New Diabetes Care Review Article Indicates Potential for Chromium Supplementation in Prevention and Treatment of Diabete

11/12/04 - PRNewswire

New Diabetes Care Review Article Indicates Potential for Chromium Supplementation in Prevention and Treatment of Diabetes PRNewswire PURCHASE, New York November 12

PURCHASE, New York, November 12 /PRNewswire/ --

- Lead Author to Present Overview of Chromium's Beneficial Effects at VII International Society of Trace Element Research in Humans Conference

(Nutrition 21, Inc. Nasdaq: NXXI) -- A newly published review of more than 40 studies on the essential mineral chromium provides the most current information on chromium's mechanism of action and includes a literature review of clinical trials using chromium in patients with diabetes. The article appears in the November 2004 issue of the American Diabetes Association's peer-reviewed journal, Diabetes Care and is authored by researchers William Cefalu, MD, chief of the division of nutrition and chronic disease at the Pennington BioMedical Research Center, Louisiana State University System, and Frank B. Hu, MD, PhD, Harvard School of Public Health. This review supports the role of the essential mineral chromium in improving insulin function and glucose metabolism in people with type 2 diabetes and related conditions.

"Growing evidence suggests that chromium supplementation, particularly in the form of chromium picolinate, may improve insulin sensitivity by potentiating the action of insulin to stimulate glucose transport into cells," said Dr. Cefalu who is presenting on "Chromium and Metabolic Syndrome" at the VII International Society of Trace Element Research in Humans in Bangkok, on November 11, 2004.

"The Diabetes Care scientific overview is a major step in clarifying the role of chromium in metabolic health," said James Komorowski, MS, vice president of technical services and scientific affairs at Nutrition 21, Inc. "The current evidence suggests that supplementation with chromium picolinate, can help combat insulin resistance and related conditions such as, obesity, type 2 diabetes and heart disease."

Research Continues to Confirm Safety of Chromium Picolinate

The November 2004 Diabetes Care review confirmed the safety of chromium supplementation, reporting that, "Results from controlled clinical trials have shown that treatment with chromium at doses up to 1,000 mcg per day and for periods as long as 64 months does not result in any toxic effects."

"These data add to the large body of evidence showing that chromium picolinate is safe, and specifically, that there are no effects on liver and kidney function, which is of particular importance to people with diabetes," added Komorowski. "Chromax chromium picolinate is Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS) for use as an ingredient in food and supplements."

November is American Diabetes Month, aiming to bring awareness to a disease that affects 18.2 million people in the United States. Complications of poor blood glucose control in people with type 2 diabetes include heart disease and stroke, blindness, kidney damage and amputation (http://www.diabetes.org).

About Nutrition 21, Inc.

Nutrition 21 is a nutritional bioscience company and the maker of chromium-based supplements with health benefits substantiated by clinical research. The company markets Chromax(R) chromium picolinate, which is the most-studied form of the essential mineral chromium. Nutrition 21 also developed Diachrome(R), which is available through diabetes educators or at http://www.diachrome.com. Nutrition 21 holds 34 patents for nutrition products, 25 of which are for chromium compounds and their uses. More information is available at http://www.nutrition21.com.

Web site: http://www.nutrition21.com http://www.diabetes.org http://www.diachrome.com

PURCHASE, New York, November 12 /PRNewswire/ --