The Chromium Controversy

Unfortunately the entire subject of chromium’s role in diabetes is mired in controversy. Chromium remains controversial for a very simple reason.

We have no test that we can use to accurately and reliably measure how much chromium we have in our bodies. Your doctor can easily determine how much potassium you have in your system. The results of the test is widely believed to accurately indicate how much of the mineral is present and active in your body.

But when it comes to chromium there are no tests that are believed to give us an accurate and reliable indication of the mineral’s level in the human body. Medical researchers have attempted to use a variety of different chromium tests including hair analysis, toenail analysis, sweat analysis and blood and urine tests but no reliable test has yet been found. This is because chromium is stored in many different areas of the body making it’s measurement extremely difficult.

If researchers don’t have a dependable test that can accurately establish the level of chromium in a person’s body – how can they conduct studies to establish the effects of a chromium deficiency? How can they establish which individuals are really chromium deficient? They can’t which is why there have been so few large-scale studies on chromium.

Even though the subject of chromium deficiency remains a controversial one, several influential health organizations have gone ahead and established what they believe are minimal chromium requirements needed to maintain normal health.

The U.S. National Academy of Sciences recommends a chromium daily intake of 50 micrograms per day. This figure is shocking because studies have shown that most Americans consume only around 30 micrograms. If the Academy’s calculations are correct, most Americans are chromium deficient.

Dr. Andrew Weil recommends a dosage of 200 mcg per day. He also believes that type 2 diabetics should increase their chromium supplement intake to 1,000 mcg. (But only under a physician’s close monitoring)

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the American Institute of Medicine have found chromium to be safe in doses up to 200 mcg per day taken for up to six months. There is no reliable data to indicate that larger doses and dosages taken for longer periods are safe.

The American Institute of Medicine also declined to determine a tolerable upper intake level for chromium due to a lack of toxicity reports. It seems that large doses, though potentially dangerous, didn’t cause many specific reactions.

Many scientists believe that we’re chromium deficient for the following reasons:

Chromium is easily removed from foods by cooking and other forms of food processing. For example, whole grain contains an abundance of chromium but unfortunately most of it is enclosed within the bran and germ of the grain. During flour refining the bran and germ are removed and discarded leaving the refined grain (refined white flour) which contains little or no chromium. And because Americans are consuming more processed food each year, our overall dietary intake of chromium is steadily declining.

As we age we lose our ability to absorb chromium from our foods. Because the U.S. is rapidly aging due to the aging of the huge baby boom generation, the level of chromium in our tissues will inevitably fall.

The soil in the U.S. has very low chromium levels compared to the soil of other nations. For this reason we Americans are one of the most chromium deficient populations in the entire world. In addition, the heavy use of chemical fertilizers has over the decades depleted the level of chromium in our soil even further. Even those foods that are supposed to contain high levels of chromium no longer contain the levels they used to in the past.

When you consume refined carbohydrates (particularly sugar) they increase the rate at which your body excretes chromium. The more refined white carbs you consume the more rapidly chromium is flushed from your body. And since today we’re consuming more refined carbohydrates than ever before, our bodies are becoming increasingly chromium deficient.

For these reasons some researchers now believe that up to 70% of Americans are chromium deficient. ■