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| Chromium source |
Q. What is chromium?
A. Chromium is an essential trace mineral and the same metal’s that’s used to make the shiny chrome plated bumpers on cars.
Q. What role does chromium play in the body?
A. the body needs chromium to be able to bum sugar for energy a process called glucose metabolism. People with hypoglycemia or low blood sugar or with a condition called insulin resistance are said to show improved glucose metabolism when given 250 mcg of chromium. This is thought to help to keep blood sugar levels to stable and so prevent damage to blood vessels and organs such as heart and kidneys caused by high levels or blood sugars.
Q. Does that mean that getting adequate chromium in my diet can prevent diabetes?
A. No. there us no evidence that chromium supplements help to prevent diabetes or that they are any value in treating established diabetes?
Q. Anything else chromium is said to be good for?
A. In one study supplementation with 250 mg a day of chromium improved blood cholesterol levels raising heart healthy HDL cholesterol and lowering triglycerides. And in study that has yet to be duplicated a form of chromium called chromium picolinate extended the lifespan of rats by one year. They may not seem like much but it is gain of 36 per cent in the normal lifespan of a rat the equivalent of man or woman living to be 110.
In these rats blood sugar and hemoglobin remained lower with a control group. The researchers speculate that chromium supplementation provides some of these glucose lowering benefits as calorie restriction by elimination degenerative diseases such as kidney and heart diseases. Calorie restriction is the only method so far that in laboratory experiments has been proven consistently to prolong lifespan in animals. Maybe the chromium put the rats off their food.
Q. So extra chromium will help me to live longer?
A. Absolutely not. The kind of doses the rats were getting would almost certainly shorten your life rather than prolong it. They were taking about for humans. Some chromium compounds are highly poisonous and chromium salts are commonly seriously allergenic.
Q. Do people get enough chromium in their diets?
A. Plenty. Daily intakes are many times the minimum requirement only a small portion of this is absorbed. These are less than 2 mg of copper in the whole body and the average diet supplies copper about 0.15 each day. There is no reason to suppose those chromium supplements are of the slightest value.
Chromium
Quick Reference guide
RNI
NO RNI but an estimated safe and adequate daily intake is 50 to 200 mcg for both men and women
Sources
Liver, brewer’s yeast, black pepper, thyme, beef poultry, broccoli, whole grain cereals, bran, wheat germ and oysters
Signs of Deficiency
It is probable that chromium deficiency does not occur.
Possible Toxicity problems
Little is known about the possible toxic effects of doses of chromium slightly above the requirement level. Large doses of certain chromium compounds are highly toxic and dangerous.
