Why supplementation of chromium must be at least for 12 weeks?

27 Aug 2024 | Chin

Chromium is an essential trace mineral needed for the formation of glucose tolerance factor complex, which is for glucose and lipid metabolism. In our foods such as banana, broccoli, brown rice and etc, there is chromium too. However, our body only manages to absorb 0.3% of chromium from normal foods. On the other hand, diabetic patients’ body have >50% less chromium compared to normal healthy peoples too. Therefore, chromium supplementation are suggested as an adjunct therapy for people who need glucose level management.

Studies of chromium on human health

There are number of studies conducted to determine the effect of chromium on human health, for example, reduction of HbA1c by 0.5-1.1% (Pei et al., 2006, Huang et al., 2018). Recently, a few studies were conducted to study the effect of chromium supplementation for at least 12 weeks.

Farrokhian et al (2019) conducted research to determine the effects of chromium supplementation on metabolic status in diabetic patients with coronary heart disease (CHD), with 200mcg chromium for 12 weeks.

The research shown that Chromium supplementation significantly reduced:

Body Weight

(− 0.9 ± 1.6 vs. + 0.1 ± 0.8 kg, P = 0.001)

Insulin Resistance

(β − 0.44; 95% CI, − 0.62, − 0.25; P < 0.001)

Increased Insulin Sensitivity

(β 0.007; 95% CI, 0.003, 0.01; P < 0.001) compared with the placebo

Besides that, a meta-analysis on chromium was conducted, with the dosage of between 50-1000 µg /day and it was consumed from 4-25 weeks revealed significant reduction of the following:

Consumed from 4-25 weeks revealed significant reduction of the following:

The FPG

(weighted mean difference (WMD): -19.00 mg/dl, 95% CI: -36.15, -1.85, P = 0.030, I2: 99.8%, p < 0.001)

Fasting Insulin Level

(WMD: -12.35 pmol/l, 95% CI: -17.86, -6.83, P < 0.001)

HbA1C

(WMD: -0.71 %, 95% CI: -1.19, -0.23, P = 0.004)

Therefore, supplementation of chromium shows a beneficial impact on glucose control as well as heart health. GTF chromium combined with lactoferrin can enhance the mineral’s absorption, increasing the bioavailibility of chromium in the body.

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