Is it safe to take over 1000 mcg per day of CrPic?

Dear Dr. McLeod,

I read your recent post about acceptable dosage of chromium and 3 to 5 mcg per body weight. If I apply this to my weight then I get more than 1000mcg, is it ok for me at 295 pounds to take 1475 mcg?

Thanks
A.L., Scotland


ANSWER:
Dear A.L.
Chromium picolinate has a wide margin of safety. Laboratory animals have been given dosages that far exceed the mcg per pound of body weight you are considering, and they have not suffered adverse effects. However, I'm not aware of studies of a large number of people who have taken more than 1000 micrograms per day for long periods of time.

Conclusion: Although I suspect that 1474 mcg per day would be OK for you, I suggest you stay on the safe side and not take more than 1000 mcg per day.

It is conceivable that chromium might help you lose weight by incresing your energy level and enabling you to exercise more. Chromium has also been shown to decrease carbohydrate cravings, which might also help you lose weight. This has certainly been the case with many of my patients.

Good luck. Please let me known what responses you might have.
Thank you for your question.

Malcolm McLeod, MD
Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA

The difference between elemental chromium and chromium picolinate

Dear Dr. McLeod,

Would you please clarify the difference between elemental chromium and chromium picolinate? The label on my bottle of chromium picolinate indicates 200 mcg of elemental chromium and 1.6 mcg of chromium picolinate. Should I calculate my dosage on the basis of elemental chromium or chromium picolinate?

I am eager to read your response. Thank you.

A.W.

ANSWER

Dear A.W.

Your question is excellent. Thank you for asking it.

Chromium picolinate is composed of 12.43% elemental chromium and ~88% picolinic acid. For example, a capsule of chromium picolinate that contains 600 mcg of elemental chromium also contains approximately 4200 mcg of picolinic acid. The precise designation for this composition would be “600 micrograms of elemental chromium combined with 4200 micrograms of picolinic acid.” Unfortunately I, and others too, have fallen into the habit of referring to such a capsule by the inaccurate and confusing shorthand as “600 mcg of chromium picolinate.”

The daily dosage of chromium, as chromium picolinate, that I recommend is between 3-5 micrograms of elemental chromium per pound of body weight.

Again, yours is an important question. I thank you for asking it. Please let me know if I have answered it clearly. If not, I’ll be happy to try again.

Malcolm McLeod, MD

Acceptable Dosage of Chromium

Dear Dr. McLeod,

Thanks so much for your research into chromium suplementation for
depression. I found the abstract of your 2003 paper a couple of weeks
ago and have been taking chromium picolinate since then. It has
profoundly improved my life - my lifelong anxiety has been lifted, my
energy levels and mood are improved and the only side effect is
enhanced dreaming.

I am currently taking 600mcg chromium per day. The abstract of your
2003 paper suggests 600mcg of chromium picolinate, whereas Docherty et al (2005) used a dosage of chromium picolinate equivalent to 600mcg elemental chromium, which is 4,800mcg of chromium picolinate. What is the correct dosage?

I look forward to your answer.

Thanks,

A. W

ANSWER
Dear A. W.

Thank you for contacting me. I'm pleased that chromium is helping you.

The enhanced dreaming is a good sign that chromium is working in your body. Rather than a side effect, I think of it as a salutary sign. Some antidepressant medications cause an increase in dreaming. Ususally vivid dreaming subsides in two weeks. Please let me know the duration of your vivid dreaming.

I recommend a starting dosage of 3 mcg per pound of body weight per day of Chromax chromium picolinate. For a two-hundred pound person that "translates" to 600 mcg per day. If the desired relief is not achieved within a week, I suggest increasing the daily dosage to 5 mcg per body weight each day.

In the Docherty et al (2005)study, the dosage of Chromax chromium picolinate was 600 mcg per day of elemental chromium. That does NOT "translate" to 4,800 mcg per day of elemental chromium.

Again, thank you so much for contacting me about this important issue.

Malcolm McLeod, MD

Can I safely take chromium with MAOIs and 5-HTP?

Dear Dr. McLeod,
I stumbled across your site today and am very glad! :-)
I have over the last 2 years suffered panic attacks while in an abusive and violent relationship (but have always had a nervous disposition) and only a few weeks ago was advised I take 5HTP (with magnesium and B6) and it was suggested I may be deficient in B12and folic acid. Amazingly taking the 5HTP helped enormously with my anxiety and my IBS vanished!
However, I still find I am depressed... yet atypically I eat too much and sleep too much! I am also incredibly sensitive and when I stumbled across this site it all clicked! I may have atypical depression.
I am addicted to sugar and starchy foods and now weigh over 10 stone,
I need to nap in the day or else I can't cope and I still sleep over 9hours a night (though 5HTP has helped and I sleep much deeper), I think there must be something wrong with me that I am so tired and achy (like lead!) and I have severe phobias about social engagement, incredible fear of rejection that I have to "act" so that they won't be rejecting the real me (and when of course they do reject me because I am acting strange it only instils a greater fear of other people and more of a desire to be a hermit). My ex thought I must have Hysterical Personality Disorder.
Do you think that I would benefit from Chromium. I understand from one of the articles on here that MAOI also helps. I don't wish to discontinue 5HTP. Is it possible to take all three together?
Many thanks and I look forward to your response.
H

