiology, and American Diabetes Association guidelines make no mention of cinnamon as a therapeutic option for hypertriglyceridemia 1, 2. Guideline-based management prioritizes interventions with proven mortality benefit: statins for LDL-cholesterol and cardiovascular risk reduction, fibrates for severe hypertriglyceridemia (≥500 mg/dL) to prevent pancreatitis, and icosapent ethyl for residual cardiovascular risk in high-risk patients with elevated triglycerides 1, 2, 3.

For patients with mildly elevated triglycerides (150–300 mg/dL), the American College of Cardiology recommends lifestyle modifications as first-line therapy: 5–10% weight loss (producing 20% triglyceride reduction), restricting added sugars to <6% of total calories, limiting saturated fats to <7% of energy intake, and engaging in ≥150 minutes/week of moderate-intensity aerobic activity 2, 4. These evidence-based lifestyle interventions reduce triglycerides by 20–50% and carry proven cardiovascular benefit—far exceeding any potential effect of cinnamon 2.

What the Research Shows About Cinnamon

While guidelines do not endorse cinnamon, several randomized controlled trials in patients with type 2 diabetes have reported modest triglyceride reductions:

• A 2023 dose-response meta-analysis of diabetic patients found cinnamon reduced triglycerides by a mean of 7.31 mg/dL (95% CI: -12.37 to -2.25), with a significant dose-response relationship 5.
• A 2003 trial in 60 diabetic patients showed 1–6 g/day of cinnamon for 40 days reduced triglycerides by 23–30% 6.
• A 2025 meta-analysis of 28 trials (3,054 diabetic patients) found cinnamon in capsule form reduced triglycerides by 19.75 mg/dL (95% CI: -33.71 to -5.80) 7.
• A 2022 meta-analysis reported cinnamon reduced triglycerides by 16.27 mg/dL (p < 0.001) in patients with metabolic diseases 8.

However, these studies have critical limitations: they enrolled only diabetic patients (not otherwise healthy adults), used variable cinnamon preparations and doses, had short durations (30–120 days), and—most importantly—measured only surrogate lipid endpoints, not cardiovascular events or mortality 5, 7, 8. In contrast, statins reduce major adverse cardiovascular events by 20–25% per 1.0 mmol/L LDL-cholesterol reduction, and icosapent ethyl reduces cardiovascular events by 25% in high-risk patients with elevated triglycerides 1, 2.

Why This Matters for Clinical Practice

For a patient with triglycerides of 150–300 mg/dL:

• If they have diabetes (age 40–75) or 10-year ASCVD risk ≥7.5%, initiate moderate-to-high intensity statin therapy immediately (atorvastatin 10–20 mg or rosuvastatin 5–10 mg daily), which provides 10–30% triglyceride reduction plus proven cardiovascular mortality benefit 1, 2, 4.
• If triglycerides remain >200 mg/dL after 3 months of optimized lifestyle modifications and statin therapy, add icosapent ethyl 2 g twice daily (for patients with established cardiovascular disease or diabetes with ≥2 additional risk factors), which demonstrated a 25% reduction in major adverse cardiovascular events 1, 2, 4.
• If triglycerides reach ≥500 mg/dL, immediately initiate fenofibrate 54–160 mg daily to prevent acute pancreatitis, regardless of LDL-cholesterol or cardiovascular risk 1, 2, 3.

Cinnamon has no role in this algorithm. The American College of Cardiology explicitly recommends against using dietary supplements of omega-3 to reduce cardiovascular risk or lower triglycerides, emphasizing that only prescription formulations with proven cardiovascular outcomes should be used 2. By extension, cinnamon—which lacks any cardiovascular outcomes data—should not be recommended as a lipid-lowering therapy.

Critical Pitfalls to Avoid

• Do not delay evidence-based pharmacotherapy (statins, fibrates, icosapent ethyl) while attempting cinnamon supplementation in patients with elevated cardiovascular risk or severe hypertriglyceridemia 1, 2, 4.
• Do not substitute cinnamon for proven interventions like weight loss, sugar restriction, and aerobic exercise, which reduce triglycerides by 20–50% 2, 4.
• Do not overlook secondary causes of hypertriglyceridemia (uncontrolled diabetes, hypothyroidism, excessive alcohol, medications) that must be addressed before attributing elevated triglycerides to diet alone 2, 4, 3.

Bottom Line

Cinnamon may modestly lower triglycerides in diabetic patients by 7–30 mg/dL, but it is not a guideline-recommended therapy and should never replace proven lipid-lowering interventions. For patients with mildly elevated triglycerides (150–300 mg/dL), prioritize intensive lifestyle modification (weight loss, sugar restriction, aerobic exercise) and—if cardiovascular risk is elevated—initiate statin therapy, which provides both triglyceride reduction and proven mortality benefit 1, 2, 4, 3. Cinnamon supplementation may be considered as an adjunct to—but never a substitute for—evidence-based management in diabetic patients who are already optimized on lifestyle and pharmacotherapy 5, 7, 8.