Chromium

Chromium is an element (Cr) that is commonly found in soil in most regions of the world. Until recent times, people obtained chromium by eating foods with natural concentrations derived from the soil. For the past half-century, modern agriculture has relied on chemical additives, such as seasonal replenishment of nitrogen, potassium, and phosphorus. The result is high crop yields every year in which these three basic farm fertilizers are replenished. Over the years, the other naturally occurring essential minerals and trace elements (including chromium, calcium, magnesium, manganese, zinc, iron, copper, cobalt, boron, vanadium, etc.) have been "farmed out" of the soil and not replenished. Thus, most of our foods are chromium deficient at the level of agricultural production. [1] Food processing further reduces the chromium (and other essential minerals for human health) by as much as 90 percent. The result is widespread nutritional chromium deficiency, compounded by life-styles that further compromise chromium levels.

The human adult body contains approximately 1/10,000th of an ounce of chromium. [2] That's six milligrams(6 ml). Chromium supplements are measured in micrograms (mcg). The quantities of chromium in the body are very small, but adequate chromium is critical to proper health, enhanced vitality, and life extension.

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Requirements

R.D.A. Minimal Requirements. The National Research Council tentatively recommends 50 to 200 micrograms as an adequate daily allowance for adult populations. [3] The U.S. Government, through the National Research Council's Food and Nutrition Board, began setting Recommended Dietary Allowances(RDA) for vitamins and minerals in 1941, initially to reduce the number of cases of diseases caused by severe nutritional deficiencies. After extensive research, chromium was added to the RDA listing in the 1980s. The RDAs continue to reflect minimal requirements, instead of optimal requirements. Moreover, these requirements are for populations, not individuals. According to the Food and Nutrition Board, "Individuals with special nutritional needs are not covered by the RDAs." [4]

Dietary chromium deficiency is perhaps the most significant trace mineral deficiency among the general populations in the industrialized nations, and in regions (such as parts of Asia) with naturally chromium-deficient soil.

Unique Needs. There appears to be a wide range of opinion among scientists, researchers and authors.

Information Source	For Adults	Diabetes	Weight Loss	Athletes
Grow Young with HGH [5]	under 1,000 mcg
Encyclopedia of Nutritional Supplements [6]	200-400 mcg	600 mcg	400-600 mcg
The New Nutrition [7]	200 mcg		200-600 mcg	200-800 mcg
The GSH Phenomenon [8]	250-400 mcg
The DHEA Breakthrough [9]	200-300 mcg
Stop Aging Now [10]	200 mcg
Prescription for Nutritional Healing [11]	150 mcg

Signs of Deficiency. Chromium deficiency can result in anxiety, fatigue, loss of mental acumen, vision impairment, reduced immune response, unwanted weight gain, acne,

 

 

 

 

glucose-intolerant conditions (prehypoglycemia, hypoglycemia, diabetes), unhealthy cholesterollevels, and plaque buildup on the arteries (atherosclerosis).

Chromium's importance in proper health and vitality is based upon its cofactor role as a regulator of insulin. Insulin is a pancreatic hormone that is essential in the metabolism of carbohydrates (such as sugar), as well as the metabolism of protein and fatty acids in the body. When a person is deficient in chromium, the insulin does not function properly, which in turn can result in potentially dangerous levels of blood sugar and insulin.

Research has shown that there is a significant decline in chromium as people age. The problems start early in life. According to one expert, people who are twenty or more years of age are almost certainly deficient in chromium, and thus are aging more rapidly than the rate at which they would be aging if they had adequate dietary chromium intake and absorption. [10] In addition to adult populations in general that are at risk of chromium deficiency, other notable at-risk populations include individuals with sedentary life-styles (couch potatoes) Ð ironically Ð as well as athletic individuals who engage in strenuous regular exercise such as running and gynasium work-outs. Chromium deficiency is also associated with pregnancy, stress, and complex thinking.

Low levels of chromium in the body have been directly linked by researchers to diabetes and cardiovascular problems. [12] Researchers have known for decades that people who died of heart disease had abnormally low chromium levels in their aortas, and a recent study shows that patients with heart disease have as much as 40 percent less chromium than is found in the blood of people enjoying cardiovascular health. [13]

Food Sources. Dietary chromium is found in small amounts in brewer's yeast, whole-grain cereals, brown rice, broccoli, meat products, cheeses, dairy products, eggs, mushrooms, peanuts, and potatoes. Chromium is also found in certain herbs (thyme, cinnamon, catnip, licorice, etc.) and in pepper. Because chromium occurs in foods only in very trace amounts, and because only about 1 to 2 percent of dietary chromium typically is absorbed by the body, chromium supplementation is recommended.

