Nutrition 21 says review confirms benefits of diabetes therapy

The review, which analyzed research on chromium picolinate, supports the consistent beneficial effects of chromium picolinate and refutes a previous review that analyzed efficacy after combining results from all types of supplemental chromium, the company said.

“The main messages are that all forms of chromium are not equivalent, and that higher doses of chromium picolinate are required for people with type 2 diabetes,” said Leigh Broadhurst, research chemist and the lead author of the publication.

“Previous chromium reviews examined all types of chromium at widely varying doses. But separating out chromium picolinate, which yields highly consistent results in research studies, compared to other chromium supplements shows that at doses between 200mcg to 1,000mcg it is a superior nutritional adjunct to diabetes treatments.”

All studies showed that chromium picolinate produced benefits in one or more standard measures of diabetes management, with no adverse events reported. Although glycemic control varied by trial, all showed improvements in one or more measurements of glycemic control, including fasting glucose, postprandial glucose, fasting insulin, postprandial insulin, glycated hemoglobin, or insulin sensitivity.

The authors concluded that the greater bioavailability of chromium picolinate compared to other forms of chromium may explain its comparatively significant superior effects on glycemic and lipidemic control.