Skip to content
Fullscript leaf logo
Create account
Fullscript logo
Fullscript leaf logo
  • Solutions
    • Plan care
      Lab testing Offer end-to-end diagnostics.
      Supplement catalog Recommend healthcare’s best.
      Clinical decision support Optimize your patients’ plans.
      Evidence-based templates Build complete plans quickly.
    • Deliver care
      Online plans Send individual and multi-patient plans.
      Wholesale ordering Dispense supplements from your clinic.
    • Engage patients
      Patient experience See how patients thrive on Fullscript.
      Adherence & insights Keep patients on track with less effort.
      Patient promotions Offer savings, engage patients in a few clicks.
    • IntegrationsSee all integrations
  • Resources
    • Learn
      How to use Fullscript Explore quick demos, articles, and more.
      Wellness blog Education for practitioners and patients.
      Webinars 100+ recordings of practitioner discussions.
      Protocols Our library of evidence-based protocols.
      Clinical evidence Studies that support the Fullscript platform.
      Practice resources Handouts, promotional tools, and more.
      Ingredient library Decision support for supplement ingredients.
    • Featured
      lets make healthcare whole kyle feature image
      Let’s Make Healthcare Whole

      Learn how Fullscript is making whole person care more attainable, scalable, and impactful.

  • Pricing
Sign in Create account Book a demo Sign in
Supplement Ingredients
—

Here’s How Chromium Impacts Health

Updated on June 20, 2025 | Published on May 20, 2021
Fact checked
Karolyn Gazella Avatar
Written by Karolyn Gazella
Dr. Holly Lucille, ND, RN
Medically reviewed by Dr. Holly Lucille, ND, RN
  1. Wellness blog
  2. Here’s How Chromium Impacts Health
When it comes to chromium, it’s first important to understand the different forms. Trivalent chromium is a beneficial trace mineral found in foods and dietary supplements. However, this form shouldn’t be confused with hexavalent chromium, a toxic byproduct of steel and other manufacturing industries as well as chromium oxide, which is used in green dyes. (5)(6) For obvious reasons, the chromium element found in foods and supplements is the form to focus on to enhance health.
Woman testing her glucose levels

Chromium supplementation may help improve fasting blood glucose levels in patients with type 2 diabetes.

What is chromium?

Trivalent chromium is a trace element obtained from the diet and dietary supplements. It plays a key role in helping the body achieve glucose homeostasis. Research shows that chromium can improve insulin sensitivity via several mechanisms including: (2)
  • Activating cellular energy
  • Augmenting the insulin signaling pathway
  • Reducing oxidative stress and inflammation
  • Up-regulating cellular glucose uptake
As a result, chromium’s most significant health benefit is its ability to help prevent or reverse insulin resistance.

Chromium benefits

There is a growing amount of scientific evidence that suggests chromium supplementation can help improve glucose metabolism and insulin sensitivity, particularly in people with diabetes. (1) Low blood levels of chromium have been associated with hyperglycemia, hypertension, insulin resistance, and elevated inflammatory markers. (7) A randomized clinical trial also demonstrated that chromium was able to better manage blood glucose in patients with poorly managed type 2 diabetes compared to placebo. (8) This is consistent with other research demonstrating that chromium lowers fasting blood glucose in patients with type 2 diabetes. (11) Because chromium can help control glucose levels and reduce the risk of insulin resistance, it can also help with weight loss.

Weight loss

A meta-analysis of 21 different trials published in 2019 consistently found that the participants who supplemented with chromium lost significantly more weight compared to placebo. (9) Another randomized placebo-controlled trial involving diabetes patients found that the chromium group experienced better blood sugar control as well as weight loss, especially in the abdominal area. (4) Specifically, chromium has also been shown to help people lose fat while maintaining lean body mass, which is important to sustainable weight loss and long-term optimal health. (10)

Sources of chromium

Very little chromium is needed to meet the government recommended adequate intakes (AIs), which are outlined in the following table. (5)
Chronium requirements by age chart

For most people, getting the chromium AIs from the diet is pretty easy.

Chromium foods

Foods high in sugar and most dairy products are typically low in chromium. The following table outlines various dietary sources of chromium and the amounts of this nutrient per serving. (5)
Chronium food sources chart

For individuals with increased chromium needs or special health considerations, dietary supplements containing chromium are available.

Chromium supplement

Many multivitamin/mineral supplements contain 35 to 120 mcg of chromium, and single ingredient chromium supplements typically provide between 200 to 1,000 mcg of chromium per serving. (5) There are many different forms of chromium that contain different amounts of the chromium element. The two most commonly found forms of chromium in the dietary supplement industry are chromium picolinate (chromium bound to picolinic acid) and chromium polynicotinate (chromium bound to niacin). The scientific literature features chromium picolinate more frequently because it is considered a stable highly bioavailable form of chromium. (3)

The bottom line

Trivalent chromium is an essential trace mineral found in many foods. When extra chromium is needed to help manage glucose levels or lose weight, dietary supplements are available. If you are a patient and would like to utilize chromium to help control blood sugar levels, consider working with an integrative practitioner who can give you extra guidance.

