Related topics: •  Vitamins & Minerals

Chromium is considered an essential nutrient because it helps your body process food. The mineral has achieved some notoriety of late as a weight-loss and body-building supplement, but it probably isn't the answer to your diet and fitness fantasies--the few human studies that have looked at the mineral's effects on muscle mass have been unpersuasive.

Some researchers suspect that taking chromium may protect you against Type 2 diabetes--a form common in older people--or help you manage the disease if you already have it. As some people age, poor diet and lack of exercise slow the body's response to insulin, a hormone that converts blood sugar into energy, and they can eventually develop diabetes. (Among other problems, this allows fat to accumulate in the blood, increasing the risk of heart disease.) Researchers already know that adequate chromium is necessary for insulin to be effective, and a few recent studies have suggested that chromium supplements may help people with a sluggish insulin response process blood sugar more quickly and even lower their levels of blood fats. However, that's not proof that chromium will prevent diabetes, and many experts remain skeptical.

No government recommendation has been set for chromium because researchers don't know enough about it yet. Women generally get an average of 25 mcg a day, and men, 33 mcg, from diet alone. Researchers who think chromium may stave off diabetes recommend supplements of 200 mcg daily for healthy people and up to 600 mcg for people with diabetes. Most practitioners who recommend chromium for their diabetic patients suggest taking only 200 mcg, saying the evidence is not yet strong enough to warrant taking more.

Whole-grain breads and cereals, potatoes (with skin), mushrooms, beer, peanut butter, and seafood are good sources of chromium. Combining them with foods rich in vitamin C can help you absorb the mineral.

The American Diabetes Association says the research is not yet conclusive enough to merit supplements. In fact, a six-month, 2006 study published in the American Diabetes Association journal, Diabetes Care, found no benefit in taking chromium supplements to obese westerners with Type 2 diabetes. While the Institute of Medicine has no upper limit on daily chromium consumption, it does stipulate that chromium should be ingested via food sources only. If you have Type 2 diabetes or are at risk for the disease, ask your doctor whether chromium is appropriate for you. (There's also some evidence that it might be helpful for women who develop diabetes while they're pregnant.) If you do decide to take it, buy a separate chromium supplement since it is not absorbed well from multivitamins.

It's impossible to get too much from your diet, and supplements have shown no adverse effects, even at levels of up to 1,000 mcg a day.

-- Chris Woolston, M.S., is a health and medical writer with a master's degree in biology. He is a contributing editor at Consumer Health Interactive, and was the staff writer at Hippocrates, a magazine for physicians. He has also covered science issues for Time Inc. Health, WebMD, and the Chronicle of Higher Education. His reporting on occupational health earned him an award from the northern California Society of Professional Journalists.

References

First published September 30, 1998
Last updated December 14, 2007
Copyright © 1998 Consumer Health Interactive and OneBody, Inc.

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