Normalize blood sugar levels
Increase energy
Reduce the risk of adult -onset diabetes
Aid weigh management
Decrease blood cholesterol
Prevent artery-clogging plaque
Nutra Chrom
Chromium: An Essential Nutrient
Adequate intake may help
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Normalize blood sugar levels |
|
Increase energy |
|
Reduce the risk of adult -onset diabetes |
|
Aid weigh management |
|
Decrease blood cholesterol |
|
Prevent artery-clogging plaque |
Nutra Chrom
Chromium:
An Essential Nutrient
Chromium is essential to good health. Research shows that adequate chromium intake may help normalize blood sugar levels, increase energy, reduce risk of adult-onset diabetes, aid weight management, decrease blood cholesterol levels and help prevent artery-clogging plaque.
Unfortunately, chromium deficiency is common in the United States due to soil depletion, food refining and high dietary sugar intake, which requires increased insulin production and decreases chromium stores. Tissue levels of chromium also decline with age.
Diabetes
A study presented at the American Diabetic Association’s annual scientific meeting shows that people with adult-onset diabetes may be able to reduce their blood sugar levels by taking a daily chromium supplement. In this double-blind, placebo-controlled study funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, 180 Chinese volunteers with Type II diabetes were divided into three groups. One group took 1,000 mcg. of chromium a day, another took 200mcg. and the third received a placebo. After four months, the participants taking 1,000 mcg/day dropped their blood hemoglobin A, the most sensitive measure of diabetic control, to near normal levels. Blood glucose levels also dropped for this group. The group taking 200mcg. of chromium a day also saw improvements in hemoglobin A and glucose levels, but they weren’t as extreme. The group receiving the placebo saw no improvements.
Chromium is known for its effect on insulin function. Insulin is a hormone produced by the pancreas which helps to regulate blood glucose (sugar) levels. Chromium aids insulin’s ability to bind to appropriate cell receptors so glucose can enter cells (glucose tolerance). Lack of chromium results in impaired glucose tolerance. Chromium deficiency also leads to elevated blood glucose levels, high blood cholesterol and aortic plaques.
Weight Loss and Muscle Gain
Human studies show a form of chromium - chromium picolinate - enhances body fat loss and may improve muscle development. In one study, Gary Evans, Ph.D., professor of chemistry at the University of Minnesota at Bemidji, chose 31 football players and divided them into two groups. One group took 200 mcg. chromium picolinate, another took a placebo. At the end of six weeks, the chromium group’s lean body mass increased 5.69 pounds, 42 percent more than the placebo group.
Heart Disease
Chromium may also play a vital role in atherosclerotic disease, a form of heart disease characterized by the irregular deposits of clacified fatty deposits, also known as plaque, in the inner layer of arteries. Chromium has been shown to decrease high-serum, low-density lipoprotein (called LDL or the “bad” cholesterol) cholesterol levels and triglycerides and raise beneficial high-density lipoprotein (HDL) levels.
Researchers have found that heart patients have up to 40 percent lower blood levels of chromium than healthy individuals while animal studies show that chromium supplementation may cause reversal of atherosclerotic plaque. In one study, animals deprived of chromium developed extensive arterial plaque formation. Supplementation with chromium caused shrinkage of aortic plaque (Annals of Nutritional Metabolism, 1991, vol. 35).
Problems of Aging
Chromium may also help promote increased levels of dehydroandrosterone (DHEA), an important anti-aging hormone now receiving considerable attention. High insulin levels suppress DHEA’s production in the body, while supplementation with chromium picolinate has been shown to boost DHEA production. DHEA is shown to diminish with age. Research indicates DHEA may improve brain function, immunity and muscle fatigue and have anticancer effects (Foundation of Advanced Science and Experimental Biology Journal [FASEB],1992,vol. 6)
