Tests Find Dietary Chromium Damaging

Chromium picolinate, a dietary supplement popular among fitness buffs and people trying to lose weight, has been shown in tests done on cells grown in the laboratory to cause severe damage to chromosomes.

Although no animal studies of the supplement’s cancer-causing potential have yet been done, the genetic changes observed in the laboratory suggest that this widely sold supplement could be carcinogenic.

Chromium is being promoted as an aid to losing weight without having to exert willpower and to losing fat without losing lean body mass. It is said to curb the appetite and favor the buildup of muscle tissue, though neither of these claims has been tested in a systematic, scientific way.

As an essential nutrient needed by the body in trace amounts, chromium is critical to the workings of insulin and is therefore involved in the metabolism of the blood sugar glucose and in the metabolism of fat.

Chromium is found in a variety of foods, including liver, cheese, whole-grain breads and cereals, dried beans, peanuts, brewer’s yeast, apples and vegetables like broccoli and mushrooms.