The Missing Mineral You Need to Prevent Insulin Resistance ...

Recently, in my post ‘How To Decrease Your Risk of Type 2 Diabetes in Just A Few Weeks‘, I shared that blood sugar can be well managed through your diet. Today, I’m here to share a bit more about the missing mineral you need to prevent insulin resistance in case just diet alone isn’t cutting it for some of you.

The truth is, while diet is a primary way to maintain health, often it is too broad to fix underlying imbalances.

One key reason is that most of us have serious mineral imbalances and if we don’t know exactly what they are we can’t correct them through diet alone. 

That said, the missing mineral that is playing into the issue of insulin resistance (and diabetes): chromium.

Chromium: The Missing Mineral You Need to Prevent Insulin Resistance A deficiency of biologically active chromium can lead to insulin resistance. WHY?... 

First let’s look at the issues of why chromium is missing….. Not enough in the diet to begin with (processed foods/soil depletion). Excessive loss due to constant high sugar diet and or refined/processed foods diet. Or the body’s inability to convert chromium into it’s biologically active form.

Soil depletion and our diets are key reasons chromium is missing for most everyone these days (namely in the United States). The modern day S.A.D diet (Standard American Diet), both due to processing/refining and excessive intake of starches and sugars, spells disaster for the blood sugar as well as that it does not contain much if any chromium to begin with in addition to further depleting any chromium the body does actually obtain. Let’s discuss further……..... 


The Important Role of Chromium for Proper Insulin Function Chromium is crucial to insulin function. Insulin is a hormone released by the pancreas. A hormones function is to deliver messages, their life is dedicated to communication.

Insulin has more functions than just to lower blood sugar. It’s message or function is to facilitate the entry of glucose into the cell (into the mitochondria or fat storage). It tells it to go into the cell or to store it. Additionally, the pancreas requires chromium (and zinc) to make insulin in the first place.

Chromium is a trace mineral that works to create enzymatic reactions. The enzymes that are triggered at the binding site need chromium to work. The enzymes with chromium activate insulin’s message ( essentially, chromium stimulates the activity of the enzymes that are involved in glucose metabolism- the biologically active form acts as an insulin co-factor). Gosh I so wish the medical community (aka: Doctors) were teaching this information to type 1 and 2 diabetics alike.

The more insulin used by the body the more chromium is used as well. Every time there is an insulin action there is a greater need for chromium. The more chromium is used the more chromium is excreted by the kidneys. So, the more sugars/starches you eat, and the more stress you have,  the more chromium is needed and expended by your body.


Also, the body will compensate by producing MORE insulin when the insulin is already in secretion or use and can’t get into the cells effectively due to a lack of chromium, (aka: the missing mineral). Essentially, we could say that this deficiency of chromium increases insulin requirements.

In this situation, even diet alone cannot control something like diabetes. This missing mineral may also explain a lot, especially to those who monitor their blood sugar and can’t always explain high blood glucose readings and even low blood glucose readings. Anyone that is insulin dependent will likely become deficient in chromium because the more insulin used/needed (think long term here too) the more chromium is depleted.

This makes sense due to the modern diet -even if you have been eating whole foods for awhile – you likely didn’t growing up eating a nutrient dense whole foods diet. Not to mention most soil is very mineral poor and only getting worse. Your food is only as mineral rich as the soil it was raised in or on.

So, what happens when we are deficient in chromium; insulin doesn’t work properly. The body’s system for using and storing energy won’t work if there isn’t enough chromium.  A huge conundrum indeed!

Hair Tissue Levels of Chromium Just to share from my own personal observation, I’ve not seen one single client with adequate chromium levels on their hair tissue mineral analysis test results. And, Dr. Wilson (Nutritional Balancing Pioneer reading hair analysis for 30 or so years now), says in his book; Nutritional Balancing and Hair Mineral Analysis, that everyone is deficient in chromium and likely needs a supplement. He also says that when chromium shows low on a hair test that it indicates more severe deficiency in most cases (a good hair tissue range is: 0.12 – 0.16 mg% ). In reviewing over 50 hair analysis tests, I’ve noticed that the majority of people only show about 0.06 mg% or less -that is less than half the optimal level (optimal level (optimal is .12 mg%)

Refined Foods Don’t Contain Chromium “It seems, therefore, that we Americans are bent on “refining” ourselves into a chromium deficiency; the ultimate result of which is a significant glucose intolerance in the human body. This rather unhappy distinction of the United States is not shared by other countries that do not refine their foods. In a series of tests on men between the ages of twenty and fifty-nine, the amount of chromium found in the heart artery was 1.9 parts per million (ppm) in American men, 5.5 ppm in African men, 11 ppm in men from the Near East, and 15 ppm in men from the Far East. This evidence is one source of speculation which proves that there is indeed a definite link between the over-consumption of refined foods and a chromium deficiency.” ~ William H. Philpott, MD; Victory Over Diabetes.

When we consume or refine sugar or grains we strip the chromium from them. There is also a severe reduction of chromium in our soil today as well. 

How To Get More Chromium.

We must get chromium through food, as our bodies do not make chromium. It may not always be possible to get enough through diet, just about anyone could benefit from supplemental chromium. Most multi-vitamin supplements contain chromium. Chromium is also a difficult mineral to absorb.

 However, here are some key foods that contain chromium....

Brewer’s Yeast – This is probably the best option, however not everyone tolerates yeast very well. If you tolerate yeast, this is a great option. 1-3 Tbsp. daily of Brewer’s Yeast (also can be found in capsules-start out with a small amount first to make sure you tolerate it well). One good brand is Lewis Labs Brewer’s Yeast (add to soups for a nice hit of nutrition – great source of potassium too). 

Beef 

Liver 

Oysters 

Raw Butter 

or Ghee 

Eggs (mainly the yolks) 

Chicken and Turkey 

Potatoes, mainly in the skin.

Broccoli (depending on the soil) – 1/2 cup can contain about 11 mcg of chromium Whole grains with the germ still in tact- For ex: 1/4 cup of oats contains about 5.38 mcg (again, depending on the soil quality).

Beer (yes, beer may actually have some nutritional value Particularly in home brewed -quality matters here)

Whole Sugar forms that have not been refined – such as molasses. But in small amounts because sugar increases a need for insulin.

From what I can tell through my research, a daily recommended dose for adult women is about 25 mcg per day and for adult males is 35 mcg per day – children need much less (lactating women need around 44-45 mcg daily).

Keep in mind, good digestion will be key in assimilating the chromium in your foods. It’s possible one may need to consume more than the recommended amount to actually assimilate enough.

This is why supplemental chromium can be very helpful -especially for anyone with blood sugar issues (insulin resistance, diabetes; both Type 1 and Type 2, and hypoglycemia as well).

Thankfully, chromium is absorbed well in many supplemental forms. Please discuss dosage with your health care practitioner. [Caution: Using supplemental chromium may reduce need for insulin – if you are insulin dependent please work with your doctor/health care practitioner to properly monitor your insulin and glucose levels].

Some key health issues that may really benefit from supplemental chromium are: decreased and increased blood sugar levels, diabetes, morning sickness, low HDL with high cholesterol, general pancreas support, general fatigue, psoriasis and to support increase in lean muscle mass. 

(Source: Clinical Reference Guide for Biotics Research)