Chromium for Sugar Cravings: Does It Help?

The short answer: The case for chromium for sugar cravings is thin. In the most direct trial we found, 42 women who reported carb cravings were split between 1,000 mcg of chromium (as chromium picolinate) a day and a placebo for 8 weeks. Cravings for sweets and starches fell in both groups, and chromium's drop wasn't clearly bigger. Our strip holds 75 mcg of chromium per serving, a small fraction of that trial dose.

Key takeaways

• In an 8-week trial of 1,000 mcg of chromium (as chromium picolinate) a day, cravings for sweets and starches fell in both groups, and chromium didn't clearly beat placebo on either.
• The one craving score where chromium pulled ahead of placebo in that trial was for high-fat foods, not sugar.
• Saffron & Chromium Appetite Strips provide 75 mcg of chromium (as chromium picolinate) per 1-strip serving, about one-thirteenth of the trial dose.
• Chromium appears on six of our labels, including a multivitamin and a pre-workout powder, so add up your total before you combine products.

We sell chromium in an oral strip, a capsule and a few multi-ingredient formulas, so you're reading a seller's account. Our product figures come straight off their Supplement Facts panels, and the trial is linked so you can check it.

Does chromium help with sugar cravings?

Chromium didn't reduce sugar cravings more than a placebo in the best-matched trial we could find, so the honest answer is "not clearly."

That trial, run at the Pennington Biomedical Research Center and published in 2008, is called Effects of Chromium Picolinate on Food Intake and Satiety. It enrolled healthy women aged 18 to 50 who reported intense carbohydrate cravings at least 2 days a week. All were nonsmokers with a body mass index (BMI) between 25 and 39.9. One group took 1,000 mcg of chromium, as chromium picolinate, daily for 8 weeks, and the other took a placebo pill.

A food-craving questionnaire scored four kinds of food: carbohydrates and starches, sweets, fast-food fats, and high-fat foods. Sweet and starch scores went down in the chromium group. They went down in the placebo group too, and the authors wrote that chromium didn't lower carb and sweet cravings more than placebo did.

So is chromium good for sugar cravings? Possibly, but the one direct test didn't show it, because the comparison that counts is chromium against placebo, and for sweets it came out close to even.

What did the chromium picolinate trial measure, and what did it miss?

The chromium picolinate trial tracked lab meals, hunger ratings and craving scores in 40 analyzed women over 8 weeks, which leaves a lot it couldn't tell you.

• Cravings. Chromium beat placebo on one of four craving scales, high-fat foods (the paper's example is bacon). Sweets and starches fell in both groups.
• Lab meals. The researchers reported that the chromium group ate less at the week-8 lab meals. That's a result for a 1,000 mcg dose in one small group, and we don't claim it for any product, ours included.
• Hunger and fullness. Pre-dinner hunger ratings differed at week 8, mostly because hunger rose in the placebo group. Fullness ratings didn't change in either group.

The limits matter as much as the results. The sample was small, and every participant fit the narrow profile above. The authors said the findings need repeating in other groups, and meals were eaten in a lab, not at home.

Both groups improving on sweets is why a trial needs a placebo arm. Without one, the chromium group's drop would have looked like a chromium effect.

Why is chromium linked to sugar in the first place?

Chromium is linked to sugar because it's a trace mineral involved in how your body handles carbohydrates, though researchers still don't fully understand its role.

The NIH Office of Dietary Supplements chromium fact sheet says chromium "might help you use carbohydrates, fats, and proteins." The MedlinePlus entry on chromium in the diet says it plays a part in breaking down fats and carbohydrates and aids insulin's action. That's the thread craving products pull on.

The leap from "involved in carb handling" to "fewer sugar cravings" is where the evidence runs out. The same ODS sheet says scientists don't currently think chromium is necessary for good health, and deficiency hasn't been reported in healthy people. So for most readers, chromium isn't a nutrient you're likely to be missing.

How much chromium is in our strip, and is that a lot?

Our Saffron & Chromium Appetite Strips hold 75 mcg of chromium, as chromium picolinate, per 1-strip serving. The label lists that as 214% of the Daily Value.

