Chromium is required by humans in trace amounts, and the highest concentration is in the liver, kidney, spleen and bone. Chromium may have a glucose-regulatory activity through its enhancement of the action of insulin (improved glucose tolerance), and may, therefore, be helpful in some with diabetes. It may also be hypocholesterolemic (able to lower blood cholesterol levels) and anti-atherogenic (preventing the formation of plaques within blood vessels). Hexavalent chromium compounds are toxic and carcinogenic (chromium in the food supply is trivalent). Good sources of chromium are meat, whole-grains, mushrooms, brewer’s yeast and spices (black pepper, thyme). In the absence of sufficient research allowing for the establishment of a recommended daily allowance (RDA), the Food and Nutrition Board of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences recommends the following estimated safe and adequate dietary intake (ESADDI): Birth – 6 years: 10-120 mcg; 7 years – adults: 50-200 mcg.
Abstracts:
Human aortas sampled from populations where there is little advanced atheromatous plaque formation contain higher concentrations of chromium than do aortas from populations in which atheromatosis is prevalent…..The group with coronary artery disease had significantly lower serum chromium concentrations than did the group with normally patent arteries.
n Newman, HA, Leighton, RF, Lanese, RR, & Freedland, NA. (1978). Serum chromium and angiographically determined coronary artery disease. Clinical Chemistry, 24, 541-4.
The objective of this study was to test the hypothesis that the elevated intake of supplemental chromium is involved in the control of type 2 diabetes….. These data demonstrate that supplemental chromium had significant beneficial effects on HbA1c, glucose, insulin, and cholesterol variables in subjects with type 2 diabetes. The beneficial effects of chromium in individuals with diabetes were observed at levels higher than the upper limit of the Estimated Safe and Adequate Daily Dietary Intake (ESADDI).
n Anderson, RA et al. (1997). Elevated intakes of supplemental chromium improve glucose and insulin variables in individuals with type 2 diabetes. Diabetes, 46(11), 1786-91.
Chromium supplements also lower total cholesterol and increase high density lipoprotein levels.
n Janson, M. (2006). Orthomolecular medicine: the therapeutic use of dietary supplements for anti-aging. Clin Interv Aging, 1(3), 261-5.
Chromium and biotin play essential roles in regulating carbohydrate metabolism. This randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study evaluated the efficacy and safety of the combination of chromium picolinate and biotin on glycaemic control….. These results suggest that the chromium picolinate/biotin combination, administered as an adjuvant to current prescription anti-diabetic medication, can improve glycaemic control in overweight to obese individuals with type 2 diabetes; especially those patients with poor glycaemic control on oral therapy.
n Albarracin, CA, Fugua, BC, Evans, JL, & Goldfine, ID. (2008). Chromium picolinate and biotin combination improves glucose metabolism in treated, uncontrolled overweight to obese patients with type 2 diabetes. Diabetes Metab Res Rev, 24(1), 41-51.
The aim of this study was to determine the effect of chromium (Cr)- enriched yeast on blood glucose and insulin variables, blood lipids, and blood markers of oxidative stress in persons with type 2 diabetes mellitus (median duration: 3.0 yr)…… These data suggest that supplementation of well-controlled type 2 diabetics with Cr-enriched yeast is safe and can result in improvements in blood glucose variables and oxidative stress.
n Racek, J et al. (2006). Influence of chromium-enriched yeast on blood glucose and insulin variables, blood lipids, and markers of oxidative stress in subjects with type 2 diabetes mellitus. Biol Trace Elem Res, 109(3), 215-30.
OBJECTIVE: To determine the effects of combined zinc (Zn) and chromium (Cr) supplementation on oxidative stress and glucose homeostasis of people with type 2 diabetes……. CONCLUSIONS: These data suggest the potential beneficial antioxidant effects of the individual and combined supplementation of Zn and Cr in people with type 2 DM. These results are particularly important in light of the deleterious consequences of oxidative stress in people with diabetes.
n Anderson, RA et al. (2001). Potential antioxidant effects of zinc and chromium supplementation in people with type 2 diabetes mellitus. J Am Coll Nutr, 20(3), 212-8.
