Why Are You Deficient in Chromium?
by
Margaret Durst
The Green House
Previously
by Margaret Durst: Learning
Disorders – A Natural Approach
Chromium is an essential mineral because it helps to maintain stable
blood sugar levels through proper insulin utilization. It can be
helpful both for people with diabetes and also those with hypoglycemia.
Chromium is
also known as glucose tolerance factor, meaning that it improves
the activity of insulin and facilitates the uptake of glucose into
the cells. It is vital in the synthesis of cholesterol, fats, and
proteins.
Chromium facilitates
weight loss. Although it is not a miracle cure for obesity, chromium
does increase lean muscle mass and decrease body fat.
The average
American diet is chromium deficient. The main reasons for this are:
the particular form of chromium in many foods is not easily absorbed;
not enough foods with chromium are consumed; sugar leaches chromium
from the body; and most of the chromium in foods is lost during
processing.
Chromium levels
decline with age, which may be one of the reasons for the increased
incidence of adult onset diabetes. The average American gets less
than 50 micrograms of chromium per day. The general recommendation
on supplementing chromium is 200 mcg. per day. If diabetic, the
recommendation is double that, or 400 mcg. per day. My favorite
multi-vitamin for blood sugar management contains 1000 mcg.
Food sources
of chromium include beer, brewerÂ’s yeast, brown rice, cheese,
meat and whole grains. Supplemental forms are chromium picolinate,
chromium polynicotinate, and food-based chromium. I find that food-based
is best – it tends to work almost twice as well as the other
forms, but the other forms will work too.
Chromium is
an important supplement because blood sugar problems are rampant
in America today. Twenty-five to thirty percent of all Americans
are insulin resistant – this equates to 60 to 75 million people.
Only five to 10 percent of these will develop type 2 diabetes.
Impaired blood
sugar metabolism is associated with much more than type 2 diabetes.
It is a fundamental factor in serious medical conditions such as
obesity, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, high triglycerides
and increased risk of heart disease. In fact, insulin resistance
is as accurate a predictor of heart disease as are elevated levels
of cholesterol.
Research indicates
that chromium supplementation helps not only with blood sugar, or
insulin resistance, but with cholesterol as well. Chromium also
helps reduce plaque build up in arteriosclerosis.
I recommend
chromium if blood sugar swings from too high to too low. Chromium
tends to level out the “peaks and valleys” so that blood
sugar is more stable.
December 6, 2012
Margaret
Durst owns The
Green House, a vitamin, herb and health food store in Mason,
Texas.
Copyright
© 2012 Margaret
Durst