For scale, the ODS chromium sheet lists recommended amounts of 20 to 35 mcg a day for adults, or 45 mcg while breastfeeding, so one strip gives roughly two to four times that. The trial's 1,000 mcg was more than 13 times our strip, so the strip can't borrow the trial's results, weak as they were for sugar.

On safety, the NIH ODS fact sheet on weight-loss supplement ingredients calls chromium safe at recommended amounts of 20 to 45 mcg a day for adults, and says larger amounts can cause side effects. One strip, at 75 mcg, is above that range. The ODS chromium sheet gives no upper limit and says chromium from food and supplements doesn't appear to cause harm, though research is limited.

Here's every chromium line on our labels:

The strip is far from the biggest source, but stack any two and your total climbs fast: the strip plus the multivitamin comes to 195 mcg a day. The pre-workout label allows up to 2 scoops daily, or 60 mcg of chromium. If chromium is why you're buying something, count every label you already take first.

Is chromium picolinate the best chromium for sugar cravings?

We found no evidence that chromium picolinate, or any other chromium form, works best for sugar cravings. The NIH ODS says your body absorbs chromium similarly from the different forms used in supplements.

Picolinate is the form the trial used and the form in our strip. Our Chromium, Gymnema & Cinnamon Capsules use chromium amino acid chelate instead, alongside a 620 mg blend of 11 ingredients that include gymnema leaf and cassia cinnamon bark.

Our chromium picolinate vs polynicotinate breakdown compares the forms in detail. For the craving question, two label checks matter more than the form's name. First, the elemental amount: "Chromium (as chromium picolinate) 75 mcg" means 75 mcg of chromium itself. Second, everything else in the formula, because a product with several other actives isn't a test of chromium. You'll find these and related formulas in our Weight Support collection.

Why does the strip pair chromium with saffron?

Saffron & Chromium Appetite Strips pair 75 mcg of chromium with 10 mg of saffron, two ingredients that each appear in eating-behavior research. We found no trial of this combination.

As our quality page explains, Betterly doesn't manufacture supplements; our U.S. fulfillment partner's contract manufacturers make them. We chose this strip, but we didn't design its ratio, and we can't point you to a study of it.

Saffron (Crocus sativus) has its own research story, and our saffron extract explainer covers those studies and their amounts. The short version: 10 mg per strip sits below the extract amounts that guide describes.

The third panel line is easy to misread: "Molybdenum (as Molybdenum Glycinate 400 mcg)" with an amount of 10 mcg (22% DV). The 400 mcg is the whole compound, and the 10 mcg is the molybdenum inside it.

Then there's the taste. The strip is a 130 mg film that dissolves on your tongue, in a mixed berry flavor. So something you might reach for during a sugar craving tastes sweet: the other ingredients include sorbitol syrup and steviol glycoside, a stevia-derived sweetener. The panel shows no sugars line. If sweet tastes tend to set off more sweet cravings for you, a berry strip may be the wrong tool.

From our shop: Saffron & Chromium Appetite Strips — 75 mcg of chromium (as chromium picolinate), 10 mcg of molybdenum and 10 mg of saffron per 1-strip serving, in a mixed berry oral strip labeled vegan and gluten free.

How should you take chromium for sugar cravings, per the label?

Saffron & Chromium Appetite Strips carry a single direction: "Place 1 oral strip on the tongue daily and allow it to dissolve." No time of day appears on it.

So for our strip, the chromium dosage for sugar cravings is one strip a day. We won't suggest a second strip on a craving-heavy afternoon, because the strip's own caution reads "Do not exceed recommended dose," and we found nothing supporting a second one.

• Pick one time of day you'll remember, so you never take two by accident.
• Store it somewhere cool and dry, away from kids, which is what the label asks.
• The chromium capsules' label says 2 capsules daily, with 6-8 oz of water. Taking both products would put you at 223 mcg of chromium a day, so choose one.

For daily amounts beyond our own labels, see our guide to how much chromium per day adults need.

When don't you need a chromium supplement for sugar cravings?

You probably don't need a chromium supplement for sugar cravings if your diet is varied, your multivitamin already contains chromium, or you're hoping for a change you'll clearly feel.

Chromium is spread widely through food. The ODS lists meats such as ham, beef and turkey, grain products, lettuce and green beans, apples and bananas, some juices, brewer's yeast and nuts.

