Chromium Picolinate For Diabetes

Chromium Picolinate For Diabetes
by Geneda Gilbert

Diabetes and blood sugar levels can be such a huge challenge to many people with the disease and their families, so when a little extra help is available they need to know about it.

Chromium picolinate is a nutritional supplement that can help control diabetes.

As the name suggests, it is a combination of two different substances: chromium and picolinate.

Chromium is a mineral that helps to increase the efficiency of insulin.

Insulin being the hormone that controls blood glucose or blood sugar levels.

Picolinate is an amino acid derivative that allows the body to use chromium much more readily.

Scientists has known for a long time that chromium is a vital nutrient, but not until chromium was combined with picolinate was a truly effective way of providing supplemental chromium developed.

In the body, chromium ( a mineral) takes the form of an ion, which is a particle with an electrical charge.

This charge is repelled by the body's cells, making it difficult for the chromium to enter the cells.

That's where the picolinate comes in, it is a chelator, a substance that can bind with an ion and neutralize its charge. The body's cells then are able to accept the chromium.

Chromium deficiency has been linked to diabetes.

Studies have found chromium supplementation to be helpful for people with type 1 and type 11 diabetes, as well as for women with diabetes that occurs during pregnancy (gestational diabetes).

What is also interesting is the shape of individual insulin molecules.

It is important to the hormone's effectiveness.

If the molecules maintain their proper shape, the insulin can effectively transport glucose into the cells, where it is needed.

Without chromium, insulin molecules become misshapen, which can leave them unable to effectively transport glucose.

Without an effective transportation system, glucose builds up in the bloodstream, starting a chain reaction that eventually leads to diabetes.

Research has been conducted on individuals with a number of different health problems, including diabetes and it shows that most people with diabetes experience a decline in blood glucose levels after they start taking daily chromium picolinate supplements.

It is believed that chromium picolinate may be able to help many people with diabetes (especially type 11 diabetes) to control their blood sugar levels.

This of course would allow them to cut back on their intake of insulin and other drugs, likely resulting in fewer side effects.

Since improving the action of insulin also helps the body to use fat as a fuel, chromium picolinate can help reduce obesity.

This means that it may, hopefully, enable some people with type 11 diabetes to lose enough weight to stop taking drugs entirely.

Chromium helps with sweet cravings which helps with weight loss and management.

However, it is not recommended that people with diabetes simply go out and buy chromium picolinate supplements and start taking it.

Anyone interested in using chromium picolinate supplements should first seek the advice of a qualified health care provider, preferably a nutritionally oriented physician who has experience in this area.

Blood sugar levels must be monitored carefully and the appropriate dosages of insulin or other drugs adjusted as needed in response.

A potentially dangerous insulin reaction may occur as a result of too little glucose in the blood