Is the shine off Chromium Picolinate? Chromium Picolinate has become the subject of the latest national health scare. A much-publicized study in the December 1995 issue of FASEB Journal, a publication of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology, says that the popular dietary supplement may cause cancer – an assertion that’s virulently denied by its manufacturers.

What is Chromium Picolinate?
Chromium picolinate is a compound of the trace nutrient chromium, which the body requires for the regulation of blood sugar, and picolonic acid, an organic substance that can increase the body’s absorption of minerals. Many people don’t get the recommended daily intake of 50 to 200 micrograms of chromium picolinate in their diet (it’s found in liver, cheese, whole grains, dried beans and some fruits and vegetables). A small amount of research has indicated that chromium picolinate may help build lean body tissue and metabolize fat – causing it to become a standard supplement among bodybuilders and health-food enthusiasts.


Recent Studies of Chromium Picolinate
But in the recent tests, conducted at Dartmouth College and George Washington University Medical Center, Chinese hamster ovary cells exposed to the substance has three to 18 times as much chromosomal damage (an indication of cancer-causing potential) as cells exposed to other chromium compounds. (that doesn’t necessarily mean the other compounds are safe, the researchers said, since they didn’t look for other types of DNA damage.) “although chromium picolinate supplements have been assumed safe for human use, this study demonstrates that further investigations are warranted to verify their safety,” they wrote.

The Chromium Information Bureau, a producers’ trade group, disagrees with the findings, saying that the serum concentration or blood level, required to achieve chromosomal damage by chromium picolinate was much higher than the amount a person would get from a common 200-microgram tablet. “The study doesn’t bear any relationship with real life,” says the bureau’s executive director. But Dartmouth research associate argues that “tumors develop in tissues, not in serum, and the chromium picolinate levels in tissues can be a hundred times higher than those in serum.”

In Summary about Chromium Picolinate
Still no one, including the study’s authors says that people should stop taking chromium based on this research. All agree that further research of chromium picolinate is required before more can be known about the chromium picolinate supplements’ safety. Originally written by Kallen for Men’s Fitness Magazine.

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