Chromium Supplements: Are They For Diabetics?

Chromium Supplements: Are They For Diabetics?

Chromium is a mineral that has been getting a lot of attention lately in medical news.  This is because chromium has shown that it can help to regulate concentrations of blood sugar in the body.  Chromium is beneficial to those people who have Type 2 diabetes as well as those people who are showing pre-diabetic symptoms.  Type 2 diabetes is not considered to be “insulin dependent”.  Chromium is not present in large quantities in any of the foods we eat, at least in a high enough concentration to make much impact on our blood sugar.  This is why some doctors are recommending that people enhance their diet by taking chromium supplements.  New studies, however, are questioning what matters more when it comes to chromium supplements: the form of the supplement for the amount you take?

A 2005 Experimental Biology indicated that chromium picolinate, one of the four different types of chromium supplements available, is the only supplement that is absorbed well by our bodies.  Other forms of chromium supplements had a much lower rate of absorption.  Chromium that comes from the foods we eat had a slightly higher rate of absorption than most chromium supplement forms but couldn’t match the rate of chromium picolinate.  

But just why should you consider taking chromium supplements for your diabetes?  Early studies showed that chromium supplements were able to restore the control of blood sugar in the body.  Further studies focused on just how much of the supplement needed to be taken to be beneficial as well as what were safe levels of the supplement.  Chromium showed that it was able to control certain enzymes by triggering the enzyme to attach molecules, which contain phosphorous, to the insulin receptors found on the cells of the body.  This is the first step needed so that insulin can lock onto the receptors.  When this occurs the insulin is able to guide glucose from within the blood towards the cells that are hungry for this energy.  Once the hormone has completed its job a different type of enzyme will dislodge the molecule, which contains phosphorous, from the insulin receptor.  This stops the process. Studies show that chromium inhibits this shutdown process.  And this would indicate that chromium is ideal for people who have diabetes.  The drawback is that chromium isn’t found in beneficial quantities within the foods we eat, particularly in the highly processed food that most of us eat.  Taking a chromium supplement can help to control your blood sugar levels so that you can maintain a healthy lifestyle.