Simplify the delivery of whole person care

Create free account I'm a patient
References
  1. Cefalu, W. T., & Hu, F. B. (2004). Role of chromium in human health and diabetes. Diabetes Care, 27(11), 2741-2751.
  2. Hua, Y., Clark, S., Ren, J., & Sreejayan, N. (2012). Molecular mechanisms of chromium in alleviating insulin resistance. J Nutr Biochem, 23(4), 313-319.
  3. 14 Hummel, M., Standl, E., & Schnell, O. (2007). Chromium in metabolic and cardiovascular disease. Horm Metab Res, 39(10), 743-51.
  4. Martin, J., Wang, Z. Q., Zhang, X. H., Wachtel, D., Volaufova, J., Matthews, D. E., & Cefalu, W. T. (2006) Chromium picolinate supplementation attenuates body weight gain and increases insulin sensitivity in subjects with type 2 diabetes. Diabetes Care, 29(8), 1826-1832.
  5. National Institutes of Health Office of Dietary Supplements. (2021, March 29) Chromium Fact Sheet for Health Professionals. https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/Chromium-HealthProfessional/
  6. National Institutes of Health National Library of Medicine. (2021, April). Compound Summary Chromium Oxide. https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/Chromium-oxide#section=Use-and-Manufacturing
  7. Ngala, R. A., Awe, M. A, & Nsiah, P. (2018). The effects of plasma chromium on lipid profile metabolism and cardiovascular risk in type 2 diabetes mellitus. A case-control study. PLoS ONE, 13(7).
  8. Paiva, A. N., de Lima, J. G., de Medeiros, A., Figueiredo, H., de Andrade, R. L., Ururahy, M., Rezende, A. A., Brandao-Neto, J., & Almeida, M. (2015). Beneficial effects of oral chromium picolinate supplementation on glycemic control in patients with type 2 diabetes: a randomized clinical study. Journal of Trace Elements in Medicine and Biology, 32, 66-72.
  9. Tsang, C., Tahhizadeh, M., Aghabagheri, E., Asemi, Z., & Jafarnejad, S. (2019). A meta-analysis of the effect of chromium supplementation on anthropometric indices of subjects with overweight or obesity. Clin Obes, 9(4). https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31115179/
  10. Willoughby, D., Hewlings, S., & Kalman, D. (2018). Body composition changes in weight loss: strategies and supplementation for maintaining lean body mass, a brief review. Nutrients,10(12), 1876.
  11. Yin, R. V., & Phung, O. J. (2015). Effect of chromium supplementation on hemoglobin and fasting plasma glucose in patients with diabetes mellitus. Nutrition Journal, 14.

Author

Karolyn Gazella Avatar
Written by Karolyn Gazella
Dr. Holly Lucille, ND, RN
Medically reviewed by Dr. Holly Lucille, ND, RN

Disclaimer

The information in this article is designed for educational purposes only and is not intended to be a substitute for informed medical advice or care. This information should not be used to diagnose or treat any health problems or illnesses without consulting a doctor. Consult with a health care practitioner before relying on any information in this article or on this website.

SHARE THIS POST
  • Print
  • Email
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter
  • Pinterest

More resources

Protocols
Practice resources
Ingredient library
Webinars

Make healthcare whole with Fullscript

Join 100,000+ providers building the future of whole person care today.

Create free account

Read more articles

Updates
—Patient Feedback Systems in Healthcare: A Practical Framework for Clinical Leaders
Transform patient feedback into care improvement with this evidence-based, 4-phase framework designe...
Practice Management
—Hybrid Supplement Dispensing: How One Functional Medicine Clinic Transformed Care
Discover how a functional medicine clinic used hybrid supplement dispensing with Fullscript to boost...
Article
—Accessing Creatine Potency
Creatine supports muscle health and performance, but quality varies. Fullscript’s Quality Program te...

Fullscript content philosophy

At Fullscript, we are committed to curating accurate, and reliable educational content for providers and patients alike. Our educational offerings cover a broad range of topics related to whole person care, such as supplement ingredients, diet, lifestyle, and health conditions.

Medically reviewed by expert practitioners and our internal Medical Advisory Team, all Fullscript content adheres to the following guidelines:

  1. In order to provide unbiased and transparent education, information is based on a research review and obtained from trustworthy sources, such as peer-reviewed articles and government websites. All medical statements are linked to the original reference and all sources of information are disclosed within the article.
  2. Information about supplements is always based on ingredients. No specific products are mentioned or promoted within educational content.
  3. A strict policy against plagiarism is maintained; all our content is unique, curated by our team of writers and editors at Fullscript. Attribution to individual writers and editors is clearly stated in each article.
  4. Resources for patients are intended to be educational and do not replace the relationship between health practitioners and patients. In all content, we clearly recommend that readers refer back to their healthcare practitioners for all health-related questions.
  5. All content is updated on a regular basis to account for new research and industry trends, and the last update date is listed at the top of every article.
  6. Potential conflicts of interest are clearly disclosed.
Learn more

The healthiest cookies you’ll choose today

Our website uses cookies to collect useful information that lets us and our partners support basic functionality, analyze visitor traffic, deliver a better user experience, and provide ads tailored to your interests. Agreeing to the use of cookies is your choice. Learn more

Fullscript leaf icon
Platform
  • What’s new
  • Integrations
  • Testimonials
  • Catalog
Company
  • About us
  • Blog
  • Why Fullscript
  • Careers
  • Partnerships
  • Quality program
Help
  • Book a demo
  • Support Center
  • Provider FAQs
  • Patient FAQ
  • Contact us
  • Security
Developers
  • Engineering at Fullscript
  • API

© Fullscript 2025. All rights reserved.

*These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.

  • Privacy Statement
  • Terms of Service
  • Accessibility Policy
  • Customer Support Policy
  • Acceptable Use Policy
  • Privacy Rights Notice
  • Auto Refill Terms and Conditions
  • Consumer Health Data Privacy Notice
American flag - toggles to show american specific contentUS
Canadian flag - toggles to show canada specific contentCanada