SupplementsMineralsChromium

Chromium

as chromium polynicotinate

Sold for decades as an essential nutrient for blood sugar, and scientists are now arguing about whether it's essential at all.

Get a protocol
A pale chromium capsule
Builds up
About 4 months
In your body
No clean number
Per 1 capsule
1000 mcg
30-day supply
$6.19One capsule a day, plus packing and delivery

What is chromium?

Chromium is a metal found in tiny amounts in grains, meat and fish. The form in food and supplements is trivalent chromium. It's a very different substance from the toxic industrial kind you may have heard about from the film Erin Brockovich.

People get interested in it because of insulin, the hormone that moves sugar out of your blood. Chromium has been thought to help insulin do that job for nearly 60 years, though the exact way it might work has never been proven in people.

Ours is chromium polynicotinate, chromium bound to niacin. Most research used a different form, called picolinate, so there's less known about ours specifically.

What it does

  • Blood sugarHelps maintain blood sugar already in the healthy range.
  • InsulinMay support how your body responds to insulin.
  • MetabolismPlays a part in how your body handles carbohydrates and fats.

These statements have not been evaluated by the FDA. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.

The full guide · 15 min readChromium supplements: benefits, side effects and what chromium picolinate does for blood sugarWhich form, how much, when to take it, and whether it's worth it, with the studies behind each answer.

What people take it for

How long it takes

This is a slow one. Blood sugar results in the best-known study first showed at 2 months and were clearest at 4, and you shouldn't expect to feel any difference along the way.

How the blood sugar effect tends to buildTypical pattern
First changes at 2 months
As far as that study went
Start4 months
  1. HoursUnder 3% is absorbed, and the rest passes straight through
  2. DaysWhat you absorbed starts leaving in your urine
  3. 2 to 4 monthsWhen the blood sugar study saw its changes. Time for a repeat HbA1c

How long it stays in your body

Most of what you absorb leaves through your urine. We couldn't find a clean half-life for the form in supplements, and numbers from workers exposed to other forms are all over the place.

What's in a capsule

One capsule holds 1,000 mcg. That's the top amount in the best-known blood sugar study, and about 30 to 40 times the 25 to 35 mcg adults are advised to get each day. No official upper limit exists, because there's too little data to set one. Our Trace Minerals capsule adds 200 mcg and our Multivitamin 120 mcg, so count them together.

The essential nutrient that may not be

For decades, chromium was taught as an essential mineral. Newer research has raised real doubts. A leading chromium researcher wrote in 2017 that the evidence no longer supports calling it essential, only that it may have an effect at larger amounts, like a drug would. US official advice still lists a daily intake, so you'll see both views.

Your gut is very picky about it. Only about 0.4% to 2.5% of the chromium you eat gets absorbed. In the blood it travels on transferrin, the same protein that carries your iron. Vitamin C seems to help absorption, and a lot of sugar seems to send more out in your urine.

Results on blood sugar are all over the place, and nearly all of them used picolinate rather than our form. One study of 180 people saw a large drop in HbA1c, your three-month blood sugar average, while a careful review of 20 studies found that few reached a goal doctors would call meaningful. A repeat blood test will tell you more about your own case than the headlines will.

Read the full guide to chromium

What it interacts with

Goes well with

Side effects

  • Usually mild if at all: watery stools, dizziness, headaches or hives were reported in weight studies.
  • Rarely, serious problems. One woman taking 1,200 to 2,400 mcg of chromium picolinate a day for 4 to 5 months developed kidney failure, liver problems and anemia, and later recovered. Stop and call your doctor if you notice dark urine, yellow skin or eyes, or you pee much less.

Check first if

  • Kidney or liver disease: ask your doctor first, because of those rare reports.
  • Diabetes: don't change your medicines on your own, and watch for low blood sugar.
  • Iron overload (hemochromatosis): it may change how chromium moves around your body, so check first.
  • Pregnancy or breastfeeding: there isn't enough safety data on an amount this high.
  • Allergies: this capsule contains rice.

