Can Chromium Supplements Help Diabetics or Was the Research Wrong?

Dr. Andrew Weil recommended it. So did the experts at WebMD. In fact, thousands of type 2 diabetics may be taking chromium supplements believing that this nutrient will better help them manage their blood glucose levels. Were they right? Maybe not. A 2007 Dutch study seems to suggest that, at least for many diabetic patients, chromium supplements are a waste of both time and money.

Where The Idea Of Chromium For Diabetes Came From

Among its other functions, chromium increases your body's ability to effectively utilize insulin, the hormone that allows your body's cells to "absorb" and use glucose. But from the very beginning, the use of chromium supplements in the management of blood glucose levels has been controversial. Science has long recognized the link between chromium deficiency and blood sugar problems though studies looking at chromium as a diabetes treatment produced conflicting and often controversial results.

But once science established a definite link between chromium and type 2 diabetes, many health experts, and particularly those working in natural and alternative health, began routinely recommending chromium supplementation to their diabetic clients.

Why Chromium Doesn't Work For Most Diabetics

In type 2, or non-insulin dependent, diabetics with below-normal levels of chromium, supplements may be quite useful but in diabetics with normal or near-normal levels of chromium, supplementing is useless. Fortunately, chromium deficiencies are relatively rare in industrial countries because a typical Western diet provides adequate levels of this vital nutrient. There is simply nothing gained by exceeding the current recommendation for chromium, at least for most people.

What The Dutch Study Says

A 2007 study published in the journal Diabetes Care seems to prove that routine chromium supplementation only helps type 2 diabetes in people who are already deficient. This double-blind study spent six months looking at people with moderate glucose control and found 400 microg. of chromium no more effective than placebo at influencing blood sugar control. Nor did this study suggest that chromium was effective at influencing blood pressure, body mass index or body fat.

Should You Stop Taking Chromium Supplements?

Only your doctor can diagnose your type 2 diabetes and only he or she can is qualified to tell you if chromium supplements are appropriate for you. If you have any questions about chromium and its potential link to type 2 diabetes, talk to your primary health care provider for the information that's right for you.

REFERENCES:

Kleefstra, N., Houweling, S., Bakker, S., Verhoeven, S., Gans, R., et al. (2007). Chromium treatment has no effect in patients with type 2 diabetes in a Western population: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial.

Singer, G., Geohas, J. (2006). The effect of chromium picolinate and biotin supplementation on glycemic control in poorly controlled patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus: a placebo-controlled, double-blinded, randomized trial.