Why Chromium Is Essential To Fat Loss

Minerals are basically ground up rock in the soil. Some minerals are required by humans for their health. We call these essential dietary minerals. Plants soak up mineral containing water from the soil and when we eat the plants, we take in the minerals. These minerals are used in the body as cofactors for enzymes. That means they are required to allow metabolic pathways to flow. Without them the metabolic pathways stop and we die. Any mineral deficiency will kill over time.

Do We Get Enough Minerals?

Doctors tell us we don’t need mineral supplements as we get all the nutrients we need in our foods. In the past this was probably true. However, because minerals are absorbed by plants, over time the amount in soil declines as we eat more of the plants. This is particularly true for heavily farmed soils. Eventually the soils become mineral deficient, the plants become mineral deficient, and then we become mineral deficient.

So What About Chromium?

Chromium is one mineral that is no longer present in the diet in high enough amounts. Over Farming of soils has depleted the crops of chromium. But it’s worse. Refining of the grains we grow on those soils further depletes the food supply of chromium. Most studies now agree that chromium in the human diet is inadequate for good health. In fact in one study even dieticians using healthy foods could not incorporate enough chromium into a human diet.

So How Does This Affect Weight Loss?

Chromium has an important function in humans. It is required for the action of insulin. This is relevant to weight loss, because one of the causes of weight gain is insulin resistance. This means that cells become insensitive to the actions of insulin. As a result glucose in the blood is diverted from being burnt as fuel in muscle to being stored as fat. Chromium deficiency accelerates this process and leads to weight gain and fat accumulation.

Will I Be Getting Enough Chromium?

If you don’t currently supplement with chromium you will almost certainly have an inadequate chromium intake. Supplementation with chromium causes weight loss in those with insulin resistance. If you currently have belly fat, the outward sign of insulin resistance, supplementation with chromium would probably help your weight loss efforts considerably. Chromium picolinate 500 to 1000 micrograms per day is recommended in such cases.

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