ARS | Publication request: CHROMIUM AND AGING

Submitted to: Proceedings of the International Academy of Nutrition and Aging
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: May 1, 2005
Publication Date: May 6, 2005
Citation: Anderson, R.A. 2005. Chromium and aging. Proceedings of the International Academy of Nutrition and Aging, May 6-8,2005, St Louis, MO.

Technical Abstract: Aging has negative effects on glucose, insulin, blood lipids, insulin sensitivity, body weight, body fat and lean body mass. The essential trace element, chromium, has been shown to counteract the negative effects of aging on all of these variables. In a study involving over 40,000 people, chromium concentrations of the hair, sweat and urine were shown to decline with age. Food patterns common in aging including increased consumption of higher sugar foods also leads to higher chromium losses. In people with type 2 diabetes, there is a dose response to the improvements in glucose, insulin and insulin sensitivity with larger effects when consuming 1000 µg per day of chromium as chromium picolinate compared with 200 µg. High sugar,low chromium diets fed to goats also leads to age-dependent increases in food intake and body weight with the associated increases in blood glucose and decreased insulin sensitivity. The addition of chromium to the diet of rats led to an increase in lifespan by 33% and improved body composition, blood glucose and insulin sensitivity. The effects of chromium on aging rats are similar to those observed when animals are put on calorie restricted diets, which also leads to longer life span that is accompanied by decreased levels of glucose and insulin and increased insulin sensitivity. The increases in obesity and chronic diseases such as type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular diseases may not be normal consequences of aging but rather suboptimal dietary patterns that are manifest with age. Improved chromium nutrition is one of the factors that leads to reversal of suboptimal health that manifests with age.