The blood tests that go with it

Work it out

A single drop of blood on a fingertipBlood sugar · CalculatorA1C calculatorAverage glucose to A1C, and back.A clean fork and an empty plate, composed like jewelleryBlood sugar · CalculatorHOMA-IR calculatorInsulin resistance from fasting glucose and insulin.A glucose sensor on the back of an armBlood sugar · CalculatorGMI calculatorYour sensor's mean glucose, as a GMI.Water falling through fine glassKidneys and electrolytes · CalculatoreGFR calculatorKidney filtration from creatinine, age and sex.A slim glass tube of blood in two clean layersHeart · CalculatorCholesterol ratio calculatorTG to HDL, total to HDL, and non-HDL.

Supplementation

Or start from a ready-made protocol.

Start from one of these, or add it to your own. Everything comes in one pouch each morning.

See all supplements
  • cGMP-certifiedFacilities
  • FDA-registeredFacilities
  • Accredited labsIndependent testing
  • Non-GMOIngredient options
  • OrganicIngredient options
  • VeganFormula options

These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.

Want it more precise? Get the app.

A page can only tell you about Chromium. The app tells you about you: whether it fits, when to take it, and whether it's working.

  • Checked against your blood work and everything you already take
  • On your daily timeline, around your sleep, training and meals
  • Followed over time, so you can see what moved
Download the appStart on the web
09:41
74LIFE FORCE›
09:00— 12:0011:05now
ChromiumOPEN 09:00
Checked for youTHIS MORNING

Chromium against your blood work, your sleep and what you already take.

LifeFromAI

Your HbA1c hasn't moved since you started chromium 4 months ago. Want to look at your meals and your next test together?

ASK ABOUT CHROMIUM
People take it for

Find the goal that's yours.

Your record, your routine and LifeFrom AI, pointed at the outcome that matters to you.

Lose fat, keep muscleMetabolismLose fat, keep muscleProtect your heartHeartProtect your heart

Questions

What is chromium good for?

People mostly take it for blood sugar, and sometimes for weight or cholesterol. The research is mixed, so it's worth checking your own numbers.

How long does chromium take to work?

In the best-known blood sugar study, changes first showed at 2 months and were clearest at 4. You won't feel it.

Does chromium help you lose weight?

Barely. Studies found about half a kilo, or about a pound, more than people taking nothing. US marketers can no longer claim it builds muscle or cuts body mass.

Chromium side effects: what are they?

Usually nothing much, or mild stomach upset, headaches or hives. High amounts have rarely been linked to serious kidney or liver problems.

Who should not take chromium?

Check first if you have kidney or liver disease, take diabetes or thyroid medicine, have iron overload, or are pregnant or breastfeeding.

Can I take chromium every day?

That's how it's been studied, for a few months at a time. We know less about using it for years, so it makes sense to check in with your doctor.

What is chromium's half-life?

We couldn't find a clean number for the form in supplements. Most of what you absorb leaves in your urine, and since so little gets absorbed, it's small amounts either way.

Is this the same chromium that's toxic?

No. Supplements use trivalent chromium. The toxic one, hexavalent chromium, is an industrial chemical with a very different effect on the body.

Sources
  1. Institute of Medicine. Dietary Reference Intakes for Vitamin A, Vitamin K, Arsenic, Boron, Chromium, Copper, Iodine, Iron, Manganese, Molybdenum, Nickel, Silicon, Vanadium, and Zinc. National Academies Press, 2001.
  2. Vincent JB. New evidence against chromium as an essential trace element. J Nutr, 2017.
  3. Costello RB et al. Chromium supplements for glycemic control in type 2 diabetes: limited evidence of effectiveness. Nutr Rev, 2016.
  4. Anderson RA et al. Elevated intakes of supplemental chromium improve glucose and insulin variables in individuals with type 2 diabetes. Diabetes, 1997.
  5. Asbaghi O et al. Effects of chromium supplementation on glycemic control in patients with type 2 diabetes. Pharmacol Res, 2020.
  6. Onakpoya I et al. Chromium supplementation in overweight and obesity: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Obes Rev, 2013.
  7. Cerulli J et al. Chromium picolinate toxicity. Ann Pharmacother, 1998.
  8. John-Kalarickal J et al. New medications which decrease levothyroxine absorption. Thyroid, 2007.
  9. Anderson RA. Chromium and insulin resistance. Nutr Res Rev, 2003.
  10. Gargas ML et al. Urinary excretion of chromium by humans following ingestion of chromium picolinate. Drug Metab Dispos, 1994.

Written by LifeFrom from these sources, and not yet reviewed by a clinician. Talk to your doctor before starting a supplement.

More supplements