Doctors Guide
Chromium May
Help Obese People Avoid Diabetes
NEW YORK -- June
30, 1997 -- The results of a recent study demonstrate that
daily supplementation with 1,000 micrograms of supplied as
chromium picolinate significantly enhanced the action of insulin
in moderately obese people with a high risk of developing
type II (adult-onset) diabetes.
Insulin is the
master metabolic hormone in our body and regulates blood sugar;
chromium is an essential trace mineral required by humans
in order for insulin to work properly. In persons with the
most common form of diabetes the effects of insulin on lowering
blood sugar are reduced. This decrease in effect is referred
to as insulin resistance, and is now believed to be the primary
defect in type II diabetes. Years before any signs or symptoms
of diabetes are seen in these at-risk individuals (such as
those with a family history of diabetes), insulin resistance
has already taken a toll on their blood sugar control.
The study was a
randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial
directed by William Cefalu, M.D., director of the Diabetes
Comprehensive Care and Research Program at the Bowman Gray
School of Medicine, Wake Forest University. The results were
presented at the 57th Annual Scientific Session of the American
Diabetes Association Meeting in Boston, on June 23, 1997.
The subjects were
29 overweight individuals who also had a family history of
diabetes. They received either a placebo or 1,000 micrograms
(1 mg) of chromium daily. After four months, insulin resistance
was reduced by a statistically significant 40%, and this improvement
was maintained at the end of eight months.
Also examined in
these subjects (using a sophisticated imaging technique) was
the amount of abdominal fat present at the beginning and end
of the study. The placebo group gained 6.5% abdominal fat
while the chromium group gained just 1%. This difference was
not statistically significant, possibly due to the small number
of persons in the trial.
"Even though only
a small number of subjects were studied, the improvement in
insulin sensitivity in chromium-supplemented subjects was
quite significant and impressive," noted Dr. Cefalu. "This
is a potentially important finding in light of the fact that
insulin resistance often precedes type II diabetes. Chromium
picolinate is a nutritional supplement that can reduce risk
factors for the development of diabetes."
"Dr.
Cefalu's findings are exciting and could prove to be of great
importance if replicated in future studies," stated Richard
Anderson, Ph.D., senior scientist at the United States Department
of Agriculture's Human Nutrition Laboratory in Beltsville,
Md., and a leading authority on dietary chromium. "They are
certainly consistent with our findings which were reported
at last year's ADA meeting: We found improved blood sugar
control in a group of Chinese patients with type II diabetes
who were supplemented with chromium."