ANSWER:
Dear Ms. H:
Chromium is safe, in my experience, when taken with 5-HTP. I would advise you to take chromium and an MAOI only after consultation with your individual healthcare provider. I'm not sure, but I'm concerned that chromium and an MAOI might negatively interact.
Thank you for your question.

Malcolm N. McLeod, MD

Efficacy and safety of chromium picolinate

Dear Dr. McLeod,
Thank you for your book about the atypical depression. I am fifty fiveand I have been taking 400 mcg of chromium picolinate daily since 2weeks and it has been successful as I feel really better, less lightheaded, less daytime sleepiness, much more open to my relatives and relationships and mainly less tired. My cravings for starches us blunted ! I can't believe it !

What is your opinion about the risk to take chromium for the long time at this dosage ?

Best regards, A. C.
Paris, France

Answer: I'm delighted that chromium has helped you. I have received many letters lilke yours. On to your question: Chromium is safe in the dosage you are taking. Several of my patients (and me as well) have taken 800 mcg of Chromax chromium picoliate per day for over a decade.

Thank you for contacting me.
Malcolm McLeod, MD

Why no further research on CrPic in AD?

QUESTION:


Hi Doctor,
I read several articles related to the Duke University research on Chromax® chromium picolinate. I was excited at beginning and then disappointed when I could not find any further research on the subject. I looked through your site and failed to see proofs of patients that can testify sustained recovery or relief. Then I found Nutrition 21, the company makes Chromax is in deep red financially. Can you please tell me if Chromax can achieve sustained benefit to atypical depression? Why there are no extensive reports on these lately?
Thanks,
CF



ANSWER



There has been a further study on chromium picolinate in atypical depression. The conclusions reached from the study were that in adults with atypical depression, 600 micrograms per day of Chromax chromium picolinate helped control appetite and excessive eating, it reduced carbohydrate craving, and it "smoothed out" diurnal variation of feelings (daily mood fluctuations). In those patients with high carbohydrate craving, chromium picoliante improved overall HAM-D-29 depression scores.



Several of my patients have taken chromium picolinate for a decade and have been depression free.


I wish there were a study in which depressed patients with carbohydrate craving and increased appetite were given chromium picolinate. Will this happen? I'm afraid not. It's a matter of money. Because chromium picolinate is readily available and is inexpensive, pharma companies are not interested in supporting such research.



Thank you so much for your question.

MM

Alzheimer's response to chromium

Some months ago, the daughter of a man who suffers from Alzheimer's disease, wrote to me that she had read Lifting Depression: The Chromium Connection and was intrigued by my discussion of insulin resistance and its symptoms. Her father and other family members were troubled by insulin resistance, especially carbohydrate craving and a tendency to develop type 2 diabetes. She suspected a connection between type 2 diabetes and Alzheimer's disease and wondered if chromium might help people suffering from Alzheimer's disease. I replied that people with type 2 diabetes are at increased risk of developing Alzheimer's disease, but I didn't know whether chromium would help her father. I asked her to let me know whether he responded to chromium. Recently she answered:

Hello Dr. McLeod,

Yes, I do think that chromium seems to have helped my father. Several months ago, when I first mentioned the possible benefits of chromium for Alzheimer's to him, he agreed to try it, but at that point I knew it was probably beyond his capability to remember to actually go out and buy it for himself. So, I bought a few bottles of chromium picolinate and mailed them to him. About a week later I asked him if he was actually taking the tablets that I sent him, and found out that he had completely forgotten about it. It turns out, he had put the bottle of chromium on the kitchen counter, and had somehow gotten it mixed up in his mind and thought he was supposed to take it in case of bird flu! I finally convinced him to start taking the tablets and explained all over again how it could help him, and at that point, with additional coaxing on my part, he did start to take chromium every day, both morning and afternoon.

These seem like subtle but very definite improvements in his memory and ability to execute tasks. I am very grateful to you for writing the book on the benefits of chromium, and explaining the scientific reasons of why it works. I see more and more information in the press lately about the link between insulin resistance and Alzheimer's, and the latest research demonstrates a link between obesity and Alzheimer's. I think that you are far ahead of most physicians in your knowledge of the benefits of chromium and how it is a key component of the puzzle of atypical depression, insulin resistance, diabetes, and now possibly Alzheimer's.

Thank you very much,
PS