Chromium and your health

Chromium is one of the most common elements that exists in the environment in several oxidation states, principally as (i) metallic (Cr0), (ii) trivalent (chromium 3+), which is biologically active and found in food and nutrition supplements (iii) hexavalent (chromium 6+), largely synthesized by the oxidation of the more common and naturally occuring trivalent chromium. This is highly toxic and used in industries. Trivalent chromium is an essential nutrient with very low toxicity, found in most food and nutrition supplements, and is required in the diet in trace or small amounts, thus it is deemed a micronutrient. Its primary function is in carbohydrate and lipid (fat) metabolism.

Trace elements: potential importance in human nutrition with particular reference to zinc and vanadium

Knowledge of the metbolic importance of trace elements is expanding rapidly, and human populations are being identified who suffer from deficiencies of elements other than iron and iodine. The roles these highly reactive elements play are diverse. They range from incorporation into single specific molecules in single tissues to incorporation into many proteins in all tissues, incorporated into large molecules. Consideration of zinc and vanadium metabolism draws this contrast strikingly. It would be naive to think that these elements are not nutritionally important or that their metabolism merely represents a repetition of the iron story, but 50 years later (AU)