Chromium Research Analysis

Frank, Kurtis; Patel, Kamal; Lopez, Gregory; Willis, Bill

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Chromium

Chromium is an essential mineral. It regulates glucose metabolism and insulin sensitivity. Supplementing more chromium than the body needs does not produce reliable results, but it may be associated with minor benefits to diabetics.

Research analysis led by Kamal Patel .
Reviewed by
Examine.com Team
Last Updated: Nov 15, 2019

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Summary of Chromium

Primary information, health benefits, side effects, usage, and other important details

Chromium is an essential mineral, consumed through the diet. It is found in trace amounts in plant products, specifically grains.

Chromium regulates insulin in the body. It is sometimes supplemented to improve insulin action in the body.

When chromium is supplemented by people with normal or elevated chromium levels, no reliable effect is achieved. Besides a mild decrease in fasting glucose, no diabetes-related biomarkers are improved.

People with a subclinical chromium deficiency (below optimal, but not a true deficiency) may experience benefits when supplementing chromium, but more research is required to confirm this effect. True chromium deficiencies, characterized by inactive chromodulin, are rare.

Chromium’s main mechanism is directly tied to chromodulin. Chromodulin, a protein, normally augments the signaling of insulin receptors. If this protein is impaired, insulin’s ability to work in the body is greatly reduced.

Though chromium supplementation is not effective for diabetics, taking chromium alongside a proven therapy may help fight depression and the snacking associated with binge eating. Further research is needed to determine chromium’s exact mechanism during these effects.

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How to Take

Medical Disclaimer

Recommended dosage, active amounts, other details

Chromium supplementation typically consists of 1,000 mcg of chromium picolinate, taken in at least two doses throughout the day.

Chromium should be supplemented alongside a carbohydrate containing meal, due to its supposed interactions with glucose metabolism.

Anyone wishing to supplement chromium should be aware that chromium supplementation is not associated with any reliable benefits on markers of glucose metabolism.

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Human Effect Matrix

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The Human Effect Matrix summarizes human studies to tell you what effects Chromium has on your body, how much evidence there is, and how strong these effects are.
Full details are available to Examine Plus members.

Grade	Level of Evidence [show legend]
	Robust research conducted with repeated double-blind clinical trials
	Multiple studies where at least two are double-blind and placebo controlled
	Single double-blind study or multiple cohort studies
	Uncontrolled or observational studies only

