Chromium

Chromium Picolinate · Chromium Polynicotinate · Trivalent Chromium

Snapshot

Indications	Contraindications
Type 2 diabetes glycemic control¹ Polycystic ovary syndrome^{2, 3} Insulin resistance⁴ Metabolic syndrome⁵ Overweight and obesity⁶ Atypical depressive symptoms⁷	Renal or liver impairment⁸ Insulin or sulfonylurea use⁹ Pregnancy or nursing¹⁰

Chromium is a trivalent trace element in foods and supplements that may potentiate insulin action⁸. Recent evaluations find no convincing evidence that it is essential, so supplemental use is pharmacologic⁸. That insulin effect drives use for glycemic control in type 2 diabetes, polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS)², weight and body composition, lipids, and atypical depressive symptoms. Responders in trials have tended to be people with more severe insulin resistance and poorer glycemic control⁸.

The evidence is split: a 2022 meta-analysis in type 2 diabetes found lower glycated hemoglobin but no change in fasting glucose or lipids¹¹. Meta-analyses in PCOS and in overweight or obesity report modest improvements in insulin measures^{2, 6}. More than 53,000 products list chromium, as picolinate, polynicotinate, chloride, or histidinate; see Form comparison⁸.

Renal and liver disease may increase susceptibility to adverse effects of high intake⁸. Per the National Institutes of Health fact sheet, chromium may add to the hypoglycemic effect of antidiabetes medications⁸; Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center advises separating levothyroxine doses by several hours⁹.

Last updated October 16, 2026. Read how we make monographs.

In the full monograph

54 sources, 45 studies

When to useThe situations practitioners use it for, each with the reason and the study behind it.
SafetyWho should avoid it, who needs extra care, and the side effects reported in studies.
InteractionsThe medicines and supplements it interacts with, the effect of each, and what labeling says to watch.
Protocol notesThe doses used in studies, how and when they were taken, and how the forms on the market compare.
How it worksWhat it is and how it works in the body, in plain terms.
Published studiesThe studies behind each use, popular claims checked against them, and trials still under way.
Word of mouthWhat patients and practitioners report online, kept separate from the clinical evidence.
Clinical perspectiveA closing read of where the evidence is solid, where it is thin, and what has not been studied.

Snapshot

In the full monograph

Sources