Chromium Picolinate

A friend told that she has been taking 800mcg of Chromium picolinate a day to lose weight and that this is helpful. She said she has more energy and this has given her a boost in weightloss. Has anyone tried Chromium Picolinate??If so any results from them or a waste of money... I need more energy and would love to boost weightloss.

Tue. Jul 7, 6:04pm

I used to take this to help with sugar cravings. I've tried it recently and has some strange side effects, so I decided not to continue. Can be useful for some people, but not a magic pill by any means.

Wednesday, July 8, 2009, 6:17 AM

Even if a supplement is available without a prescription, a good rule of thumb is to ask your doctor before you start taking ANYTHING.

Supplements can interact with your existing medications and can have unforeseen side-effects. Most of them are not approved by the FDA, so there is no guarantee of safety, and some have been pulled from the shelves for safety reasons years after they were introduced.

Always play it safe!

Wednesday, July 8, 2009, 9:11 AM

Took it a few years ago and my blood sugar level bottomed out. I just don't do anything like it anymore. Proper diet, hydration, exercise...it's really all you need. And a mulitvitamin!

Wednesday, July 8, 2009, 10:24 AM

I tried it quite a while ago and it did not help me at all. But at that time my diet was very low on fruits and vegetables. Since I started peer trainer (almost 3 weeks ago), I have been eating a lot of vegetasbles and a fair amount of fruits, and that has done more for me than the assorted expensive "diet supplements" and "diet vitamins" from the health food stores...has also given me more energy and I am feeling good. I think that the supplements really do work in some cases...cases where you are low in just that thing and basically ok overall in other nutrients. But in cases like mine where the nutrient balance was way off, the supplements didn't really help.

I have been so amazed at how eating large quantities of vegetgables (and working in the assorted different colors) has mostly taken away my intense hunger and has also give me more energy. I am also eating a lot more fruit and a lot less of processed foods. I still try to have 3 to 4 oz of meat protien with at least 2 of my meals each day andI still eat small amounts of cheese. But cutting way back on cheese and processed foods (like 1/2 box of Ritz crackers), I have lost amost 10 lbs in 2 weeks and 6 days AND I haven't been hungry in the process. I recommend giving the vegetables/fruits a try before buying supplements. My trick: I put lots of veggies in my breakfast omlettes, I eat a spinach salad with lots of chopped vegetables in it and I buy a soup from Trader Joe's that is purreed vegetables. In aaddition ot that, I bake sweet potatos and eat them instead of bread. It is not that hard to work veggies in if you get creative. And once you do that for a few days, you stop craving most of the other stuff.

Wednesday, July 8, 2009, 12:11 PM

Just because supplements are not "approved" by the FDA doesn't mean there's something wrong with them. The FDA does not provide approval for supplements although if something's found to be dangerous they will of course take action. It's a long complicated history. Supplements are not drugs although they may interact with drugs and of course I would recommend you do your own research about chromium picolinate.

Your MD may or may not know much about certain supplements. Most MDs don't really spend much time studying supplements, as far as I know, unlesss that's something for which they have personal interest.

Thursday, July 9, 2009, 6:55 AM

My personal opinion - unless you have a medical condition that requires you to take supplements, you really don't need them. If you eat a healthy, well balanced diet you should be getting all the nutrients you need already.

There are no shortcuts to weightloss.

Thursday, July 9, 2009, 8:21 AM

I took Chromium Picolinate just recently and had some strange side effects as well. My sister in law takes it as part of her daily vitamins and supplement regiement but what works for one may not work for the other. I would consult your doctor first to see what they think.

Thursday, July 9, 2009, 8:48 AM

Re - a well balanced diet

I've heard a doctor and nutritional expert featured on PBS recently say something like - unless you get farm fresh organic, non-gmo food raised in perfect conditions with soil not depleted on nutrients and minerals and eat a perfect variety of foods you will likely non get the optimum nutrition from your food, and at least a multivitamin in recommended.

Friday, July 10, 2009, 4:36 AM

If you do a little web research there's some weird stuff about chromium picolinate - I wouldn't take the risk

Friday, July 10, 2009, 4:45 AM

That Dr. on PBS was most likely Mark Stengler. He does recommend Chromium as part of a broad set of recommendations to boost energy and help you lose weight.

We did a lot of digging into this area, and created an article about what we found:

Supplements To Boost Your Energy

-PEERtrainer

Saturday, April 2, 2011, 12:02 PM

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