CRN Touts Chromium's Role in Diabetes Management

WASHINGTONThe Council for Responsible Nutrition (CRN) is encouraging consumers with diabetes to speak to their health care practitioners about chromium picolinate supplements to help manage their condition. In honor of Diabetes Awareness Month in November, the trade organization released a press release noting there is no cure for diabetes, but lifestyle changes can help people manage the disease.

 A healthy lifestyle for diabetics must emphasize healthy diet and plenty of exercise," said Duffy MacKay, N.D., vice president, scientific and regulatory affairs, CRN. It requires working very closely with your doctors and opening up a dialogue with them about using all the tools at your disposal, one of which may be supplementation."

People with type-2 diabetes usually suffer from insulin resistance, and this can cause high blood glucose levelsor hyperglycemia. People with diabetes are also more likely to develop coronary heart disease (CHD) than those without diabetes.

CRN said multiple studies have found chromium picolinate supplementation by diabetics can help reduce their high blood glucose levels and consequently help to reduce medical events related to CHD.

CRN also pointed to a new economic report that found the cost of diabetes-attributed CHD hospitalizations alone in the U.S. was an estimated USD $26.4 billion in 2012. However, this same report, Smart PreventionHealth Care Cost Savings Resulting from the Targeted Use of Dietary Supplements," conducted by the economic firm Frost & Sullivan with a grant from the CRN Foundation, demonstrated an opportunity for chromium picolinate supplements to improve the quality of life for diabetic adults with CHD as well as save billions of dollars through the reduction of diabetes-attributed CHD hospitalizations.

The report found that 81,243 diabetes-attributed CHD medical events can be avoided each yearor a total of 650,000 events between 2013 and 2020through the use of chromium picolinate dietary supplements at preventive intake levels. Additionally, more than $7.8 billion in cumulative cost savings is potentially realizable through increased usage of chromium picolinate supplements by the targeted population.

Hear Steve Mister, president and CEO of CRN discuss the implications of the "Smart Prevention" report in this INSIDER video, and check out this INSIDER video to hear Frost & Sullivan's Christopher Shanahan dive deeper into the numbers.