Chromium is best known for its effects on blood sugar regulation in type 2 diabetes, but it may also have mild antioxidant,[1] anti-inflammatory,[2] and appetite-suppressing effects.[3] Even though chromium is a popular dietary supplement, the research on chromium is fairly mixed, and where benefits have been found, they tend to be small or negligible.
Chromium seems to modestly reduce hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c), by an average of 0.54%,[4][5] and may improve insulin sensitivity, as indicated by reductions in HOMA-IR, but there are no clear effects on fasting blood glucose.[5] Notably, these benefits have not been observed in people with normal glucose tolerance.[4]
Beyond blood sugar regulation, chromium may have slight weight loss benefits in people with overweight and obesity, possibly reducing weight, body mass index (BMI), and body fat percentage. However, these effects are small, likely have little clinical relevance, and are not consistently observed in people with type 2 diabetes.[3] Chromium may also reduce oxidative stress, as suggested by increased total antioxidant capacity and reduced malondialdehyde in people with type 2 diabetes, metabolic syndrome, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, and polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), but this effect is poorly understood and also has questionable clinical relevance.[1]