Chromium picolinate is between harm and benefit.

There are few people who would not dream of remaining young, healthy and active as long as possible. Perhaps, this is one of the basic human needs, after food, clothing and home. Cleverly manipulating other people's weaknesses, dealers from pharmaceuticals empty the wallets of trusting citizens year after year, inventing new and new miracle pills. The only additives with the content of trivalent chromium in Europe and America were sold for more than 80 million dollars. And this is as of 2002 ...
Of course, the newfangled hobby has overgrown with a lot of rumors, conjectures and pseudoscientific research. Let's try to figure out what is chromium picolinate, does it harm or benefit the body?
Chromium trivalent is a microelement, widely distributed in nature. However, no serious scientific research on the human body's need for it has been carried out to date. Is the lack of chromium or its excess can affect our state of health, until it is reliably known. Although additives, which include one of the easily assimilable compounds of trivalent chromium, are now very popular.
Producers of dietary supplements assure that chromium picolinate is necessary to maintain the proper level of sugar in the blood and the correct carbohydrate metabolism. Moreover, additives with chromium content are currently advertised as the most effective and safe means for losing weight. This is partly true. Since chromium picolinate has the property of maintaining a stable level of glucose, the appetite with it can be kept in check. Unfortunately, manufacturers do not provide data after discontinuation of the drug. And they are not so comforting. The craving for sweet, fat, flour and high-calorie will intensify at times and will require the iron willpower to resist it.
In addition, sweet though harmful to the figure, but useful for mood and positive attitude. Therefore, it is most reasonable to simply observe the sense of proportion.
Another reason that advertising leads in favor of drugs with chromium picolinate. He, allegedly, increases muscle mass, thereby accelerating the metabolic processes. Such an assertion does not seem logical, since we all understand that only muscle supplements alone do not grow. Chromium picolinate in this process is just a link, and, not the most important. Believe me, with intensive strength training the muscles will be toned and without artificial doping.
By the way, chromium picolinate as a sports supplement has already been examined and there was no difference between the two test groups.
Of course, there are also athletes - bodybuilders, who study the action of chromium picolinate on their own body. But their experience to take seriously an ordinary person is not worth it. Believe me, in pursuit of the relief and volume, these comrades absorb so many possible additives that it is difficult to state with certainty which of them are more effective.
So what is chromium picolinate - another advertising myth, a dangerous element or a real assistant in the struggle for health and beauty?

Today it is not so rare to hear that chrome is a carcinogen. However, we note at once that speech in this case is about hexavalent chromium, which in its properties differs significantly from trivalent.
There is also a hypothesis that chromium picolinate causes gene mutations. We note that the results of scientific research confirming or refuting this theory are not yet presented. In addition, such experiments have been conducted for more than a decade, so it was not enough to obtain accurate time data. We also note that the doses of the active substance for the test animals, as a rule, exceed all the norms by several thousand times. It is unlikely that a person, in his right mind, will eat so many additives
As you can see, evidence of the fact that chromium picolinate can cause irreparable harm to the body does not exist yet. However, the mechanisms of the usefulness of this element are also not known reliably.

Chromium, like zinc, is considered one of the microelements that contribute to a long and active life. This again is just a theory, but experiments on rodents have already yielded good results. It was found that trivalent chromium, which is part of picolinate, slows the synthesis of glycosylated proteins that cause aging. However, I would like to remind you once again that chrome can be obtained from food. It is not necessary to absorb tablets with handfuls if your goal is health and beauty. In addition, without changing the way of life in general, no miraculous pills will help.