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Reducing Body Fat AND Increasing Muscle Mass While it may be of some use, alongside other forms of treatment, in conditions such as type 2 diabetes and hyperglycaemia, it seems that in normal weight, non-diabetics chromium picolinate has little effect on insulin sensitivity. Researchers concluded that “no significant change in serum lipids, insulin sensitivity, or body composition was observed in the chromium group compared with the placebo group.”
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Test subjects were randomly divided between a placebo group and a chromium picolinate group – with the test group being given 1000 micrograms of chromium picolinate. They concluded that chromium supplements have no effect on glucose or insulin concentrations in non-diabetic subjects.Ī team of researchers, from the University of San Diego, measured the affects of chromium picolinate on insulin sensitivity, serum lipids, and body composition in healthy, older men and women. Generally as we age, our bodies become less sensitive to insulin so if chromium (or chromium picolinate) can play a role in increasing your body’s sensitivity to insulin, in theory it can help to keep body levels in check.Ī analysis compiled by the National Institute of Health combined the results of a number of studies completed on chromium where the average amount of supplement tested was 200 micrograms or less. Conversely, if our bodies are sensitive to insulin, less of it needs to be secreted and this will be more favourable for maintaining low body fat levels. In other words, the more insulin our bodies need to secrete in order to transport nutrients into our cells, the greater the negative impact it should have on weight loss and body fat levels. It stimulates the activity of lipoprotein lipase (LPL for short) – an enzyme that promotes fat storage throughout the body.It restricts the action of lipase (the enzyme responsible for metabolising fatty acids to use for fuel).Insulin is key to weight control in several ways: One aspect of weight control that is receiving a lot of attention is insulin sensitivity.
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Since that time there have been numerous studies aimed at proving or disproving the efficacy of chromium picolinate. The first claims about the benefits of chromium picolinate stem from research done by Nutritional Consultant Gary Evans in the 1980s who claimed that it could help to both increase muscle mass and reduce body fat stores. What makes chromium picolinate unique is that it increases cellular absorption of chromium ten times as much as chromium alone. It’s key role within your body is to help metabolise carbohydrates and lipids (fats) for energy production.Ĭhromium picolinate is the best known form of chromium supplement, but there are others (including chromium chloride and chromium polynicotinate).
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