Outcome	Magnitude of effect ? The direction and size of the supplement's impact on each outcome. Some supplements can have an increasing effect, others have a decreasing effect, and others have no effect.	Consistency of research results ? Scientific research does not always agree. HIGH or VERY HIGH means that most of the scientific research agrees.	Notes
Blood Glucose	Minor	Very High See all 29 studies	In looking at the entirety of the data on type II diabetic persons, there does appear to be a mild reduction in fasting blood glucose despite no apparent changes in insulin sensitivity or HbA1c. No significant or reliable effect in non-diabetic persons.
Fat Mass	-	Very High See all 11 studies	There doesn't appear to be a significant nor reliable reduction in fat mass even in diabetics given chromium supplementation according to the literature.
HDL-C	-	Very High See all 17 studies	Although an increase in insulin sensitivity in diabetics should increase HDL cholesterol, the best evidence to date does not support a role for chromium supplementation in improving HDL cholesterol in diabetics.
HbA1c	-	Very High See all 18 studies	Although sporadic evidence suggest improvements in HbA1c in diabetics, the entirety of the evidence does not support a reliable and significant improvement in diabetic persons.
Insulin	-	Moderate See all 19 studies	Somewhat similar to the influence on insulin sensitivity, the reductions in fasting insulin concentrations in diabetics appear to exist in some studies but are highly unreliable.
Insulin Sensitivity	-	Moderate See all 17 studies	There appears to be highly unreliable evidence for this property for unknown reasons, but chromium may have a role in increasing insulin sensitivity in diabetic persons to a mild degree despite the majority of evidence showing no effects.
LDL-C	-	Very High See all 14 studies	The best evidence to date does not support a role for chromium in the reduction of LDL cholesterol, even when assessing type II diabetic individuals.
Total Cholesterol	-	Very High See all 18 studies	Similar to its actions on LDL and HDL individually, chromium does not appear to have a significant role in improving total cholesterol levels in type II diabetic subjects.
Triglycerides	-	Very High See all 17 studies	Chromium does not appear to have a role in reducing triglyceride concentrations in the serum of subjects, including diabetic subjects given chromium supplementation.
Weight	-	Moderate See all 33 studies	There is no significant influence of chromium on weight in either healthy persons or those with diabetes, and although a possible interaction may occur in some instances of better glucose control or reduced appetite they are not frequent enough to establish a solid relationship to chromium.
Appetite	Minor	High See all 3 studies	There may be a role in reducing appetite specifically in persons who self-report inappropriate eating patterns and carbohydrate cravings, with no known effect in persons who do not report such.
Depression	Minor	Low See all 5 studies	There is limited preliminary evidence for chromium having an adjuvant role in aiding depressive symptoms (betters overall outcomes when paired with a more effective 'reference' therapy), although the limited evidence for chromium in isolation is unconvincing.
Lipid Peroxidation	Minor	- See all 5 studies	While minor, increases in lipid peroxidation have been noted in nondiabetic controls while decreases have occurred in those with a high baseline HbA1c. A possible modulatory effect exists.
Anti-Oxidant Enzyme Profile	-	High See all 4 studies	A lone study noted an increase in glutathione peroxidase, but the majority of the evidence finds no significant influence on antioxidant enzymes in the body (glutathione, SOD, or catalase).
Blood Pressure	-	Very High See all 8 studies	The majority of evidence does not support a role for chromium in reducing blood pressure any more than placebo.
Creatinine	-	Very High See all 3 studies	No known influence on creatinine, a biomarker for kidney health.
Food Intake	-	High See all 4 studies	No significant influence on food intake in standard diabetics, although limited evidence suggest a possible role specifically in persons who self-report elevated carbohydrate cravings and inappropriate eating patterns due to urges.
Lean Mass	-	Very High See all 8 studies	Studies in trained and untrained persons, with or without physical exercise, have failed to find an increase in the rate of lean mass accrual relative to placebo.
Liver Enzymes	-	Very High See all 3 studies	No known influence on liver enzymes or other markers of hepatic health.
Power Output	-	Very High See all 5 studies	No interaction between chromium and strength gain in naive nor trained athletes.
vLDL-C	-	Very High See all 4 studies	No significant influence on vLDL cholesterol seen in diabetics supplementing chromium.
Binge-eating	Minor	- See study	Although chromium showed an ability to reduce binge eating symptoms in persons with the disorder, this failed to reach statistical significance.
Fructosamine	Minor	Very High See 2 studies	Both studies assessing fructosamine have found a mild decrease.
General Oxidation	Minor	- See all 3 studies	Mixed evidence leaning towards no effect, although a possible antioxidative effect remains possible in persons with high baseline HbA1c or polycystic ovarian syndrome and a prooxidative effect in persons with normal HbA1c.
Immunity	Minor	- See study	At least one study has noted an increase rate of lymphocyte proliferation when they were stimulated with a mitogen (proliferation inducing factor) with chromium supplementation relative to placebo.
Insulin Secretion	Minor	Moderate See 2 studies	Mixed evidence, but it is possible that chromium causes an increased insulin response to dietary glucose (leading to a greater release of insulin acutely, possibly preceding a reduction in blood glucose).
Lactate Production	Minor	Moderate See 2 studies	Mixed evidence, but at least one study has noted that lactate production during exercise was greater with 600mcg chromium than it was with placebo; no known mechanism for this observation.
Libido	Minor	- See study	Perhaps secondary to causing an antidepressive effect, supplementation of chromium was able to alleviate a suppressed libido resulting in an increase relative to control; no studies in nondepressed persons.
QTc Intervals	Minor	- See study	One study in diabetic persons found shortened QTc intervals, suggestive of a cardioprotective effect.
Adiponectin	-	Very High See 2 studies	No significant influences on adiponectin concentrations in the blood relative to placebo.
Anaerobic Running Capacity	-	- See study	No apparent influence of chromium supplementation on anaerobic cardiovascular exercise performance relative to placebo.
Apolipoprotein A	-	- See study	No known interactions with Apolipoprotein A.
Apolipoprotein B	-	- See study	No known interactions with Apolipoprotein B.
Bilirubin	-	- See study	No significant interactions with bilirubin concentrations in serum.
Blood Flow	-	- See study	In persons at risk for type II diabetics, chromium supplementation failed to improve blood flow relative to placebo.
C-Peptide	-	- See study	No significant influence on C-peptide, a biomarker of insulin secretion status.
C-Reactive Protein	-	Very High See 2 studies	No significant influence on C-reactive protein, a biomarker for inflammation. One study did find an beneficial effect in women with PCOS, however.
Cell Adhesion Factors	-	- See study	Cell adhesion factors (ICAM-1 and VCAM-1) are unaffected with chromium supplementation in nondiabetic obese adults.
Eosinophil count	-	- See study	No significant influence on baseline eosinophil count with supplementation of chromium relative to placebo in otherwise healthy women.
Fat Oxidation	-	Very High See 2 studies	Fat oxidation (percent of energy derived from fatty acids relative to glucose) does not appear to be influenced following supplementation of chromium.
Follicle-Stimulating Hormone	-	Very High See 2 studies	No significant influence of chromium supplementation on follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) in women with PCOS relative to placebo.
Free Testosterone	-	Very High See 2 studies	No significant influence of chromium supplementation on free testosterone concentrations in women with PCOS.
Glycogen Content	-	- See study	Similar to the failure in increasing glycogen replenishment rate, the overall glycogen content increased by carbohydrate is not altered by supplementation of chromium.
Glycogen Resynthesis	-	- See study	When testing the addition of chromium to a glycogen repletion protocol (after exercise), chromium failed to augment the replenishment from carbohydrates any more than placebo.
Heart Rate	-	Very High See 2 studies	No significant influence on heart rate is known with chromium supplementation.
Hepatic Glucose Production	-	- See study	The lone study failed to find a significant influence on hepatic glucose production rates relative to placebo.
Kidney Function	-	- See study	No apparent influence on kidney function (negative nor positive) with chromium supplementation in older sedentary adults.
Luteinizing Hormone	-	Very High See 2 studies	No significant influence of chromium supplementation on luteinizing hormone (LH) in women with PCOS relative to placebo.
Lymphocyte Count	-	- See study	No significant alterations in baseline lymphocyte count with chromium supplementation relative to placebo.
Memory	-	- See study	No evidence for chromium reducing memory decline seen with aging.
Muscular Endurance	-	- See study	Low dose chromium supplementation failed to promote muscular endurance in trained athletes relative to placebo.
Neutrophil Count	-	- See study	No significant influence of chromium supplementation relative to placebo on neutrophil count.
Oxidation of LDL	-	- See study	No significant influence on the rates of LDL oxidation when compared to placebo supplementation.
Proteinuria	-	- See study	Chromium supplementation does not appear to cause proteinuria (protein losses in the urine) suggesting no kidney toxicity, as proteinuria is a biomarker of such damage.
Resistin	-	- See study	The adipokine known as resistin is not affected by supplementation of chromium relative to placebo.
Serum DHEA	-	- See study	Chromium supplementation does not appear to alter serum concentrations of DHEA or sulfated DHEA.
Sex Hormone Binding Globulin	-	- See study	In women with PCOS, chromium supplementation does not alter SHBG concentrations in serum.
Symptoms of Schizophrenia	-	- See study	The addition of low dose chromium to antipsychotic therapy in schizophrenic persons failed to augment the efficacy of treatment.
Testosterone	-	- See study	Testosterone is not affected by chromium in women with PCOS. Currently no evidence in otherwise healthy men.
Urea	-	- See study	The lone study assessing urea failed to find a significant interaction between it and supplementation of chromium.
Acne	Minor	- See study	Decreased acne symptoms in women with PCOS.
Symptoms of Bipolar Disorder	Minor	- See study	In persons with bipolar disorder given supplementation of chromium, benefits were only noted against depressive symptoms and while significant (statistically) were mild; manic symptoms were not affected.
Symptoms of Hirsutism	Minor	- See study	Decreased symptoms of hirsutism in women with PCOS.
CD4 Lymphocytes	-	- See study	No known immunomodulatory actions at the level of CD4+ lymphocytes
DNA Damage	-	- See study	One study assessing DNA damage following ingestion of chromium supplementation failed to find any harmful nor beneficial interactions.
Metabolic Rate	-	- See study	Six months supplementation of chromium has failed to alter the metabolic rate relative to baseline.
PMS	-	- See study	One study found ambiguous results and didn't provide meaningful evidence to evaluate chromium's efficacy.
Progesterone	-	- See study	No effect on progesterone in women with PCOS.
Prolactin	-	- See study	No effect on prolactin levels in women with PCOS.
Viral Load	-	- See study	In persons with HIV, supplementation of chromium did not alter the levels of the virus in their body despite showing actions on glucose disposal rates.