Forms. The forms of chromium available as dietary supplements include chromium picolinate, chromium polynicotinate, chromium chloride, and chromium-enriched brewer's yeast (also called GTF chromium, for glucose tolerance factor). All of these are trivalent chromium (Cr3+), the only form of chromium that shows biological activity. [14] Chromium picolinate appears to be the most effective type of dietary chromium [7], although some researchers advocate chromium-enriched brewer's yeast.

Why People Take It

Diabetes. The key benefit of chromium is in regulating and facilitating the efficient function of insulin. As a cofactor in insulin utilization, chromium maintains proper blood sugar levels. Excess insulin and blood sugar in the bloodstream has been linked by researchers to the onset of Type II diabetes, which typically strikes after the person is forty or more years of age. Although a chromium deficiency may be a causal agent in triggering diabetes, researchers do not represent that chromium deficiency is the underlying cause; therefore chromium supplements are not able to cure diabetes. [15] Because chromium significantly influences insulin levels and utilization, persons who have been diagnosed as having diabetes or considered at risk of diabetes are strongly advised to consult with their qualified health care professional regarding chromium supplementation.

Weight Loss. Chromium supplementation can break the cycle of overeating sweets, at the same time chromium breaks down glucose and fatty acids more efficiently within the body. Eating sweets (sugar and high-fructose foods and beverages) causes chromium deficiency while simultaneously causing drastic increases in insulin and glucose levels. Chromium deficiency can trigger a person's craving for fattening sweets, which causes the cycle to repeat. [16] When insulin is functioning efficiently, blood sugar and fatty acids metabolize properly, producing heat (thermogenesis) instead of weight gain. Research suggests that weight-loss diets achieve improvements in body fat-burning as a result of dietary chromium supplementation. [17]

Body Building. Bodybuilders have taken chromium supplements for years because of the mineral's vital role in protein metabolism and converting body fat to muscle mass. Some sports nutritionists believe that chromium slightly increases muscle mass even without exercise, perhaps as a result of improved insulin sensitivity.

Acne. Chromium supplements have been shown by researchers to be effective in the treatment of acne. As a causal agent, high blood glucose levels have been linked to acne. [18]

Anti-Aging Considerations

According to chromium research pioneer Dr. Gary Evans, "I call chromium the geriatric nutrient because everybody starts to really need it past age thirty-five." [19]

Animal studies have shown that lab rats treated with chromium supplements lived 2-1/2 years, which is one-third longer than the control groupsthat did not receive chromium supplements. In terms of human longevity, that's like adding another 25 years or more to an otherwise 75-year lifespan. In a related study involving laboratory rats, chromium picolinate supplementation achieved an average lifespan of 3-3/4 years, which was one year longer than the two control groups that received other forms of dietary chromium. [20]

Human aging is associated with progressive loss of glucose tolerance, which appears to be related to the reduced insulin-sensitivity in tissues. Research seems to indicate that the loss of glucose tolerance may be responsible for many of the pathologic changes associated with aging. [21]. As people become older, their cells and tissues become less efficient in utilizing insulin. This can cause drastically high levels of blood sugar and insulin in the bloodstream, which burdens the heart and arteries, while compromising the immune system.

Among the elderly, chromium deficiency is pandemic, but supplementation to restore chromium levels can produce substantial enhancement of blood sugar control within weeks or months after the start of supplementation. Better control of blood sugar reduces the threat of insulin resistance, which can initiate adult-onset diabetes. Chromium supplements can lower high levels of blood sugar, as well as raising low levels of blood sugar. Unbalanced insulin and blood sugar levels have been found to be more significant factors in heart disease than high blood cholesterol. In addition to balancing insulin and glucose, chromium supplementation has been shown to lower "bad" LDL cholesterol, while increasing the levels of "good" HDL cholesterol. [19]

In summary, chromium supplementation shows great promise for slowing the aging process, while reducing the risk of a host of diseases and disabilities associated with advanced age.

Safety Considerations

One researcher reports that dietary chromium supplementation is safe even in amounts a thousand times the recommended intake. [22] However, other scientists warn that excessive intake has been associated with dermatitis, gastrointestinal ulcers, and impairment of liver and kidney functions. Because minerals are stored in the liver and kidneys, reasonable caution is recommended, along with the advice provided by qualified nutritionists and other health care providers.

