Chromium Insulin's Helper

Some years ago a group of doctors ran into a confusing mystery. They knew that coma patients had to be fed a food replacement liquid through an IV needle.

Problem was, after several months of IV feeding the patient’s blood sugar levels climbed so high they were all given an official diagnosis of type 2 diabetes.

Obviously something was missing from their liquid diet but instead of examining the food solution more closely, instead they did what doctors always do – they looked for the quick and easy solution.

When a diabetic patient’s blood sugar climbs too high – the doctor’s first thought is to use insulin to bring the blood sugar back down to a more normal level. But in this case their usual approach didn’t work. When they gave the coma patients insulin injections nothing happened. Their blood sugar remained stubbornly elevated.

So they increased the insulin dosage to the maximum and still the blood sugar wouldn’t budge. They were perplexed. Insulin works for diabetics why wasn’t it working for these coma patients in the same way? There must be something else going on here – some other hidden factor involved, one that has yet to be isolated and identified. But what could it be?

One doctor knew from past experience that when he gave pills containing brewer’s yeast to his diabetic patients it caused their blood sugar levels to fall. He knew that brewer’s yeast contained some unknown element that helped lower elevated blood sugar levels so he figured it might also help the coma patients.

When the brewer’s yeast was added to the coma patient’s feeding solution the doctors were both shocked and delighted when their blood sugar levels began to tumble. They watched as each patient’s blood sugar level quickly returned to normal.

Clearly something in the yeast solution was working hand in hand with the insulin to help it reduce blood sugar levels.

It wasn’t until many years later that a researcher finally isolated and identified the unknown factor that back then had such a powerful effect. He named it “Glucose Tolerance Factor” or GTF for short. Later it was discovered that it was the mineral chromium in the brewer’s yeast that gave insulin the boost it needed.

Chromium works closely in concert with insulin. It’s a catalyst that gives insulin a boost by increasing the body’s sensitivity to insulin. Without chromium insulin losses it’s impact and it’s role in controlling blood sugar levels. A chromium deficiency dramatically reduces insulin’s ability to keep our blood sugar levels within a normal, health-promoting range.

Chromium is an essential trace mineral first discovered back in the 1960s by Walter Mertz, PhD a scientist at the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

The label “essential” means that our bodies can't manufacture it so we have to obtain it from our diet. The word trace means that though we need chromium to maintain normal health, we only need it in very tiny amounts. In contrast the other non-trace minerals such as magnesium and potassium are needed in much higher dosages.

But despite our miniscule need, without it the body’s ability to respond to insulin is seriously crippled. Because of it’s important role, some medical researchers now feel that chromium is the single most important mineral in the body.

Cells have tiny insulin receptors that scientists have found to be heavily dependent on the presence of chromium. Without chromium the receptors can’t react to insulin in a natural way. Other studies have found that Chromium also helped increase the binding of insulin to it’s receptors.

In one study a University of Alabama researcher found that when chromium was present, insulin receptor activity was increased an incredible 800%! Chromium clearly plays a central role in the body’s ability to respond to insulin. ■

Chromium - Insulin's Helper