We've all seen the ads for Chromium Picolinate - "Lose fat! Build muscle! Get lean! Have more energy!"
Unfortunately, chromium picolinate is not the answer. It's claims are unfounded and have been proven by several independent laboratories and government projects to be fraudulent.
Chromium picolinate was developed by the USDA and the patent continues to be held by the Department of Agriculture. Under a licensing agreement with Nutrition 21, chromium picolinate has been distributed throughout the United States as a weight loss and muscle-building supplement.
Vitamin dealers, fitness centers, and weight loss centers have been taken in by the dramatic claims made by Nutrition 21. The carefully crafted ad campaign worked! Millions of men and women purchased chromium picolinate, took their pills, and waited for the weight to melt off, the muscles to ripple, and their energy to return.
The sad truth is that none of these claims materialized. The supplement's consumers did not find any difference in weight loss, muscle mass, or energy. In fact, many experienced negative side effects including the masking of diabetic signals and, in the case of persons taking heavy doses over long periods of time, kidney damage.
In November 1996, the Federal Trade Commission ordered Nutrition 21, and two other companies licensed to sell chromium picolinate, to stop making claims about weight loss or health improvement. The companies were forced to admit that their touted scientific studies were non-existent outside those studies conducted by the USDA during the development of chromium picolinate.
Despite the FTC's orders concerning health claims and weight loss claims as they relate to chromium picolinate, a new generation of dieters are receiving the same misinformation through badly-researched websites and Internet drug sellers.
Beware! Chromium picolinate's claims at weight reduction and muscle building are false. All scientific studies and independent research has been unable to verify the claims and have found that a placebo received identical or better results in every instance.
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