Chromium Use in Diabetes Treatment
While many factors ranging from family history to diet and exercise are believed to affect the risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus, nutrition is one area researchers have been concentrating on in their quest to lower the incidence of this disease. Several studies presented at the Council for the Advancement of Diabetes Research and Education Research Summit in early April indicated that the use of chromium picolinate shows promise in treating type 2 diabetes mellitus and related metabolic disorders as well as combating obesity in children and adults.
Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus
One recent study involving 180 subjects from China with type 2 diabetes mellitus considered the effects of chromium on glucose, insulin, and lipid variables. The researchers observed a decrease of HbA1c from 8.5 ± 0.2% to 7.5 ± 0.2% in subjects consuming 200 mcg of chromium picolinate per day. In subjects consuming 1,000 mcg of chromium picolinate per day for four months, the researchers noted a change of 6.6 ± 0.1%. Additionally, steroid-induced diabetes was reversed in 47 of 50 subjects within 10 days after taking 200 mcg of chromium picolinate three times a day. Writing about the study’s results, Richard A. Anderson, PhD, said that chromium is “only one of the factors involved in the control of glucose and insulin metabolism and, therefore, will be of benefit only to that portion of the population that is deficient or marginally deficient in chromium.” Dr. Anderson is with the Agricultural Research Service’s Nutrient Requirements and Functions Laboratory, Beltsville Human Nutrition Research Center, at the US Department of Agriculture.
Insulin Resistance Syndrome
In another recent study, researchers examined whether chromium picolinate influenced the incidence of insulin resistance syndrome. Considering insulin’s effects in obese, nondiabetic subjects participating in a double-blind placebo-controlled study, the investigators found that after both four and eight months of treatment, chromium picolinate improved insulin sensitivity.
To determine what effect phenotype had on the study’s result, the researchers assessed carbohydrate metabolism in lean and obese rats — some of which received chromium picolinate. Noting that the obese rats given chromium picolinate had more significant improvements in fasting insulin levels and glucose tolerance than did the control group, but that the lean rats administered the nutrient did not experience significant changes, the researchers concluded that “chromium may be beneficial in insulin resistance states but appears to have no effect in lean states,” according to William T. Cefalu, MD, of the University of Vermont College of Medicine in Burlington.
Chromium Use in Pregnancy
Other significant findings include lower glucose and insulin levels in gestational diabetic women taking chromium picolinate in doses of 4 mcg for eight weeks and 4 or 8 mcg for more than eight weeks. Additionally, pregnant women with polycystic ovary syndrome — who have a greater risk of glucose intolerance, gestational diabetes, and type 2 diabetes mellitus — have shown decreased insulin resistance in randomized controlled trials involving the use of chromium picolinate.
Dietary Chromium Absorption
Other research on chromium has focused on dietary absorption of the nutrient. Human studies have shown that the form of chromium and the components formulating chromium capsules affect absorption. When carbohydrates are added to chromium capsules, they may bind to the chromium, rendering the nutrient inert. Humans absorb most easily stable chromium complexes that include histidine or chromium picolinate. While high sugar intake, exercise, pregnancy, lactation, and physical trauma negatively affect absorption of the nutrient, exercise training can improve glucose and insulin metabolism as well as chromium absorption.