Check your multivitamin first. Our Daily Multivitamin Capsules list 120 mcg of chromium per 2-capsule serving, more than the strip. If you're not sure a multi belongs in your routine, our plain-English multivitamin guide helps you decide.

We'd look at habits before any mineral. Our guide to stopping between-meal snacking covers meals, sleep and your snack setup, so we won't repeat it. One food-side swap fits here: if the craving is specifically for chocolate, a chocolate protein shake can cover the flavor.

Our Fava Bean Protein Isolate Powder (Chocolate) lists 1 g of total sugars and 21 g of protein per 2-scoop (34.7 g) serving, sweetened with stevia leaf extract. That's a food answer, not a chromium one. Its label says to stir 2 scoops into 6-8 oz of water or any drink you like, once a day.

From our shop: Fava Bean Protein Isolate Powder (Chocolate) — a chocolate shake base with 1 g of total sugars and 21 g of protein from fava bean and fermented nutritional yeast per 2-scoop (34.7 g) serving, and a label that lists vegan, gluten free and non-GMO.

Who should check with a healthcare provider first?

Clear chromium with your healthcare provider before starting if you're pregnant, breastfeeding or under 18, take prescription medicine, have surgery coming up or manage a medical condition.

Every label named in this article prints this warning: "Do not exceed recommended dose. Consult a physician if pregnant, nursing, under 18, or have a medical condition." The ODS chromium sheet adds chromium-specific points:

• Chromium supplements might interact with some medicines, insulin and the thyroid medicine levothyroxine among them. Show your label to your pharmacist.
• People managing a kidney or liver condition should be cautious about high amounts of chromium.
• Tell every provider about every supplement you take, so they can check for interactions.

For the saffron in the strip, the saffron guide linked above has its own safety section. The protein label adds an iron warning about children under 6, so keep the tub well out of their reach.

FAQ: chromium for sugar cravings

How long does chromium take to work for sugar cravings?

There's no reliable timeline for chromium and sugar cravings, and we won't invent one. The trial described above ran for 8 weeks, and by the end, sweet cravings had fallen almost as much in the placebo group as in the chromium group. Nothing on the strip's label sets a time frame. If you decide to try it, follow the directions and change one thing at a time.

What's the best time of day to take chromium for sugar cravings?

Our Saffron & Chromium Appetite Strips don't name a time of day; the label says one strip on the tongue daily. You'll see advice online to time chromium around your biggest carb meal. That timing isn't on our label or in the NIH and MedlinePlus pages we cite, so we leave it out.

Does chromium picolinate reduce carb cravings too?

Chromium picolinate didn't reduce carb cravings more than placebo in the 2008 trial. Starch and carbohydrate scores fell in both groups, a little more with chromium, but the authors found no clear difference for carbs or sweets. The one craving scale where chromium came out ahead was high-fat foods. Carb cravings and sugar cravings get the same cautious answer.

What are the side effects of chromium picolinate?

Chromium, including chromium picolinate, can cause side effects in larger amounts, according to the NIH Office of Dietary Supplements, even though our labels don't list any. Its weight-loss ingredient fact sheet calls chromium safe at recommended amounts of 20 to 45 mcg a day for adults. Above those amounts, it says chromium can cause watery stools, headache, weakness, nausea, vomiting, constipation, dizziness and hives. One strip is 75 mcg. If anything like that shows up, stop taking it and talk to a healthcare provider.

Can you take chromium every day?

Yes, at the label amount of one strip a day, though that 75 mcg is above the recommended 20 to 45 mcg a day that the NIH Office of Dietary Supplements calls safe for adults. Its chromium sheet sets no upper limit and says chromium from food and supplements doesn't appear to cause harm, though research is limited. Daily still means the label amount, never more.

Sources

• Effects of Chromium Picolinate on Food Intake and Satiety, Anton and colleagues, 2008, via PubMed Central
• Chromium: Fact Sheet for Consumers, NIH Office of Dietary Supplements
• Dietary Supplements for Weight Loss: Fact Sheet for Consumers, NIH Office of Dietary Supplements
• Chromium in diet, MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia

If this left you looking for somewhere to start, read saffron and chromium picolinate oral strips — its amounts per serving are listed on the page. For the practical questions this raises, how dosing, sourcing and subscriptions work is answered in one place.