The Trace Mineral Chromium And The Overrated Supplement Chromium Picolinate

Chromium is a trace mineral, which means it is essential to the body, but only needed in tiny amounts. The recommended daily amount is between 50 – 200 mcg. It’s worth highlighting that mcg stands for micrograms, and should not be confused with mg (milligrams). There are 1,0000 micrograms in 1 milligram. This is the difference between major minerals, where the recommended daily amount is measured in mg, as opposed to trace minerals where the recommended daily amount is in mcg.

Role

Working closely with insulin, chromium plays several metabolic roles in the body. It assists the metabolism of dietary fat for fuel, and it works with insulin to enable glucose metabolism. A lesser known role is to work with insulin to allow amino acids to enter muscle cells and facilitate muscle growth and repair.

Food sources

Chromium is found in a wide variety of foods, from wholemeal bread, oats, lentils, to protein rich foods like liver, cheese, nuts, and shellfish.

Deficiency and excess

Sedentary individuals are recommended to consume around 50 -200mcg a day. Generally active people need more, and athletes need double the sedentary amount. This is because physical activity uses up your stores of chromium, which is excreted in the urine in line with your activity levels.

In the Western world we are more deficient in chromium than any other trace mineral. One study by the US Department of Agriculture showed that over 90% of US citizens consumed less than the 50mcg minimum recommended intake.

There are several reasons for this. One is modern farming methods which have depleted chromium from the soil, so less and less chromium is absorbed by crops of wheat and other plants that contain the mineral. A bigger reason is our modern junkfood diets, and particularly sucrose. This refined sugar depletes the body of chromium, so the more sugar you consume, the greater the depletion. And sugar pervades today’s junkfood, fizzy drinks, and pretty much every refined and manufactured food available.

What are the consequences of deficiency? Reduced ability to gain muscle and strength, and reduced glucose metabolism which results in unstable blood sugar levels.

There are no known cases of excess being toxic, if consumed from whole foods, but it is ill-advised to take large amounts of chromium supplements, as the toxic effects are as yet unknown.

The Supplement Chromium Picolinate

This supplement was developed by a Dr Gary Evans at the US Department of Agriculture, and its patent is owned by the US government. It has been the subject of exaggerated claims, such as its ability to promote muscle growth (hence its popularity among bodybuilders), its ability to help you lose weight, and even to cure diabetes.

Some studies have indeed shown steady improvements in muscle growth and fat loss, and reduced symptoms of diabetes, but there is no conclusive body of evidence amassed to support these claims. In many studies, the control group also showed similar improvements, such as in the study of athletes who took 200- 800mcg a day over several months.

It’s always worth being sceptical about claims made for supplements. Who is making the claims? Often it is the retailers of these supplements, who stand to gain financially from favourable reviews and studies. And just because a scientific study shows positive results, don’t be unduly swayed by one isolated study, look at the bigger picture and see what the majority of studies show, and how large-scale the study was.