I’m a Retired Coroner. These Are the Symptoms I Wouldn’t Let My Wife Dismiss as “Getting Older.”

By Matthew Walker, 62, retired county coroner

My wife called it “getting older.”

She was 60. By eight most evenings, she was asleep in her chair.

At night, she would sit on the edge of the bed rubbing feet that felt numb and buzzing at the same time.

Then I watched her hold the newspaper farther from her face, try to read it, and give up.

After 31 years as a coroner, I couldn’t shrug that off…

In my working life, I had seen the complications diabetes could cause.

I remembered the people behind the paperwork. A bread-delivery driver who had been building a birdhouse for his granddaughter.

A basketball coach who had been making Sunday pancakes for his daughter.

I remembered their families, too.

That experience made it difficult to hear Susan make light of how she felt.

She walked three miles every morning, took her medication and kept her appointments.

Yet more and more of the day seemed to wear her out.

I wanted her to enjoy the retirement she’d worked for.

Read her books.
Get her bicycle out.
Finish dinner with enough energy left for the evening.

What I didn’t expect was that my search would lead to a conversation about cinnamon, two disappointing cinnamon purchases, and a softgel we now keep beside the coffee.

What the Number Couldn’t Tell Me

For years, Susan and I had paid close attention to her A1C. It reflects average blood sugar over roughly three months and helps guide treatment.¹

But an average can’t describe every high and low.

And a blood-test result can’t tell you how much someone misses feeling up to an ordinary afternoon.

Susan was doing the things she’d been asked to do. She still wanted to feel better.

At 60, she wanted enough energy to enjoy the day she’d planned.

Her numb feet and changes in vision needed medical attention. Those weren’t things to explain away as age, or leave to a supplement.

Alongside her care, I started looking into what else might be worth discussing with her doctor.

Blood sugar was already part of our daily life.

I wanted to understand the research on nutritional support instead of buying whatever sounded promising.

That distinction would eventually change what I bought.

First, I had to admit that my experience as a coroner hadn’t made me an expert at choosing supplements…

“Grab a Pen,” Rachel Said.

Rachel Henderson had worked as a coroner in the next county for 38 years.

She was retired, and she was someone I could call without having to pretend I had everything figured out.

I told her about Susan. The broken nights. The exhaustion after dinner. The supplements we’d already tried.

Rachel listened. Then she told me to grab a pen.

When she started talking about cinnamon, I wondered whether she’d misunderstood how worried I was.

I was looking for something more substantial than a suggestion from the spice cupboard.

But she wanted me to look at the research on Ceylon cinnamon, and then at the products being sold under that name.

She told me her husband had been taking a Ceylon cinnamon supplement.

I wanted to know what had persuaded her to try it, and she pointed me toward the research.

After our call, I sat down at the computer. I wanted to see what she’d been reading for myself.

Susan Had Already Given Two Bottles a Chance.

By the time I called Rachel, we’d spent six weeks trying berberine and chromium supplements.

Susan had taken them faithfully. She trusted me when I said I was looking into it.

At the end of those six weeks, she was still having the evenings we’d hoped would change.

I remember the bottles on the windowsill above the sink. I’d bought them because I’d heard their names so often. That had felt like a reasonable place to start.

It felt less reasonable when I was looking at my wife, wondering what to suggest next.

She’d spent her career teaching kindergarten. Being busy suited her.

So did a three-mile walk, a project in the garage or a book she couldn’t put down.

I wanted more of those days for her. If we were going to spend money on another supplement, I needed a better reason than having heard of it.

The Research Gave Me a Reason to Look Again.

What caught my attention was what the researchers were measuring: fasting blood sugar, A1C and how effectively the body responded to insulin.

Insulin helps glucose move from the blood into cells, where it can be used for energy.

With insulin resistance, cells respond less effectively to that signal, making blood sugar harder to manage.²

I wanted to know whether cinnamon had been tested in people, and what those tests had found.

These studies were the reason I took another look at the ingredient.

Until that call, I’d barely thought about which kind of cinnamon was inside a supplement. Now I wanted to know what we would be buying.

I Still Made the Wrong Purchase for Us.

I went to the pharmacy and bought two cinnamon products that looked serious enough to justify the money.

One even said Ceylon on the label.

Six weeks later, Susan still wasn’t noticing the difference we’d hoped for. I called Rachel again, frustrated that we’d ended up in the same position.

