Chromium Picolinate Review
Chromium Picolinate (chromium + picolinic acid) is pushed by companies as an aid to losing weight. It is known that small quantities of chromium are “needed for glucose utilization by insulin in normal health, but deficiency is extremely rare in developed nations.”1
Do you have a chromium deficiency? Probably not.
Many supporters claim that the combination of chromium and picolinic acid (chromium picolinate) reduces insulin resistance (and insulin resistance leads to weight gain). One study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition showed no association.2 It’s noteworthy that the study cited just previously has been challenged with the claim that it “excluded significant results” (also included in the AJCN). The following studies support the efficacy of chromium picolinate in regards to insulin sensitivity:
- Anderson RA, Cheng N, Bryden NA, Polansky MM, Chi J, Feng J. Elevated intakes of supplemental chromium improve glucose and insulin variables in individuals with type 2 diabetes. Diabetes 1997;46:1786–91.[Abstract]
- Bahadori B, Wallner S, Hacker C, Boes U, Komorowski JR, Wascher TC. Effects of chromium picolinate on insulin levels and glucose control in obese patients with type-II diabetes mellitus. Diabetes 1999;48(suppl):A349 (abstr).
- Cefalu WT, Bell-Farrow AD, Stegner J, et al. Effect of chromium picolinate on insulin sensitivity in vivo. J Trace Elem Exp Med 1999;12:71–83.
- Cheng N, Zhu X, Shi H, et al. Follow-up survey of people in China with type 2 diabetes mellitus consuming supplemental chromium. J Trace Elem Exp Med 1999;12:55–60.
- Evans GW. The effect of chromium picolinate on insulin controlled parameters in humans. Int J Biosoc Res 1989;11:163–80.
- Jovanovic-Peterson L, Gutierrez M, Peterson CM. Chromium supplementation for women with gestational diabetes mellitus. J Trace Elem Exp Med 1999;12:91–7.
- Lee NA, Reasner CA. Beneficial effect of chromium supplementation on serum triglyceride levels in NIDDM. Diabetes Care 1994;17:1449–52.[Abstract]
- Ravina A, Slezak L, Mirsky N, Bryden NA, Anderson RA. Reversal of corticosteroid-induced diabetes mellitus with supplemental chromium. Diabet Med 1999;16:164–7.[Medline]
- Ravina A, Slezak L, Rubal A, Mirsky N. Clinical use of the trace element chromium (III) in the treatment of diabetes mellitus. J Trace Elem Exp Med 1995;8:183–90.
This study concludes that:
Under conditions of controlled energy intake, CrPic supplementation of women did not independently influence body weight or composition or iron status. Thus, claims that supplementation of 200 μg of Cr as CrPic promotes weight loss and body composition changes are not supported.
By “controlled energy intake” the authors mean that the subjects were all put on a nutritionally balanced diet.
Another study (albeit weaker) looked at changes in body composition when a compound “containing chromium picolinate, inulin, capsicum, L-phenylalinine (see my review of L-phenylalinine), and other lipotropic nutrients” was used for four weeks in conjunction with a 1500 calorie diet and 45 minutes of walking 5 days per week. There were “significant differences…between groups in percent body fat, fat mass, and fat-free mass; no significant differences were found in body weight, body mass index, or energy intake.”3
As you can see, at the end of the day, chromium picolinate supplementation may or may not aid in your weight loss. I did come out strong against Lipocerin’s use of chromium picolinate–but it wasn’t so much because the ingredient may or may not be effective. They cited a study and left a significant portion of it out, completely misleading a casual visitor of the website and construing what the researchers had written to a degree that is shameful. That’s why I came down on them.
Would I throw out a diet pill that has chromium picolinate in it? Definitely not. But if that’s their flagship ingredient, I’d start looking elsewhere.