when given in conjunction with vitamin C, and
foods prepared in stainless steel cookware can
increase the amount of chromium available due
to the leaching of chromium from the pans by
the action of acidic foods (Stoecker 1996).
Chromium supplements are available in three
forms: chromium picolinate, chromium nicoti-
nate and chromium chloride.
Chromium status and effects of exercise
and diet
Because many national nutrient databases do not
include chromium, there is little information on
chromium intake of athletes. Athletes who ingest
high-calorie diets to meet their energy needs may
have diets adequate in chromium. There may be
concern that athletes who restrict calories to
maintain low body weights do not ingest suffi-
cient chromium. Kleiner et al. (1994) examined
nutrient intake of male and female elite body-
builders during 8–10 days prior to competition.
The mean chromium intake for the males was
143 mg · day–1 and for the females was only
21 mg · day–1. The low value for the females was
related to low caloric intake and food choices low
in chromium. Of interest, nine of the 11 females
were amenorrhoeic at contest time.
Exercise produces an increase of chromium in
the blood followed by an increase in the urine
(Andersonet al. 1982, 1984; Gatteschi et al. 1995).
Apparently there is a release of chromium from
the body stores that cannot be re-uptaken by
tissues or the kidney and is therefore lost into the
urine (Anderson et al. 1984; Anding et al. 1997).
Several studies from the same laboratory showed
urinary chromium excretion is increased by exer-
cise such that 24-h chromium losses were twice
as high on the exercise day as on the rest day
(Andersonet al. 1982, 1984, 1991). Whether this
loss can result in a negative chromium balance is
not known. Resting urinary excretion of
chromium was lower in trained athletes than
untrained individuals (Anderson et al. 1988),
which suggests that the body may be able adapt
to the increased loss by retaining more of the
ingested chromium. For more detailed reviews
of chromium and exercise, see Anding et al.
(1997), Clarkson (1991), Clarkson and Haymes
(1994) and Lefavi et al. (1992).
CHO content of the diet also influences
chromium loss. Although a high-CHO diet did
not produce an increased chromium excretion
(Andersonet al. 1991), ingestion of glucose/
fructose (simple sugar) drinks did (Anderson
et al. 1990). Anderson et al. (1990) found that bev-
erages resulting in the greatest increase in circu-
lating insulin caused the most change in urinary
excretion of chromium in subjects with a nor-
mal insulin response. Those who ingest high
amounts of simple sugars may have an enhanced
loss of chromium.Chromium supplementation and
lean body mass
Chromium has been marketed as a supplement
to increase lean body mass and decrease fat. The
increase in lean body mass was thought to
occur due to chromium’s facilitation of amino
acid transport into muscle cells. In 1989, Evans
reported data from two studies showing that
200 mg · day–1of chromium increased lean body
weight in untrained subjects and trained athletes
during 40 days of weight training. Supplemental
chromium was then touted as the healthy alter-
native to anabolic steroids. The Evans studies
(1989) estimated lean body mass from skinfold
measurements which may not provide an accu-
rate indication of fat or muscle mass.
Four studies then attempted to confirm the
above results but, for the most part, could not.
Hastenet al. (1992) examined the effect of 200mg·
day–1of chromium picolinate (or placebo) for 12
weeks in male and female college students
enrolled in a weight training class. Over the 12
weeks there was only a slight increase in body
weight for the males (placebo and supplemented
groups) and for the female placebo group, with
no difference among the groups (range, 0.9–2.0%
increase). However, the females taking the sup-
plement demonstrated a 4.3% increase in body