References

[1] Colgan, Ph.D., Michael, The New Nutrition: Medicine for the New Millennium (Vancouver: 1995, Apple Publishing), pages 10-11. ISBN 0-9695272-4-1

[2] Quillin, Ph.D., R.D., Patrick, Healing Nutrients (New York: 1989, Vintage), page 101. ISBN 0-679-72187-8

[3] Hendler, M.D., Ph.D., Sheldon Saul, The Doctor's Vitamin and Mineral Encyclopedia (New York: 1990, Fireside), pages 126-127. ISBN 0-671-66784-X

[4] National Research Council, Recommended Dietary Allowances, 10th Edition (Washington, DC: 1989, National Academy Press) cited in Murray, N.D., Michael T., Encyclopedia of Nutritional Supplements (Rocklin, California: 1996, Prima Publishing), page 9. ISBN 0-7615-0410-9

[5] Klatz, D.O., Ronald with Kahn, Carol, Grow Young with HGH (New York: 1997, HarperCollins Publishers, Inc.), page 270. ISBN 0-06-018682-8

[6] Murray, N.D., Michael T., Encyclopedia of Nutritional Supplements (Rocklin, California: 1996, Prima Publishing), page 12. ISBN 0-7615-0410-9

[7] Colgan, Ph.D., Michael, The New Nutrition: Medicine for the New Millenium (Vancouver: 1995, Apple Publishing), pages 96 and 174. ISBN 0-9695272-4-1

[8] Pressman, D.C., Ph.D., C.C.N., Alan H. with Buff, Sheila The GSH Phenomenon: Nature's Most Powerful Antioxidant and Healing Agent (New York: 1997, St. Martin's Press), page 148. ISBN 0-312-15135-7

[9] Cherniske, M.S., Stephen, The DHEA Breakthrough (New York: 1996, Ballantine Books, a division of Random House), page 118. ISBN 0-345-41140-4

[10] Carper, Jean, Stop Aging Now! (New York: 1995, HarperPerennial, a division of HarperCollin Publishers), pages 81 and 307. ISBN 0-06-018355-1

[11] Balch, M.D., James F., and Balch, C.N.C, Phyllis A., Prescription for Nutritional Healing, Second Edition (Garden City Park, NY: 1997, Avery Publishing Group), page 6. ISBN 0-89529-727-2

[12] Anderson, R.A., "Chromium metabolism and its role in disease processes in man." Clin Physiol Biochem 4(1), 31-41, 1986, cited in DiPasqual, M.D., Mauro G., Body Building Supplement Review (1995, Optimum Training Systems), page 57.

[13] Klatz, D.O., Ronald and Goldman, D.O., Robert, Stopping the Clock (New Canaan, Connecticut: Keats Publishing, Inc., 1996), page 117. ISBN: 0-87983-717-9

[14] Mertz, M., "Chromium occurrence and function in biological systems," Physiol. Rev., 1969, 49, pp. 163-237, cited in Murray, N.D., Michael T. and Pizzorno, N.D., Joseph, Encyclopedia of Natural Medicine (Rocklin, California: 1991, Prima Publishing), page 271. ISBN 0-55958-091-7

[15] Cooper, M.D., M.P.H., Kenneth H., Advanced Nutritional Therapies (Nashville: 1996, Thomas Nelson, Inc. Publishers), pages 165-166. ISBN 0-7852-7302-6

[16] Eades, M.D., Michael R. and Eades, M.D., Mary Dan, Protein Power (New York: 1996, Bantam Books), page 122. ISBN 0-553-10183-8

[17] Cherniske, M.S., Stephen, The DHEA Breakthrough (New York: 1996, Ballantine Books, a division of Random House), page 115. ISBN 0-345-41140-4

[18] Quillin, Ph.D., R.D., Patrick, Healing Nutrients (New York: 1989, Vintage), page 377. ISBN 0-679-72187-8

[19] Carper, Jean, Stop Aging Now! (New York: 1995, HarperPerennial, a division of HarperCollin Publishers), pages 83 - 86. ISBN 0-06-018355-1

[20] Klatz, D.O., Ronald and Goldman, D.O., Robert, Stopping the Clock (New Canaan, Connecticut: Keats Publishing, Inc., 1996), pages 112 and 115. ISBN: 0-87983-717-9

[21] Hendler, M.D., Ph.D., Sheldon Saul, The Doctor's Vitamin and Mineral Encyclopedia (New York: 1990, Fireside), page 124. ISBN 0-671-66784-X

[22] Anderson, R.A., "Chromium" in Mertz, W. ed. Trace Elements in Human and Animal Nutrition, 5th ed., vol. 1 (New York: 1987, Academic Press), pp. 225-244, cited in Colgan, Ph.D., Michael, Optimum Sports Nutrition: Your Competitive Edge (Ronkonkoma NY: 1993, Advanced Research Press), page 203. ISBN 0-964840-5-9

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