Your body doesn’t need massive amounts of chromium, but it does need some chromium in order to function properly.
The intestinal tract absorbs very low amounts of chromium — not much more than two and a half percent of the chromium consumed at best. What your body does manage to absorb gets stored in the liver, spleen, tissue, and bones.
What helps improve chromium absorption?
- Vitamin C (found in fruits and veggies)
- Niacin (a B vitamin found in red meats, poultry, fish, and whole grains)
You don’t necessarily have to stress about your chromium intake. The body needs very little — around 25 micrograms per day for women and 35 micrograms per day for men. For most healthy adults, chromium loss isn’t an issue.
What can reduce your body’s chromium stores?
- Diets high in simple sugars can increase the amount of chromium your body excretes.
- Infection and stressful states (like physical trauma) can increase chromium loss.
- Pregnancy and lactation can increase chromium loss.
- Aging may make a person more vulnerable to a chromium deficiency — studies have shown that older adults have less chromium in the hair and blood than younger adults. However, it is difficult to definitively measure chromium stores and status.
Reports of chromium deficiency in adults are rare. Most people get all the chromium they need by eating a varied diet. Chromium supplements are widely available — both as single-ingredient supplements and in multi-ingredient supplements. And so far, no research has indicated that high intakes of chromium are harmful.
One group of people who may benefit from getting extra chromium is diabetics, especially type 2 diabetics. Studies have shown that chromium can help correct glucose intolerance and insulin resistance in animals — and wouldn’t it be wonderful if a common mineral could do the same for humans? So far, research data on humans has been inconclusive. More research is planned to investigate the possible benefits of chromium for people with diabetes.