Chromium is an essential element required for normal carbohydrate and lipid metabolism. Insufficient dietary Cr has been linked to maturity-onset diabetes and cardiovascular diseases…… In summary, dietary intake of Cr is suboptimal and this is exacerbated by increased Cr losses due to stress and certain refined foods including simple sugars that enhance Cr losses. Supplemental Cr is associated with improvements of risk factors associated with maturity-onset diabetes and cardiovascular diseases.
n Anderson, RA. (1986). Potential antioxidant effects of zinc and chromium supplementation in people with type 2 diabetes mellitus. Clin Physiol Biochem, 4(1), 31-41.
The known effects of trivalent chromium (Cr) in lowering blood levels of low density lipoproteins (LDL), raising high density lipoproteins (HDL) and improving glucose tolerance are summarized…… It is considered that the beneficial effects of chromium repletion are now so well established and the trivalent form is so free of toxicity that it should now be used in clinical medicine for the benefit of those with some forms of diabetes and its complications and those suffering from atherosclerosis.
n Mossop, RT. (1991). Trivalent chromium, in atherosclerosis and diabetes. Cent Afr J Med, 37(11), 369-74.
Thirty-three rabbits on a cholesterol-enriched diet were randomized into 6 groups and treated with daily injections of either water, 20 micrograms of potassium chromate or 1, 5, 10 or 20 micrograms of chromium chloride, respectively, for 135 days with a 2- to 10-fold increase in serum chromium. There was a marked reduction in the percentage of aortic intimal surface covered by plaque, in aortic weight and cholesterol content in the treated animals. Rabbits treated with 20 micrograms of chromium chloride showed a better response than those treated with either 10 or 20 micrograms of potassium chromate.
n Abraham, AS, Brooks, BA, & Eylath, U. (1991). Chromium and cholesterol-induced atherosclerosis in rabbits. Ann Nutr Metab, 35(4), 203-7.
This experiment was carried out to test the null hypothesis that intramuscular trivalent chromium administration would not remove lipids from the heart and ascending aorta of the hypercholesterolemic rabbits and would not lower their serum cholesterol levels…… The sizes of the lipid deposits in the coronary vasculature of the hypercholesterolemic rabbits were greatly reduced as a result of the intramuscular chromium chloride injections. Lipid deposits in the ascending aorta were similarly reduced, as well as the serum cholesterol concentrations……These findings suggest that a more aggressive approach than those tried hitherto might be useful in treating atherosclerotic human patients with chromium.
n Price Evans, DA et al. (2009). Chromium chloride administration causes a substantial reduction of coronary lipid deposits, aortic lipid deposits, and serum cholesterol concentration in rabbits.. Biol Trace Elem Res, 130(3), 262-72.
Insulin resistance has been shown to be the major contributing factor to the metabolic syndrome, which comprises a cluster of risk factors for metabolic aberrations such as obesity, dyslipidemia, hypertension, and hyperglycemia…… Numerous in vitro and in vivo studies suggest that chromium supplements, particularly niacin-bound chromium or chromium-nicotinate, may be effective in attenuating insulin resistance and lowering plasma cholesterol levels.
n Lau, FC, Bagchi, M, Sen, CK, & Bagchi, D. (2008). Nutrigenomic basis of beneficial effects of chromium(III) on obesity and diabetes. Mol Cell Biochem, 317(1-2), 1-10.
Chromium is an essential mineral that appears to have a beneficial role in the regulation of insulin action, metabolic syndrome, and cardiovascular disease…… Tissue chromium levels of subjects with diabetes are lower than those of normal control subjects, and a correlation exists between low circulating levels of chromium and the incidence of type 2 diabetes………supplementation with chromium picolinate, a stable and highly bioavailable form of chromium, has been shown to reduce insulin resistance and to help reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes…… The existing data suggest to concentrate future studies on certain forms as chromium picolinate and doses as at least 200 mcg per day.
n Hummel, M, Standl, E, & Schnell, O. (2007). Chromium in metabolic and cardiovascular disease. Horm Metab Res, 39(10), 743-51.