Chromium is also sometimes promoted as a "supplement for weight loss, fat burning and appetite suppression," says Uma Naidoo, MD, director of nutritional and lifestyle psychiatry at Massachusetts General Hospital and the author of “ This is Your Brain on Food," but again, "the studies supporting this are not thought to be of the best quality."īeth Czerwony, RD, a registered dietitian at Cleveland Clinic’s Center for Human Nutrition agrees, and says while chromium is an essential mineral to help with blood sugar control, "the American Diabetes Association does not recommend chromium supplementation due to lack of data showing that it benefits people with diabetes or obesity." Which foods contain chromium? What does chromium do for the body?īeyond chromium's enhancement of insulin, the mineral is also involved in breaking down and improving the absorption of carbohydrates, proteins and fats, says the National Institutes of Health Office of Dietary Supplements. It plays a key role in regulating blood sugar levels by enhancing the action of insulin, a hormone that converts sugar and starches into energy the body needs for activity. "It is naturally present in many foods," says Carol Johnston, PhD, RD, a professor of nutrition at Arizona State University. What is chromium?Ĭhromium is an essential mineral the body needs, but only in trace amounts. Like diabetes, prediabetes raises the risk for heart disease and stroke. Though the CDC recommends specific lifestyle changes to reverse a prediabetic condition, many corporations in the dietary supplement market are pushing a mineral called chromium to help with blood sugar regulation.ĭespite such marketing, experts say most people get enough chromium from the foods they eat and that the science backing up chromium's additional importance as a supplement is not robust. There are three types of diabetes: Type 1, Type 2 and gestational diabetes that develops in some pregnant women.Ībout 1 in 10 Americans live with one of these types, but the CDC notes more than 1 in 3 Americans live with prediabetes - and 80% of them don't know they have it. With prediabetes, blood sugar levels are higher than normal, but not high enough for a Type 2 diabetes diagnosis. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is concerned about the increased prevalence of diabetes, a chronic health condition that affects how the body turns food into energy.
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