I have been working on lowering my cholesterol naturally to reduce or eliminate statin use. @JaninaWalker on this forum suggested I take Chromium Picolinate and that my insulin requirement would go down so I told her after my cholesterol test, I would try that next and started reading all about it. There is tons of anecdotal evidence that it works/does not work even on this forum starting 2008. Armed with everything I read and my Dexcom G5 CGM, I decided to try it immediately since carbohydrate reduction could improve cholesterol results and started taking 1000iu once a day with my daily meal. I am OMAD. Although I hate taking any supplements and want to rely on food and exercise, this product has been a real winner for me, and I believe can be of great benefit to some T1 and T2 diabetics (YDMV).
If you are on a CGM, try it out and you will know within just a very few days if this helps you. I take 1000iu for my one meal per day as many complained of no results on low dose. I tried an evening snack as a test on top of my OMAD (without taking additional Chromium) and the spike came back not quite as high so it really appears to be important to take at mealtime as it seems to have a pretty short lifespan. There are several hypotheses why this stuff works but I will spare you the details unless that becomes part of this thread discussion. As long as you can measure your results, not guesses and feelings about this supplement, please try it and report back. I believe that a lot of our forum members could benefit.
The Good
• Pre-Bolus then Flat lined after lunch avoiding usual after lunch 50-70 mg/dl spike from day 1
• Prior to use sometimes I would want a few Almonds or peanut butter lollipop after work – Curbed my appetite so now rarely wanted after day 2. Need to eat a little more at my meal as I started to lose weight Day 3
• Dropped my insulin requirement from day 1 dramatically. I cut insulin use 25 % day 1 and went low several hours later, cut 50% day 2 and went low again, cut 80% day 3 and still went low. Day 4 cut insulin use 90%. And increased food consumption 150 calories with 6g of additional carbs to maintain weight and my after-lunch BG did go up 39 mg/dl. My I:C went from 1:3 to 1:10 but then by second week worked its way back down to 1:5.
• It is very inexpensive. I paid $9.99 delivered for a 2-pack total 360 tablets at Amazon
• Day 4 on feeling great, no more side effects
• Flatlining after meals appears to reduce LDL oxidation and vascular inflammation leading to lower cardiac risks. (I am still in test mode on this one and will detail in cholesterol thread)
• Started taking Jan 27, 2020 so will update any long term changes
The Bad
• I hate improving my health with any non-natural product such as a supplement but just can’t get sufficient Chromium dose through foods for these results.
• Day 1 got a headache
• Day 2 Mild headache almost gone but felt dizzy before and after meal
• Day 3 No headache but still a touch of dizziness
• Need to reduce insulin or eat more and gain weight
• It does nothing for insulin correction. In other words if you take let’s say 1 unit of insulin and drop BG 20 points, taking chromium picolinate in liu of insulin does not reduce BG. It just helps process food you recently ate better.
• When you are intermittent fasting, chromium has no effect on BG. You only benefit when chromium picolinate and food are consumed at about the same time.
• This is a tool, not a solution. For meals that usually spike 50-70 mg.dl I flatline instead of spike. If, however, I carbo load on pizza or pasta which would normally spike me 150-170 mg/dl, I will have a much lower spike, but will still spike 70-100 mg/dl.
• I have not yet tested different dose levels so do not know at what point a lower dose no longer has any effect. I would love to hear from others.
My Stats:
71 year old male, 125 lbs., BMI 19, Insulin dependent Humalog I:C was 1:3, now1:5, A1C 5.6%, last C-Peptide 1.41 with 118 BG Feb 2018, low carb diet about 30g grams carb per meal OMAD, ketones average between 1.5-3.5, exercise 20-30 mins per day at 85% HR 5-6 days a week. On 40mg Atorvastatin.
