Trivalent chromium. It’s the name of a trendy food supplement touted as an essential nutrient that can regulate blood sugar. Eight decades of research shows that the supplement actually has no effect, says Neil Marsh, a chemistry professor at the University of Michigan, according to the Daily Mail.
What researchers say about a trendy supplement. Photo: Shutterstock
Trivalent chromium is included in many multivitamin pills, but is also sold as an individual supplement. Although chromium is considered essential for health, the supplement has not shown visible results during studies, claims the American chemistry professor. Furthermore, chromium deficiency would be extremely rare.
Chromium is absorbed by the body to the extent of 1%. By comparison, other essential metals are absorbed at 25%.
Although there are studies suggesting that chromium may regulate blood glucose levels or that supplementation may improve physical performance, recent research has been inconclusive.
There is no evidence that humans or animals need chromium to improve any body function, writes the dailymail.
How the idea that chromium is beneficial came about
The idea of the usefulness of chromium appeared in the 1950s, following studies carried out at the time on rats, which suggested that including chromium in the diet of rodents can lead to the disappearance of type 2 diabetes. However, the studies from that period no longer correspond to today’s standards, but can be considered flawed. Statistical analysis to demonstrate that the results were not due to chance alone is lacking. In addition, the dietary chromium level of the recovered rats was not measured.
Studies carried out after had ambiguous results. If in the case of some of the rats, the chromium supplements improved the blood sugar level, in the case of others no significant difference was observed.
Human experiments are much more difficult to control, and there are only a few clinical trials investigating the benefit of chromium in diabetic patients. As with rats, the results are ambiguous. If there is any effect, it appears to be very small.
Millions of people take chromium supplements
However, chrome remains highly recommended, especially in the United States. The idea that this metal is essential has persisted since 2001, when it was included in a list of micronutrients recommended by the US National Institute of Medicine. Adults are recommended to include 30 grams of chromium per day in their diet. This, say researchers at the University of Michigan, despite a lack of evidence to prove any health benefits.
The recommendation was not based on science, but on previous estimates of the amount of chromium Americans ingest daily. Much of this would come, researchers say, from stainless steel cookware, not food.
According to them, just as there are no proven risks with chromium supplements, there are no benefits either.
