Pumpkin pie spice: the cinnamon evidence is about capsules

Nobody has studied pumpkin pie spice as a blend. We found no trial, no survey portion and no US or EU health claim that names it. What exists is research on its main ingredient, cinnamon, taken as a supplement. A meta-analysis of randomized trials in people with type 2 diabetes gave 1 to 6 g of cinnamon a day for 40 days to 4 months. Fasting glucose fell by 15 mg/dL (95% CI 12 to 18; metric: 0.84 mmol/L, 0.66 to 1.02) and HbA1c by 0.09 percentage points (0.04 to 0.14), at doses far above a spice blend serving. A larger 2025 pooling of 49 supplement trials in adults also found lower fasting glucose, LDL cholesterol and blood pressure. It reported only standardized effects, so it cannot tell you how many units anything moved. None of this was a pinch of spice in a pie, and the trials that report plain units were in people with type 2 diabetes.

The numbers, per 3.5 oz (100 g)

How much is actually in it

• Per 100 g, USDA lists pumpkin pie spice at 19.7 mg iron, 0.48 mg copper and 14.8 g fiber, though a recipe uses only a few grams. — USDA SR Legacy single record, no sample spread (n = 1 record) Evidence E source
  Iron 19.71 mg; copper 0.484 mg; fiber 14.8 g per 3.5 oz (100 g)

What a real portion looks like

• No study tests pumpkin pie spice itself, US survey data give it no portion, and no US or EU health claim names it or cinnamon. — Literature, portion, composition and claim searches (n = 0) Evidence E source
  Corpus 0 records for the blend; FNDDS none; CoFID none; R6 none; claims none; nutmeg toxicity 0 relevant records

What your body absorbs

• In a four-way crossover study in 24 volunteers, coumarin from cassia cinnamon, even baked into rice pudding, was absorbed almost as well as pure coumarin, 55% against 63%. — 24 healthy volunteers, 12 mg coumarin per test in capsule, cinnamon capsule, cinnamon tea or rice pudding (n = 24) Evidence C source
  Relative absorption 62.8% isolated, 56.0% cinnamon capsule, 66.1% tea, 54.7% rice pudding

What it does to your health

• An earlier meta-analysis of 6 trials in 435 people with type 2 diabetes found 1 to 6 g of cinnamon a day cut fasting glucose by 15 mg/dL (0.84 mmol/L) and HbA1c by 0.09%. — 435 patients with type 2 diabetes, 40 days to 4 months, 1-6 g/day (n = 435) Evidence A source
  HbA1c -0.09% (95% CI 0.04-0.14); fasting glucose -15 mg/dL (12 to 18; metric: -0.84 mmol/L, 0.66 to 1.02)
• A 2025 meta-analysis of 49 trials found cinnamon supplements lowered fasting glucose, LDL cholesterol and blood pressure in adults, with a standardized effect of -1.28 for fasting glucose. — Adults in 49 randomized trials of cinnamon supplements (n = 49 trials) Evidence A source
  Fasting glucose SMD -1.28 (95% CI -1.65 to -0.90); LDL SMD -0.71; SBP SMD -0.85

Safety, limits and interactions

• A systematic review of 38 trials, 27 case reports or series and 160 spontaneous reports found cinnamon side effects were mostly stomach upset and allergy, usually at medicinal doses. — Human reports of adverse events from cinnamon (n = 38 trials) Evidence C source
  Most frequent: gastrointestinal disorders and allergic reactions, mostly self-limiting
• In a French allergy database of 589 food allergy cases, spices caused 2% of food allergies overall and 6.4% in adults, and skin tests to nutmeg, ginger and clove were negative. — 589 food allergy cases in the CICBAA data bank (n = 589) Evidence D source
  Spice allergy 2% of all food allergies; 6.4% in adults; nutmeg, ginger, clove prick tests negative

Who this works differently for

• A meta-analysis of 28 trials in 3054 people with type 2 diabetes found cinnamon supplements lowered fasting glucose by 15 mg/dL over 1 to 4 months. — Adults with type 2 diabetes, 28 RCTs lasting 30-120 days (n = 3054) Evidence A source
  Fasting glucose -15.26 mg/dL (95% CI -22.23 to -8.30), I2 88%; HbA1c -0.56
• A case report describes acute hepatitis in a 73-year-old woman one week after starting cinnamon supplements on top of a statin, attributed to coumarin plus the drug. — One 73-year-old woman on a statin (n = 1) Evidence D source
  Hepatitis resolved after stopping cinnamon; statin resumed without problems

