NEWS

Chromium May Reduce Diabetes Risk

NEW YORK, NY, 6/27/97- A new study presented at the 57th Annual Scientific Session of the American Diabetes Association Meeting in Boston, MA, on June 23 demonstrates that daily supplementation with 1,000 micrograms of chromium picolinate significantly enhanced the action of insulin. The study enrolled moderately obese people with a high risk of developing type II (adult-onset) diabetes.

The study was a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial directed by William Cefalu, M.D., Director of the Diabetes Comprehensive Care and Research Program at Bowman Gray School of Medicine, Wake Forest University. The study enrolled 29 overweight individuals with a family history of diabetes. The patients received either a placebo or 1,000 micrograms (1 mg) of chromium per day.

After four months of treatment, insulin resistance among chromium recipients was reduced a statistically significant 40%. This improvement was maintained at the end of eight months, Cefalu reported.

The researchers also evaluated the patients' abdominal body fat before and after treatment using a sophisticated imaging technique. The placebo group showed a gain of six percent, compared with a gain of one percent in the chromium group. This difference was not statistically significant.

"Even though only a small number of subjects were studied , the improvement in insulin sensitivity in chromium-supplemented subjects was quite significant and impressive," noted Dr. Cefalu. "This is a potentially important finding in light of the fact that insulin resistance often precedes type II diabetes. Chromium picolinate is a nutritional supplement that can reduce risk factors for the development of diabetes."

Richard Anderson, Ph.D., Senior Scientist at the USDA's Human Nutrition Laboratory in Beltsville, Md, and a leading authority of dietary chromium added, "Dr. Cefalu's findings are exciting and could prove to be of great importance if replicated in future studies. They are certainly consistent with our findings which were reported at last year's ADA meeting: We found improved blood sugar control in a group of Chinese patients with type II diabetes who were supplemented with chromium"

Insulin is the master metabolic hormone in the body, regulating blood sugar. Chromium is an essential trace mineral required by humans in order for insulin to work properly. In persons with the most common form of diabetes, the effects of insulin on lowering blood sugar are reduced. This decrease is referred to as insulin resistance and is now believed to be the primary defect in type II diabetes. Years before any signs or symptoms of diabetes are seen in at-risk individuals (including those with a family history of diabetes), insulin resistance begins to take it toll on blood sugar control.

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