Why do some people become chromium deficient?

Below in Italics is an e-mail I received:

Dear Dr. McLeod,

I wonder what causes the imbalance/deficiency in chromium in the first place. Most of us eat a relatively similar diet. Some people eat more healthily than others. But, as you mention in your book, it would be difficult to eat enough food with enough chromium in it to overcome such deficiencies as those that cause depression. But some people apparently manage to do just that.

I'm wondering if the body somehow rids itself of chromium under certain circumstances. And if so, what are those circumstances? Are they liver or kidney difficulties? In other words why do some people who probably eat a generally similar diet not have these deficiencies?

This all really interests me and I thank you so much for your answer to my question.

Best wishes and many, many thanks again,

Wendy

Here is my answer:

Dear Wendy.

Thank you for asking another excellent question. Chromium deficiency can occur due to inadequate intake and loss. There include advancing age, soil deficiency, removal of chromium during food processing, diets high in sugar, diets low in meat, stomach and intestinal disorders that interfere with absorption, antacids, drugs that decrease stomach acidity, corticsteroids, profuse sweating, and stress. I'll go into these in a little more detail.

Advancing age. A large study demonstrated "highly significant age-related decreases in chromium levels in 51,665 hair, sweat, and serum samples obtained from 40,872 patients..."


Soil deficiency. Exhaustive farming may have removed chromium from the soil.

Processing of foods. White bread and white sugar contain very little chromium. The process of making these foods removes chromium.

Diets high in sugar cause chromium excretion in urine.

Disorders of the stomach and intestines may reduce absorption of chromium.

Vegetarian diet. While healthy in many ways, diets that don't contain meat are low in chromium. Several patients, who are vegetarian, responded well to chromium supplementation.

Antacids. Antacids in the stomach may combine with chromium and interfere with its absorption. Joseph, a man I described in Lifting Depression: The Chromium Connection, had taken antacids for years. I wonder if that caused him to become chromium deficient.

Decrease in stomach acid. Drugs that decrease acid in the stomach may interfere with the absorption of chromium. Such acid-decreasing drugs include cimetidine, rantidine, and esomeprazole.

Corticosteroids. A study of 13 patients showed that administration of corticosteroids caused chromium loss. I wonder -- because chronic stress is associated with an increase in blood cortisol -- if chronic stress might deplete the body of chromium.

Exercise. Chronic, sustained exercise and sweating my decrease chromium in the body. Several of my patients, whose depression responded beautifully to chromium, had relapses after intense exercise on a hot day. Doubling chromium intake for 2-3 days corrected the problem.

A great deal more research needs to be conducted on the topic of chromium deficiency. Again, thank you for asking this excellent question.