Writing in the findings published in Nutritional Neuroscience, scientists by University of Cincinnati College of Medicine report that daily supplements of the compound improved learning, recall, and recognition memory tasks.
Chromium is an essential trace mineral that occurs naturally in small amounts in some foods, including brewer's yeast, lean meat, cheese, pork kidney and whole grain bread and cereals. It is poorly absorbed by the human body but is known to play an important role in the metabolism of carbohydrate, fat and protein.
Several reports have indicated that chromium picolinate is better absorbed by humans than other forms of the mineral.
Twenty-six older adults were recruited to participate in the study and they were randomly assigned to 1,000 micrograms of chromium picolinate per day (Chromax, Nutrition 21) or placebo capsules for 12 weeks. The new study was supported by Nutrition 21.
“These new study results support the findings that Chromax chromium picolinate can also improve glucose metabolism in the brain, resulting in improved brain function,” said James Komorowski, VP of research and development for Nutrition 21.
Source: Nutritional Neuroscience
June 2010, Volume 13, Issue 3, Pages 116-122
“Improved cognitive-cerebral function in older adults with chromium supplementation”
Authors: R. Krikorian, J.C. Eliassen, E.L. Boespflug, T.A. Nash, M.D. Shidler