The bottom line

On paper the blend is dense in minerals. USDA lists 19.7 mg of iron, 0.48 mg of copper and 14.8 g of fiber per 3.5 oz (100 g), from a single legacy record with no sample spread, and recipes vary. A recipe uses a few grams, so the plate gets a small fraction of those figures. Cassia cinnamon carries coumarin, and baking does not lock it away. In a crossover study where volunteers took 12 mg of coumarin in four forms, 54.7 percent was absorbed from cinnamon baked into rice pudding against 62.8 percent from pure coumarin in a capsule, and the abstract does not say whether the order was randomized. The cautions come from supplements and from allergy. A systematic review of 38 trials, 27 case reports or series and 160 spontaneous reports found cinnamon side effects were mostly stomach upset and allergic reactions, usually self-limiting, with no pooled rates. One 73-year-old woman on a statin developed hepatitis a week after adding cinnamon supplements, and it cleared when she stopped. That is a single case at supplement dose, and it is the only interaction we have on file. In a French database of 589 food allergy cases, spices caused 2 percent of all food allergies and 6.4 percent of those in adults, with cinnamon and allspice not reported separately. We have no card on cinnamon capsules alongside diabetes medicines or insulin, although the glucose trials above were in people with type 2 diabetes, and no card on a safe upper limit for coumarin. Cinnamon capsules are dietary supplements, which in the US the FDA does not approve as medicines before they are sold. Anyone who takes medicine for diabetes or a statin, is pregnant, has a long-term condition or reacts to spices should talk to a doctor before taking them.

Sources

1. pps-r5-01 · dataset
   Spices, pumpkin pie spice (FDC 171332, sr_legacy): iron 19.71 mg; copper 0.484 mg; fibre 14.8 g per 100 g
   USDA FoodData Central, SR Legacy, FDC 171332 Spices, pumpkin pie spice · checked 2026-09-29
2. pps-r5-09 · search result
   entity_brief.py pumpkin pie spice: corpus 0 records; FNDDS nothing among 5 432 foods; CoFID nothing; R6 unknown; 21 CFR nothing; EU register nothing; euclaims_search.py cinnamon: nothing; corpus_search.py nutmeg AND (poisoning OR toxicity OR myristicin): 1 unrelated hit
   Bioma corpus and dataset search (PubMed corpus, FNDDS, CoFID 2021, USDA R6, 21 CFR 101, EU register snapshot 2026-09-21), 2026-09-29 · checked 2026-09-29
3. pps-r5-02 · controlled clinical trial
   The relative extent of absorption measured as urinary excretion of the main metabolite 7-hydroxycoumarin (7OHC) was found to be 62.8% for isolated coumarin in a capsule (reference), 56.0% for cinnamon in capsules, 66.1% for cinnamon tea, and 54.7% for cinnamon in rice pudding (means, n=23, observation period 8 hours).
   Mol Nutr Food Res, 2011 · checked 2026-09-29
4. pps-r5-04 · meta-analysis
   Meta-analysis of RCTs showed a significant decrease in mean HbA1c [0.09%; 95% CI was 0.04-0.14] and mean FPG [0.84 mmol/l; 95% CI was 0.66-1.02].
   Clin Nutr, 2012 · checked 2026-09-29
5. pps-r5-05 · meta-analysis
   Cinnamon supplementation significantly reduced WC (SMD = - 0.40; 95% (CI): - 0.73, - 0.06), DBP (SMD = - 1.04; 95% CI: - 1.54, - 0.55), SBP (SMD = - 0.85; 95% CI: - 1.54, - 0.16), fasting glucose (SMD = - 1.28; 95% CI: - 1.65, - 0.90), fasting insulin (SMD = - 0.26; 95% CI: - 0.50, - 0.02), HbA1c (SMD = - 0.71; 95% CI: - 1.02, - 0.40), HOMA-IR (SMD = - 0.54; 95% CI: - 0.82, - 0.26), postprandial blood glucose (SMD = - 2.28; 95% CI: - 3.48, - 1.08), CRP (SMD = - 0.78; 95% CI: - 1.28, - 0.27), LDL-C (SMD = - 0.71; 95% CI: - 1.02, - 0.40), total cholesterol (TC) (SMD = - 1.15; 95% CI: - 1.55, - 0.75), triglycerides (TG) (SMD = - 0.91; 95% CI: - 1.25, - 0.56), and MDA (SMD = - 0.76; 95% CI: - 1.07, - 0.45).
   J Health Popul Nutr, 2025 · checked 2026-09-29
6. pps-r5-06 · systematic review
   The most frequent adverse events were gastrointestinal disorders and allergic reactions which were self-limiting in the majority of cases.
   Clin Nutr, 2019 · checked 2026-09-29
7. pps-r5-08 · allergy case database
   Food allergy to spices is unfrequent: 2% of the totality of food allergies. However, only adults are allergic to spices and allergy to spices accounts for 6.4% of food allergies in adults.
   Allerg Immunol (Paris), 2002 · checked 2026-09-29
8. pps-r5-03 · meta-analysis
   In total, 28 RCTs with a duration ranging from 30 to 120 days and a total enrollment of 3054 patients with DM2 were included.
   Nutr Rev, 2025 · checked 2026-09-29
9. pps-r5-07 · case report
   A combination of cinnamon supplement and statin can cause hepatitis, and it should be discouraged.
   Am J Case Rep, 2015 · checked 2026-09-29