Practical Practitioner

By: Pamela Egan, FNP-C CDE

Chromium Picolinate may help prevent disease

Dear Pam,

Can you provide some information on Chromium Picolinate and Diabetes?

Better health information to consumers is needed now more than ever, as the problem of obesity worsens and as millions of Americans suffer from heart disease, cancer, diabetes and other illnesses that can be prevented by changes in their behavior. Here’s the latest news on this essential mineral.

The growing body of evidence of chromium and chromium picolinate related to insulin resistance and associated diseases such as obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular disease deserves attention. Research suggests that chromium picolinate may play an important role in the prevention and management of these chronic diseases.

The National Institute of Health affords grants to encourage studies on chromium as an adjunct therapy to Type 2 Diabetes. There are several ongoing studies at this time.

Chromium is an essential mineral found in the body that has been shown to be important in carbohydrate metabolism. Chromium is a critical component of the glucose tolerance factor (GTF). It increases the effectiveness of insulin, the hormone produced by the pancreas that aids in blood sugar regulation. Chromium allows insulin to bind to certain cell receptors to allow glucose to enter the cells, decreasing blood glucose levels.

Chromium also stimulates the activity of enzymes involved in glucose metabolism and fatty acid synthesis, and competes with iron in the transport of protein.

Chromium is a blood sugar regulator. “Chromium may help restore some of the body’s sensitivity to insulin and thus make better use of glucose, a recent study yielded results suggesting that many Americans, of all ages, get amounts of chromium in their daily diets that are below the minimum recommendations.

Chromium supplementation is expected to assume an important place in preventive medicine.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has initiated the review process associating chromium picolinate supplementation with reduced risk of insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes and related disease conditions.

Approximately 95 million Americans have some degree of insulin resistance and almost 1 million new cases of diabetes are diagnosed every year.

Human clinical studies evaluating the effects of Chromium have shown that daily supplementation of up to 1,000 mcg of chromium, as chromium picolinate alone or in combination with other therapies helps reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes and other health conditions associated with insulin resistance. These results have been validated by leading independent international nutrition and diabetes experts.

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