Chromium Picolinate for slimming

High-quality dietary supplements often contain chromium picolinate in their formula. This trace element is linked to a healthy metabolism, weight loss and muscle gain in athletes.

To know all the benefits of this mineral and how it really works, we first need to understand how it works naturally. Chromium is an essential substance in a number of the body’s reactions, and we’d all benefit from knowing more about it.

What is chromium picolinate?

Before it became famous in slimming formulas or among athletes, chromium was first and foremost a mineral naturally present in the human body. Already known for over 2 centuries, its properties were elucidated in the 50s. However, there are still a number of grey areas concerning all its properties and its role in the body’s various metabolic reactions.

Chromium doses in the body are very low, to the point where it can be detected in trace amounts. But these micro quantities are generally sufficient to ensure chromium’s function. With age, chromium deficiency can be expected, but is rare. However, when the body begins to accumulate high levels of blood sugar, as a result of insulin resistance, chromium deficiency may be suggested as the cause.

The commercial form of chromium contains picolinic acid. That’s why it’s called chromium picolinate which is a biological form that provides all the benefits of chromium. There are, however, toxic forms of chromium, which are used in industry.

Sources of chromium in the diet

Many foods are good sources of chromium picolinate. These include brewer’s yeast which is considered a superfood due to its richness in several nutrients, including chromium. Wholegrain cereals and green vegetables also provide a good dose of this trace element.

A good quantity of chromium is also found in animal products, mainly in liver and in egg yolk.

How does chromium picolinate work?

Chromium plays an important physiological role in the body. It enables insulin to regulate blood sugar levels. This function is essential to avoid metabolic diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, diabetes-induced kidney problems and a host of other pathologies that are triggered by poorly controlled diabetes.

To control blood sugar levels, insulin transports the glucose molecule to the cells. There are receptors on cell membranes that recognize insulin, enabling it to bring glucose into the cell for subsequent use as energy. Researchers have discovered that it is chromium that enables insulin to be recognized by cell receptors.

Let’s imagine the cell as a closed door: insulin knocks on the door, and chromium is the key that opens it to receive the parcel represented by glucose. In this way, the loop is closed and the sugar finds itself inside the cell, instead of remaining free in the blood and causing damage if its concentration rises. This function has earned chromium the nickname of insulin cofactor, a sort of companion on the road, but above all a good companion!

Chromium’s involvement in glucose metabolism indirectly prevents fat storage, since sugar is used by cells instead of being converted into fat. This is the case with insulin resistance.

The benefits of chromium picolinate

Chromium plays an essential role in sugar and lipid metabolism. It is recommended for weight loss and muscle gain in athletes. Not all these properties have been fully confirmed, and chromium is still attracting the interest of researchers to confirm or refute these actions.

Type 2 diabetes control

Chromium’s physiological role is to help regulate blood sugar levels; its action is essential to keep the machine running smoothly.

Based on this natural action of chromium, researchers thought that a chromium intake could help solve the problems of diabetics by promoting glucose utilization and lowering its concentration in the blood. Cellular aging causes a form of tissue resistance to insulin. Even if a good dose of insulin is available, it cannot perform its function because of this resistance phenomenon.

Researchers have recently demonstrated a stimulatory effect of chromium picolinate on an enzyme involved in sugar metabolism, the mechanisms and conclusions of which are still under investigation.

Cholesterol reduction

Chromium acts on blood lipid metabolism. It lowers bad cholesterol levels, which are responsible for the formation of deposits in the arteries and can cause serious damage to the cardiovascular system. On the other hand, chromium slightly increases levels of good cholesterol, which protects the arteries.

This role in cardiovascular prevention is currently being validated. Researchers have found that people with high levels of bad cholesterol and calcified fatty plaques in their arteries have very low levels of chromium in their blood.

Action on fat loss and muscle gain

By acting on insulin sensitivity and increasing sugar utilization, chromium prevents fat storage. If the body needs a source of energy, it turns preferentially to the fats that will be burned. Chromium is also said to have a thermogenic effect, boosting the body’s basal metabolic rate.

It is this same energy-releasing effect that enables muscle to be built, when chromium is involved in thermogenesis after using fat as a substrate. These combined effects make a major contribution to improving the figure, where fat is used to fuel muscle production.

In other words, it is possible to lose weight with chromium, without expecting spectacular losses. In fact, burning more fat to fuel muscle mass helps to sculpt the figure and make you look slimmer. For this reason, the presence of chromium in slimming supplements boosts fat burning and provides the other components with real assistance to enable noticeable weight loss.

Chromium also acts as a mild appetite controller. By improving insulin sensitivity, it stimulates the sensation of satiety, and helps avoid the sugary snacking that leads to overeating due to uncontrolled insulin spikes.

Why use chromium picolinate in slimming supplements?

Chromium picolinate performs all the physiological functions attributed to chromium, with good bioavailability. The most famous and effective slimming pills contain a suitable dose of chromium picolinate in their formula, often rich in other weight-loss ingredients. The presence of chromium picolinate works in synergy with the other compounds to promote weight loss. Other brands offer chromium picolinate alone. In this case, it is most often intended to improve glycemic control, particularly in cases of pre-diabetic syndrome.

Doses and side effects of chromium picolinate

Being a trace element, the doses of chromium required for the body to function properly are very low, almost infinitesimal! They are measured in micrograms. The maximum recommended dose is around 200 micrograms, i.e. ? of a gram. Chromium picolinate does not cause problems in the event of overdosage, as the body generally gets rid of excess chromium without any problems.

If you’d like to get an idea of some products containing chromium picolinate, we highly recommend these two now-famous names: PhenQ and PhenGold