Chromium Pic to reduce glycemic index??

Hi all,

Just heard something interesting on a health show today "Know The Cause" with Doug Kaufmann,that chromium pic improves glycemic index in Type II Diabetes. Was a study mentioned in the "Diabetes Care" Aug. 2006 journal. Supposedly it makes your insulin work right. Has anyone else heard of this or something similar? They commentators mentioned that some people who had been on it for as little as one week noticed a drop in blood sugar levels. Just thought it was interesting enough to bring to the table. Can't speak from personal experience. Til later...

Kim

I'm sure there have been previous posts about chromium and how toxic it is...pretty sure it was Warren.  I'll look back and see if I can find anything

Hi there Kim,
yes,there is a paper published in the august issue of Diabetes Care journal.I quote"Chromium picolinate (CrPic) supplementation improves glycemic control in patients with type 2 diabetes not adequately controlled while taking sulfonylurea, according to the results of a randomized, double-blind study reported in the August issue of Diabetes Care"
"After baseline evaluation, 37 subjects with type 2 diabetes were treated with a sulfonylurea (glipizide gastrointestinal therapeutic system, 5 mg/day) with placebo for 3 months. These subjects were then randomized in a double-blind fashion to receive for 6 months either the sulfonylurea plus placebo (n = 12) or the sulfonylurea plus 1000 μg of chromium as CrPic (n = 17). End points included body composition, insulin sensitivity, and glycemic control at the end of the 3-month single-blind placebo phase and at study end"
"This study demonstrates that CrPic supplementation in subjects with type 2 diabetes who are taking sulfonylurea agents significantly improves insulin sensitivity and glucose control," the authors write. "Further, CrPic supplementation significantly attenuated body weight gain and visceral fat accumulation compared with the placebo group.... The mechanisms for these findings are not precisely known, but clinical research studies addressing dietary intake, skeletal muscle fat oxidation, and insulin signaling are ongoing."
Thus Chromium acts by increasing Insulin sensitivity and reducing visceral fat mass and also body weight.This appears to be a paradigm shift in the concept on Chromium picolinate.

Thank you spooky for taking time to research that. You're awesome. So, what does that mean to people who have type II? Should this be something they try? By the way, where can someone like me look something like that up themselves?...online???
Kim

I have tried Chromium Picolinate off and on.  Sometimes it seems to be effective, sometimes not.  So I would stop it for a while, then maybe a month or two later I would get some again.  I am on Glucophage - two by 500mg daily.

Well, all I can say, he helped me get my life back. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, that's for sure. What a great country!

I'm wondering if you have ever tried any of his,(as well as the doctors who agree with him), advise. To tell you the truth, I was VERY skeptical myself when I first heard him too. It took me 6 months to actually buy his book, follow his phase 1 diet, (very close to SCD), and almost immediately I got relief from 13 years of miserable Ulcerative Colitis. I am now symptom free.I don't believe that "everyone" will be "healed" by doing what he has to say, but I do believe that for people who are legitimately suffering from a fungus, and yes, it is real, that they can be helped significantly. I guess it is up to each person to decide if they want to try something different, even if it seems unlikely, and then go in peace. Did you actually try what he said? I know that many people have been helped by him, so there has to be something to it.
Wishing you health...

here's the abstract I refered to on my original post...






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Diabetes Care 29:1826-1832, 2006
DOI: 10.2337/dc06-0254
© 2006 by the American Diabetes Association


Articles by Martin, J.
Articles by Cefalu, W. T.


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Chromium Picolinate Supplementation Attenuates Body Weight Gain and Increases Insulin Sensitivity in Subjects With Type 2 Diabetes
Julie Martin, MS, RD1, Zhong Q. Wang, MD2, Xian H. Zhang, BS2, Deborah Wachtel, NP, MPH1, Julia Volaufova, PHD3, Dwight E. Matthews, PHD1 and William T. Cefalu, MD2
1 Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism, University of Vermont, Burlington, Vermont
2 Division of Nutrition and Chronic Diseases, Pennington Biomedical Research Center, Louisiana State University System, Baton Rouge, Louisiana
3 Biostatistics Program, School of Public Health, Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, New Orleans, Louisiana

OBJECTIVE—Chromium picolinate (CrPic) supplementation has been suggested to improve glycemia, but there are conflicting reports on efficacy. We sought to determine the effect of CrPic on insulin sensitivity, glycemic control, and body composition in subjects with type 2 diabetes.

RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS—Thirty-seven subjects with type 2 diabetes were evaluated. After baseline, subjects were placed on a sulfonylurea (glipizide gastrointestinal therapeutic system 5 mg/day) with placebo for 3 months. Subjects were then randomized in a double-blind fashion to receive either the sulfonylurea plus placebo (n = 12) or the sulfonylurea plus 1,000 µg Cr as CrPic (n = 17) for 6 months. Body composition, insulin sensitivity, and glycemic control were determined at baseline, end of the 3-month single-blind placebo phase, and end of study.

RESULTS—Subjects randomized to sulfonylurea/placebo, as opposed to those randomized to sulfonylurea/CrPic, had a significant increase in body weight (2.2 kg, P < 0.001 vs. 0.9 kg, P = 0.11), percent body fat (1.17%, P < 0.001 vs. 0.12%, P = 0.7), and total abdominal fat (32.5 cm2, P < 0.05 vs. 12.2 cm2, P < 0.10) from baseline. Subjects randomized to sulfonylurea/CrPic had significant improvements in insulin sensitivity corrected for fat-free mass (28.8, P < 0.05 vs. 15.9, P = 0.4), GHb (–1.16%, P < 0.005 vs. –0.4%, P = 0.3), and free fatty acids (–0.2 mmol/l, P < 0.001 vs. –0.12 mmol/l, P < 0.03) as opposed to sulfonylurea/placebo.

CONCLUSIONS—This study demonstrates that CrPic supplementation in subjects with type 2 diabetes who are taking sulfonylurea agents significantly improves insulin sensitivity and glucose control. Further, CrPic supplementation significantly attenuated body weight gain and visceral fat accumulation compared with the placebo group.


Abbreviations: AUC, area under the curve • AUC-B, glucose AUC from the fasting glucose at time 0 • CrPic, chromium picolinate • DEXA, dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry • FFA, free fatty acid • GITS, gastrointestinal therapeutic system • OGTT, oral glucose tolerance test










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