The Mineral That Builds Lean Muscle and Reduces Fat

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Chromium is an essential mineral because it helps to maintain stable blood sugar levels through proper insulin utilization. It can be helpful both for people with diabetes and also those with hypoglycemia.

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Chromium is also known as glucose tolerance factor, meaning that it improves the activity of insulin and facilitates the uptake of glucose into the cells. It is vital in the synthesis of cholesterol, fats, and proteins.

Chromium facilitates weight loss. Although it is not a miracle cure for obesity, chromium does increase lean muscle mass and decrease body fat.

The average American diet is chromium deficient. The main reasons for this are: the particular form of chromium in many foods is not easily absorbed; not enough foods with chromium are consumed; sugar leaches chromium from the body; and most of the chromium in foods is lost during processing.

Chromium levels decline with age, which may be one of the reasons for the increased incidence of adult onset diabetes. The average American gets less than 50 micrograms of chromium per day. The general recommendation on supplementing chromium is 200 mcg. per day. If diabetic, the recommendation is double that, or 400 mcg. per day.

Food sources of chromium include beer, brewer’s yeast, brown rice, cheese, meat and whole grains. Supplemental forms are chromium picolinate and chromium polynicotinate. Either form is absorbed well.

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July 30, 2010