Chromium – Can it help you lose weight?
Author: David Brown
Many foods that we eat in our daily diet include natural amounts of important minerals that are essential to a healthy body.
One of these essential minerals is Chromium. This mineral is common in most foods that we eat, as well as many diet pills. Chromium has many important functions in the body. For one, Chromium helps breakdown of nutrients that the body intakes and it plays a pivotal role in regulating blood sugar levels in the body. This is essential in the fight against diabetes and other illnesses.
Chromium is an important ingredient in helping the body maintain balanced levels of fat and insulin, but it seems that diet supplement marketing campaigns have taken it a bit too far.
Many diet advertisements have issued statements saying how chromium improves fitness results and increases muscle mass. As of yet, there is really no scientific proof that taking chromium pills will provide the aforementioned results.
So what about Chromium’s effect on weight loss? Is that too exaggerated in order for better sales?
The effectiveness of chromium on weight loss is debatable. In some tests, the chromium supplements by themselves do not change the body composition in non-obese individuals, but also chromium does not seem to improve insulin levels in the body. But there have been many positive diet test results from chromium such as having a positive effect lowering carb cravings and suppressing appetite, increase in fat loss while leaving muscle intact.
Though there are no concrete diet benefits for taking chromium, it has been medically proven in maintaining insulin levels in individuals with diabetes or that are hypoglycemic.
Great natural sources of Chromium are nuts, kidney beans, raw tomatoes, broccoli, rhubarb, whole grain cereals, and onions are all such foods naturally high with chromium.
Should I Take Chromium to Lose Weight?
If you are looking for a weight loss supplement to shed off those added pounds, then chromium may not be the best choice for you, it may be better taking hoodia or green tea pills as they have been shown to lose more weight than taking chromium. Chromium is an excellent supplement for those of you looking to cut down your sweet tooth by taking a pill.