Functions and effects of the nutrient chromium

Chromium is one of the essential trace elements for the human body. Its core function is to help regulate insulin sensitivity and participate in the metabolism of sugar and fat as a component of the glucose tolerance factor (GTF). If healthy people consume enough in their daily diet, there is no need for additional supplements. There is no "curing diabetes" or "losing weight and building muscle" effects reported online. Blind supplementation may put a burden on the body.

I’m not just saying this out of nowhere. I was doing nutrition science in the community a while ago and met several uncles and aunts who were in the pre-diabetes stage. They were deceived by the anchor in the live broadcast room and spent hundreds of dollars to buy a supplement called "phytoactive chromium". They said that after taking it for three months, they could stop hypoglycemic drugs. However, an aunt who took it for two months came to me and said that her fasting blood sugar was still stable at 6.7 or 6.8, which had not dropped at all, and she always felt sick in her stomach.

To understand this problem, we must first understand how chromium works in the body. For example: Insulin is a courier that delivers glucose to cells, and the receptors on the cell membrane are the cabinets that store the couriers. When there is a lack of chromium, the courier cabinets are stuck and cannot be opened, as if they were rusty. Glucose cannot enter the cells and can only be piled up in the blood. Blood sugar will naturally be high. Chromium is the lubricant used to remove rust from express cabinets. It is only useful when it is missing. The cabinet itself is slippery, and no matter how much lubricant you spray, it will have no effect.

However, as to whether chromium supplementation can lower blood sugar, the academic community has been arguing for almost half a century and there is no unified conclusion. Early studies by the United States Department of Agriculture found that supplementing chromium to people with chromium deficiency and abnormal glucose metabolism can indeed reduce fasting blood sugar by about 0.5mmol/L on average, and glycated hemoglobin can also be slightly improved. Therefore, the American Nutrition Society once recommended chromium as an auxiliary supplement for people with diabetes. However, large-sample meta-analyses in the past ten years have turned the tables. Multiple studies involving tens of thousands of people with type 2 diabetes have shown that as long as they are not deficient in chromium, even if they supplement 200 μg of chromium picolinate every day, there will be no statistically significant improvement in blood sugar indicators. To put it bluntly, supplementation is a white supplement.

In addition to glucose metabolism, chromium's auxiliary effect on lipid metabolism is less controversial. I met a young man who had been eating refined white rice and white noodles for a long time and almost no whole grains. The physical examination showed that his low-density lipoprotein was as high as 3.8, and he was not ready to take medicine. I asked him to adjust his diet first, replace half of the white rice with oats, and add a small handful of almonds with skin on him every day. After three months, he checked again and found that the low-density lipoprotein had dropped to 3.2. In addition to the role of dietary fiber, the chromium in the food also helps regulate fat metabolism. But again, if you eat enough whole grains and vegetables, additional chromium supplementation will not make your blood lipid indicators better.

By the way, there are still people in the fitness circle who regard chromium as a miracle drug for building muscle and reducing fat. They say that taking it can reduce body fat and increase muscle mass. To be honest, this is really an exaggeration. I have a friend who has been working out for three years. He followed the trend and bought chromium picolinate and ate it for more than three months. He did not slack off in training and eating every day. His body fat rate dropped from 18% to 17.2%, which is not much different from the fat loss rate before when he did not eat it. Current research also shows that the effect of chromium on muscle gain and fat loss is very weak and can almost be ignored. If you really want to gain muscle, you still have to rely on training and diet control. Don’t expect shortcuts with supplements.

As for how to take in chromium on a daily basis, you really don’t have to worry too much. The recommended daily intake for adults is only 50 μg. As long as you don’t eat refined white rice, white flour, whole grains and vegetables all the time, you can basically eat enough. The chromium content in broccoli, grains with skin, nuts, animal liver, and brewer's yeast is not low. For example, if you eat a 50g bowl of oats in the morning, half a plate of broccoli at noon, and 10 almonds as a snack in the afternoon, your daily chromium intake is enough. If the doctor assesses that you are indeed deficient in chromium, or you want to help adjust your glucose tolerance in the early stages of diabetes, you must choose regular supplements. The daily intake should not exceed 200 μg. Long-term excessive supplementation may damage the liver and kidneys, and also affect the absorption of trace elements such as iron and zinc. The gain outweighs the loss.

To put it bluntly, chromium is like a logistics support post in your company. Without it, normal operation will cause problems. However, if you allocate more than a dozen logistics staff, it will not double the company's performance, let alone solve the core business problems. Don't listen to those salespeople who hype it up, eat well and have a balanced diet, it is more reliable than any sky-high-priced supplements.