Dietary Minerals
Chromium supplements
Reviewed August 2026 · How we write these articles
Chromium is a naturally occurring mineral trace mineral in human nutrition. Trivalent chromium is an essential trace metal and is required for the proper metabolism of sugar in humans. Unlike other essential trace metals, chromium has not been found in a metalloprotein with biological activity. Chromium is a metal with atomic number 24 and an atomic mass of 52 daltons. It receives its name from the green, orange, yellow, and red colors which emanate from the oxide and acid which contacts specific minerals and yields a chrome-green, chrome-yellow, and other color pigments.
Biological functions and health benefits of chromium
Chromium is important in the metabolism of fats and carbohydrates. Chromium helps moves blood sugar (glucose) from the bloodstream into the cells to be used as energy and turn fats, carbohydrates, and proteins into energy. Chromium stimulates fatty acid and cholesterol synthesis, which are important for brain function and other body processes. It is an activator of several enzymes, which are needed to drive numerous chemical reactions necessary to life. Chromium supplementation also improves glucose tolerance in people with Turner's syndrome, a disease linked with glucose intolerance. Chromium is also important in insulin metabolism.
Insulin is an important hormone for controlling blood sugar levels as well as for metabolising fats and proteins in the body. Chromium may decrease the amount of insulin resistance present and thus it may change the type or amount of medication needed to treat the diabetes. It may help them control their blood sugar and may play a role in the development of adult-onset diabetes. Chromium, in a form called chromium picolinate, may improve symptoms of depression in people with atypical depression. Chromium, in combination with copper, may have potential suppressive effects on immune function.
Dietary sources of chromium
Food sources of chromium include processed meats, whole grain products, cereals, spices (black pepper, thyme), mushrooms, brown sugar, coffee, tea, beer, broccoli, and spices. Brewer's yeast is also a good source of chromium. The best source of chromium is brewer's yeast, but many people do not use brewer's yeast because it causes abdominal distention (a bloated feeling) and nausea. Vegetables, fruits, and most refined and processed foods contain low amounts of chromium. Chromium supplements are available in several forms: chromium chloride, chromium nicotinate, chromium picolinate, and high-chromium yeast.
Dosage, intake, recommended daily allowance (RDA)
There are no recommended dietary allowances for chromium. The amount of chromium needed to meet normal daily recommended intakes will be different for different individuals. According to the Food and Nutrition Board of the Institute of Medicine, the safe and adequate daily intakes of chromium are as follows:
Infants birth to 6 months: 0.2 mcg
Infants 7 to 12 months: 5.5 mcg
Children 1 to 3 years: 11 mcg
Children 4 to 8 years: 15 mcg
Boys 9 to 13 years: 25 mcg
Teenage boys 14 to 18 years: 35 mcg
Girls 9 to 13 years: 21 mcg
Teenage girls 14 to 18 years: 24 mcg
Adult males, 19 to 50 years: 35 mcg
Adult males, older than 50: 30 mcg
Adult females, 19 to 50 years: 25 mcg
Adult females, older than 50: 20 mcg
Pregnant women: 29 to 30 mcg
Lactating women: 44 to 45 mcg
Chromium deficiency symptoms
Chromium deficiencies can affect the potency of insulin in regulating sugar balance. Chromium deficiency may be seen as impaired glucose tolerance. It is seen in older people with type 2 diabetes and in infants with protein-calorie malnutrition. Chromium deficiency is characterized by insulin resistance, hyperglycemia and lipid abnormalities. Low chromium levels may cause high cholesterol and a greater risk of developing coronary artery disease (CAD). Severe chromium deficiency may cause weight loss, poor coordination, destruction of the nerves in the extremities of the body (peripheral neuropathy) and inflammation of the brain.
Side effects, precautions, drug interactions
No side effects have been reported for chromium. Chromium administered parenterally in high doses may cause skin irritation. Because of the low absorption and high excretion rates of chromium, toxicity is not common. Chromium supplementation may enhance the effects of drugs for diabetes and possibly lead to hypoglycemia.
Chromium picolinate is a nutritional supplement that works to increase the efficiency of insulin to optimal levels. This popular nutritional supplement is a combination of the element chromium and picolinic acid. Chromium is a naturally-occurring mineral, trace amounts of which are found in everyday foods like meat, poultry, fish, and whole-grain breads. Dietary supplementation of chromium to normal individuals has been reported to lead to improvements in glucose tolerance, serum lipid concentrations, including high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, insulin and insulin binding.
Chromium is a mineral required in small quantities by the body. It enables insulin to function normally and helps the body process (metabolize) carbohydrates and fats. The primary function of insulin is to transport glucose to the body’s cells in order to provide energy that facilitates cell functioning. Chromium is best known for its role in the metabolism of glucose, with research showing that it may improve the ability of glucose-intolerant people to remove excess sugar from their blood after eating. The principle energy sources for the body are glucose and fatty acids. Because it appears to alter the breakdown of fats in the diet, chromium may also be beneficial for individuals with some types of high cholesterol.
Chromium depletion results in biologically ineffective insulin and compromised glucose metabolism. Chromium depletion is characterized by the disturbance of glucose, lipid and protein metabolism and by a shortened lifespan. When chromium is deficient, the body must rely primarily on lipid metabolism to meet its energy requirements, resulting in the production of excessive amounts of acetyl-CoA and ketone bodies. Some of the acetyl-CoA is converted to increased cholesterol biosynthesis, resulting in hypercholesterolemia. Diabetes mellitus is characterized in large part by glycosuria, hypercholesterolemia, and often ketoacidosis.
Chromium picolinate is an exceptionally bioactive source of chromium. Consequently, it has a number of most significant beneficial effects, including improved insulin metabolism and body lipid control. Internal absorption and availability of dietary chromium highly depend on the chemical states of chromium. Although chromium itself has no biochemical function, it becomes physiologically active in the living bodies, when complexed with the organic compounds. Since the conventional chromium supplements in the form of inorganic salts of chromium, yeast extracts or nicotinic acid-chromium complexes are absorbed poorly in the digestive tracts, such malabsorption leads to chromium deficiency in the living bodies.
The absorption of chromium ions into the small intestine is inhibited by competing metals such as zinc, copper, manganese and vanadium, etc. Under this condition, the administration of chromium in the form of chromium picolinate complex was suggested.
In addition, picolinic acid in chromium picolinate is known to be a metabolite of amino acids, produced from tryptophan in the liver, kidney and pancreas of animals, and also known to be a physiological carrier for zinc, copper and chromium ions during their transport from the small intestine to the blood. Picolinic acid is also a structural isomer of nicotinic acid which is one of the constituents of GTF derived from yeast.