Minerals in our diets – Chromium

Chromium is controversial.

There is no known biological role that the element plays in the body, however, Cr ³⁺is found in the body. A quick Internet search does find websites that claim it is needed to stabilize sugar and that it is also used in enzymes but the consensual opinion* seems to disagree with this.

* More on the consensual opinion tomorrow.

Chromium is still found in vitamin supplements. Why, I am not sure but probably due to the fact that there have actually been reported cases (three in total) of chromium deficiency (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chromium_deficiency) – although chromium deficiency still seems controversial.

Chromium is taken as the 3+ ion in vitamin supplements, often as chromium picolinate:

Image kindly reproduced according to the licence at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Chromium_picolinate.png

The other common ion of chromium is the ⁶⁺ ion. This is known to be carcinogenic and is the true story behind the award winning film Erin Brokovich.