Chromium Picolinate

STRENGTH: 200 mcg
FORM: 100 tablets

Chromium Picolinate is an organic complex, a compound of trivalent chromium and picolinic acid. This product has been patented by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and is licensed under U.S. Patent 3,988.

The country is getting fatter and fatter; for the most part the reason is due to poor eating habits, congenital anomalies and the lack of exercise. What is undeniable is the fact that if you do not get the proper balance of nutrients in your diet you will surely suffer in one way or another. This societal nutrient deficit has brought a plague of diseases down on the public that medical science is having trouble keeping up with. So what is the answer? Well the way it works is that if you take care of yourself, and eat the right foods, you will stay healthy…right? Well not quite, it is a known fact that we can’t get all the nutrients we need from just food, at least not the way it is grown and processed today. And when you don’t get enough of what your body needs from food to help maintain health, you get sick. This is only compounded and made worse by the poor food choices that people make. For example, if the body is depleted of chromium, the likelihood you may develop a pathology that is related to blood sugar will increase. And when the body doesn’t get enough chromium, one of the very things it needs to make insulin and help to maintain blood sugar; you could end up with any number of blood sugar diseases, especially if you are overweight. It is no secret that there is a correlation between obesity and diabetes. And when you hear the word insulin (or the lack of), you probably think of diabetes and hypoglycemia. What you may not realize, however, is that proper insulin function is essential to everyone's health status.

Scientists know insulin is a ‘major hormone’ in the body. Your body secretes it after you eat, to transport glucose (and other nutrients) through your blood stream and into your cells. Glucose, taken from food, is one of the body's most important energy sources. Your cells use it as fuel to perform many essential functions, such as those that relate to metabolism and building muscle. Chromium helps to regulate insulin production. If you aren't getting enough chromium and other support nutrients in your diet, the body cannot perform as effectively as possible. Rather than moving glucose into your cells to be burned for energy, it remains in your blood stream and is more likely to be stored as fat. In the 50’s chromium was identified as a core component in what was then called the “glucose tolerance factor.” And then in the 70’s chromium deficiency was correlated with symptoms associated with insulin resistance. Since then there have been worldwide research efforts undertaken to better understand and identify insulin resistance, and its effect on the body. In fact, all of the hundreds of studies that have been done to validate the use of chromium to control blood sugar have culminated in the identification of a complex of symptoms associated with impaired insulin function; it is often referred to as syndrome X. Which is just a state where blood sugar regulation is an issue, and still its exact cause is yet to be determined. The theories that revolve around what causes syndrome X deal with a decreased sensitivity to insulin that is made by the body. How do we decrease our systems resistance to insulin? One way is the reduction in body fat and an increase in lean body mass, the other is making sure the body has the nutrients it needs to make the transfer occur!

Research has shown us that chromium has the ability, in conjunction with a healthy diet and exercise, to reduce insulin resistance. Research done on chromium and brought to the surface, shows it has other potential benefits that directly relate to helping the body control and utilize insulin. Blood sugar issues and their interrelated roles in the complex metabolic and biochemical pathways are associated with diabetes, cardiovascular health, obesity, depression, and many other pathological states. It is now believed that insulin resistance may be the common denominator among these and other diseases. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, 9 out of 10 Americans are deficient in chromium. According to one study, 90% of American diets contain less than the minimum suggested RDI of chromium. So how do we get enough in our diets, and what kind do we take? One of the answers is chromium picolinate, which provides an organic complex of chromium and picolinic acid that has been proven to have high biological activity, and allows for better assimilation and utilization. Chromium picolinate assimilates into the body up to 10 times better than inorganic chromium.

Most dieters who achieve significant weight loss (there is a difference between fat loss and weight loss), lose far too much (approximately 30%) lean body mass (muscle and organic tissue). This not only diminishes strength and agility, but affects appearance as well. With less muscle, this decreased lean body mass lowers the metabolic rate, decreases the body’s calorie burning ability and makes it harder to keep the fat off permanently.

Chromium Picolinate reduces the craving for sweets and helps the body maintain proper blood sugar levels. The typical energy ups and downs normally associated with dieting are greatly reduced. Not only individuals attempting to lose weight will benefit, body builders and other athletes take chromium picolinate to help support and maintain blood sugar levels over time. This group knows that having a greater percentage of lean body mass to fat tissue increases metabolic rate and makes it easier to “burn more calories” every minute of every day! †

REFERENCES:

1. Anderson, RA, NA Bryden, and MM Polansky. 1997. Lack oftoxicity of chromium chloride and chromium picolinate in rats. J. Am. Coll. Nutr. 16: 273-279.
2. Bagchi, D, M Bagchi, J Balmoori, X Ye, and SJ Stohs. 1997. Comparative induction of oxidative stress in cultured J774A.1 macrophage cells by chromium picolinate and chromium nicotinate. Common. Mol. Path. Pharm. 97:335-346.
3. Bagchi, D, SJ Stohs, BW Downs, M Bagchi and HG Preuss. 2002. Cytotoxicity and oxidative mechanisms of different forms of chromium. Toxicol 180: 5-22.
4. Campbell, WW, LJ Joseph, SL Davey, D Cyr-Campbell, RA Anderson and WJ Evans. 1999. Effects of resistance training and chromium picolinate on body composition and skeletal muscle in older men. J. Appl. Physiol. 86: 29-39.
5. Bahijri SM, Mufti AM. King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Beneficial effects of chromium in people with type 2 diabetes, and urinary chromium response to glucose load as a possible indicator of status. Saudi Arabia. Biol Trace Elem Res. 2002 Feb;85(2):97-109.