Studies Excluded from Consideration

Note: The above table includes data on Brewer's Yeast which contains chromium as the main component

Excluded due to being combined with Hypericum perforatum^[1]

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Chromium

Chromium is an essential mineral. It regulates glucose metabolism and insulin sensitivity. Supplementing more chromium than the body needs does not produce reliable results, but it may be associated with minor benefits to diabetics.

Summary of Chromium

Primary information, health benefits, side effects, usage, and other important details

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How to Take

Recommended dosage, active amounts, other details

Human Effect Matrix

Studies Excluded from Consideration

Research Breakdown on Chromium

1.1Sources

1.2Structure

1.3Requirements

1.4Deficiency

1.5Excess

1.6Variants and Formulations

2.1Chromodulin

2.2AMPK

3.1Absorption

3.2Serum

3.3Distribution

3.4Elimination

4.1Rationale

5.1Adrenergic Neurotransmission

5.2Serotonergic Neurotransmission

5.3Melatonergic Neurotransmission

5.4Food Intake and Appetite

5.5Depression

5.6Memory and Learning

6.1Cardiac Tissue

6.2Red Blood Cells

6.3Triglycerides

6.4Cholesterol

7.1Mechanisms

7.2Insulin Receptor

7.3Insulin

7.4Insulin Sensitivity

7.5Glycation

7.6Blood Glucose

7.7Type 2 Diabetes

8.1Hypertrophy

8.2Power Output

8.3Anaerobic Exercise Capacity

8.4Lactate

8.5Glycogen

9.1Weight

10.1Mechanisms

11.1Lipid Peroxidation

11.2DNA Damage

12.1Male Sex Organs

13.1Lactation

14.1Schizophrenia

14.2Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome

15.15-HTP

15.2Iron

15.3Grape Seed Extract

15.4_Myo_-Inositiol

16.1General

16.2Case Studies

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