u/Clashrtc

Over the last four years, my A1C has gone from 5.7 in 2022 to 6.0 in 2024, and now back down to 5.7 in 2026.

I was a little confused by the results because I always thought A1C was basically a snapshot of the last three months. Over the last few months, I’ve been checking my glucose pretty consistently with a Contour monitor, and I rarely seem to spike very high. Most of my meals are fairly balanced, although some are more carb-heavy. Even then, the worst I usually see is around 150 at the 45 minute mark. By about an hour to an hour and 10 minutes, I’m generally back in the 130s, and usually under 120 by around 75-90 minutes.

Because of that, I was honestly expecting my A1C to come back lower than 5.7.

One thing to note is that since mid-January, I’ve gone from 218 pounds down to 197, with 190 probably being a normal weight for me. Could that still be part of why my A1C is elevated? There are even days where I test once an hour throughout the entire day, and my averages still seem pretty low overall around 108-110. I was just surprised that the A1C still came back in the elevated range. When are my levels rising? I am usually between 95-101 when I wake up, could it be elevated while I am sleeping or something?

I’m confused about the flavor differences between Ceylon and cassia cinnamon.

My whole life I’ve bought whatever cheap cinnamon was available (Trader Joe’s, Ralphs, etc.) and it always had what I’d consider a “normal” cinnamon flavor, mild, not overly spicy.

Separately, I’ve always associated things like Big Red gum or Red Hots with a distinct “cinnamon candy” flavor, which I assumed was different from actual cinnamon.

Recently I bought Ceylon cinnamon (Simply Organic from Whole Foods) to start using more regularly in coffee. But when I tried it, it immediately tasted and smelled exactly like that cinnamon candy flavor.

That threw me off, because everything I’m reading says cassia is supposed to be the stronger, spicier, more “red hot” cinnamon, while Ceylon is milder and more subtle. I looked this up after I had tried this cinnamon and was completely surprised to discover most people saying the opposite of my recent experience.

For comparison, I smelled an older generic cinnamon I had (likely cassia), and that smells like what I’ve always thought cinnamon smells like.

So I’m trying to figure out:

• Why does my Ceylon cinnamon taste like cinnamon candy?
• Why has the cinnamon I’ve used my whole life NOT had that flavor?
• Is this a freshness, quality, or sourcing issue, or am I misunderstanding the flavor profiles?