This time, I paid closer attention to what she’d been asking me to compare.

I asked Rachel for the name of the product her husband was taking.

She said Metabolae.

This time, I went straight to the product information before buying anything.

What We Chose and Why.

Metabolae combined Ceylon cinnamon extract with MCT oil in a daily softgel.⁶

The ingredient was the one I’d been reading about. The serving was clearly described.

And taking it didn’t mean asking Susan to measure out powder or remember another dose halfway through the day.

Ceylon from Sri Lanka	Concentrated 12:1 extract
Clearly identified Cinnamomum verum, the Ceylon species I’d been looking for.	Each softgel provides the equivalent of 7,200 mg of raw Ceylon cinnamon in a concentrated serving.
MCT-oil softgel	One a day
The extract comes combined with its carrier oil. No loose powder to stir into a drink or sprinkle over food.	One softgel with breakfast. Easy to remember alongside a morning routine.

That gave us a practical way to try Ceylon cinnamon. I ordered that afternoon.

When the package arrived, Susan began taking one with breakfast. She continued her prescribed care.

After the previous purchases, we knew how easy it was to spend the first few days wondering whether we felt anything different…

This time, we settled into the routine.

The moment that stayed with me happened about three weeks later.

I came into the living room to say goodnight, expecting to find Susan asleep.

She was reading.

Her Evening Didn’t End at Eight.

The lamp was on, her book was open, and she was still following the story.

For months, I’d watched her settle into that chair and drift off. Seeing her awake with a novel in her hands felt wonderful.

She hadn’t made an announcement.

She was simply doing something she’d missed, and I was the one standing there noticing.

Over the following weeks, she told me she was sleeping better, too. By around week eight, there were nights when she slept through until morning.

I still sometimes woke out of habit. I’d look over and find her sound asleep.

After so many broken nights, that was something we both appreciated. It gave us more pleasant things to talk about in the morning than how often she’d been awake.

Susan’s experience was individual and occurred alongside prescribed treatment.

Then Her Sister Noticed.

Around twelve weeks into the routine, Susan’s sister came over for dinner.

Partway through the meal, she stopped and looked at her.

“Susan. What have you done?”

Susan smiled and looked across the table at me.

By then, I’d been noticing things for weeks.

She was spending time on the crossword again. Sorting out the garage. Asking whether I wanted to go for a bike ride after lunch.

Those were familiar parts of her life. I hadn’t realized how much I’d missed hearing her suggest them.

She also returned for her scheduled medical follow-up. Her doctor remained responsible for her tests and treatment.

At home, the change she talked about was more personal. She said she felt like herself again.

After 34 years of marriage, I knew what she meant.

I Started Taking It Too.

After watching Susan, I decided to add the same softgel to my own mornings.

I’d spent years blaming tiredness on night calls and irregular hours. Retirement had given me more time, and I wanted the energy to enjoy it with her.

We now keep the softgels beside the coffee. One each with breakfast, then on with the day.

I think back to that first call with Rachel. I’d been embarrassed to admit how little progress we’d made. I’m glad that didn’t stop me asking.

Her recommendation led me to the research, and the research gave me a reason to take Ceylon cinnamon seriously.

Three Things I’d Check Before Buying Again.

If you’ve already bought a cinnamon supplement and felt disappointed, I understand the hesitation. We had two of those purchases behind us.

Here is what I’d look for now.

Metabolae was the product we chose.

If you’ve been considering Ceylon cinnamon, its current bundle gives you a third pack when you buy two.

What I Wanted Was More Time Like This.

When I watched Susan put down that newspaper, I wasn’t thinking about supplement ingredients.

I was thinking about the woman I’d been married to for 34 years, and how frustrated she was becoming with things that used to come easily.

Perhaps you recognize that feeling…

You still have things you want to do. A book to finish, somewhere to go, people you’d like to spend an evening with. You want to feel up to saying yes.

That’s what we wanted, too.

My career had taught me to take changes seriously. Being Susan’s husband gave me a very personal reason to keep asking questions.

I’m glad I called Rachel. I’m glad I read the studies instead of dismissing cinnamon out of hand.

And I’m glad we found a routine that was simple enough to become part of breakfast.

If you’re considering the same addition, talk it through with your clinician, especially if you take blood-sugar medication.

Then choose the Metabolae bundle below if it’s right for you.

Matthew Walker
Retired county coroner and Susan’s husband.