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Chromium picolinate
Trivalent chromium, bound to picolinic acid. It carries two authorised EU health claims, one of them for normal blood glucose, and it sits in a single formula of ours, Glucose & metabolism, which is still in development. There it is served at 200 µg: five times the NRV and more than three times the German reference for a supplement. This page says why, and what that means for you.
WHAT WE ARE ALLOWED TO SAY
Two claims. Both of them authorised.
These are the two authorised wordings for chromium, translated from the Spanish text of the EU register: we have not yet checked them word for word against the English version, and we do not paraphrase them into something that sounds stronger. Both carry the same condition: the product has to be at least a source of trivalent chromium under Regulation (EC) 1924/2006, which our file puts at 15% of the NRV, or 6 µg. Glucose & metabolism serves 200 µg, which is 500% of the NRV.Two authorised wordings, translated from the Spanish text of the EU register and not yet checked word for word against the English one. Both need the product to be at least a source of trivalent chromium, 6 µg. Our formula serves 500% of the NRV.
Neither claim says anything about diabetes, about prediabetes or about bringing a blood result back into range. EFSA's 2014 review found no evidence of beneficial effects from chromium intake in healthy people. The formula that carries chromium ends with a new blood test, not with a result guaranteed in advance.
WHY PICOLINATE
The claims do not change. What gets absorbed does, a little.
Both claims attach to chromium, not to a particular salt, so the form is not a claim argument and we do not use it as one. Our file uses picolinate, one of the two forms EFSA assessed in 2010 as a safe source of trivalent chromium, the other being nicotinate. It is water-soluble and neutral in taste, and it is the form named in our EU regulatory record.
Our notes use it as the reference point: about 0.4% of the chromium absorbed. It is on file only to show what picolinate is measured against.
Covered by the same 2010 EFSA opinion as picolinate, and listed with it in our file as the best-tolerated forms. It is on record, not what we chose.
Trivalent chromium bound to picolinic acid. Our notes record 1–2% absorbed, against 0.4% for chloride, and our files mark it as water-soluble and neutral in taste.
1–2% is still very little, and absorbing better than chloride is what our notes record, not an authorised claim, so you will not read it on a label. There is one open point we would rather write down: our own files mark picolinate as not stable in liquid, while VION doses are liquid.Absorbing better than chloride is not an authorised claim, and 1–2% is still very little. And our own files mark picolinate as not stable in liquid, while VION doses are liquid.
WHERE IT APPEARS
One of the twenty-nine carries chromium.
It is a blood-test formula, still in development. Our file writes it for a fasting glucose of 100–125 mg/dl or an HbA1c of 5.7–6.4%, served each morning before breakfast for 12 weeks, after which a new test decides whether it continues; HbA1c is not in our blood panel yet. Our notes give two different figures for how long chromium takes to act, 2 to 4 weeks in one record and 12 weeks for blood glucose in another, and we have not reconciled them yet.
THE CEILING
No EFSA limit. A 250 µg cap on our label.
EFSA has not set an upper limit for chromium: its 2014 review found the data insufficient to set either an upper limit or an adequate intake. Our label warnings cap it at 250 µg a day and attribute that figure to the US Food and Nutrition Board and EFSA, while our EFSA record says EFSA set none, a point we still have to reconcile. Glucose & metabolism is the only formula that carries chromium, so its 200 µg is also your total from us.EFSA has not set an upper limit for chromium, for lack of data. Our label caps it at 250 µg a day, and the 200 µg in Glucose & metabolism is your whole total from us.
Our label warnings say never more than 250 µg of chromium a day. Glucose & metabolism is the only formula that carries it, so nothing else in your plan adds to its 200 µg. There is no engine rule written for chromium yet: today, what keeps you under the cap is that only one formula carries it.
Germany's BfR proposes 60 µg a day as the most a food supplement should carry, and 200 µg is more than three times that, as well as 500% of the 40 µg NRV. Our file records the higher dose as a deliberate choice above that reference, for a 12-week course that ends with a new blood test, not as a daily default.
The formula that carries chromium is ruled out if you have type 1 diabetes, because chromium can strengthen the effect of insulin, if you are pregnant, or if you have liver disease. If your follow-up HbA1c comes back above 6.5%, the course does not simply continue: our file refers you to a specialist in endocrinology, because that result points to established type 2 diabetes. If you have diabetes and are on treatment, your blood glucose needs monitoring: our label warnings flag a risk of low blood sugar on top of that treatment. Do not exceed the daily dose, and never more than 250 µg of chromium a day. A food supplement is not a substitute for a varied and balanced diet. Keep out of the reach of young children. Our chromium file is still a short one, with the full review pending, so it lists no other contraindication yet; that is unchecked, not clear. It contains none of the fourteen allergens that must be declared in the EU, and our file records no intolerance or dietary restriction for it.
WHAT IT REACTS WITH
Documented pairs, not hunches.
Chromium is one of the 140 ingredients in our library, so it has 139 possible partners. We have not documented any of them yet, out of the 443 pairs on file, and there is no chromium entry in our drug table. That includes the four ingredients it shares Glucose & metabolism with.
Alpha-lipoic acid, cinnamon, vitamin B1 and magnesium are served with it in the same morning dose. None of those pairs has been checked yet, so the engine has nothing to separate or halve for it. That is an empty row, not a clean result.
The files of three other ingredients in our library, holy basil, aloe vera and cumin, note that their effect on blood glucose adds up with chromium's, rated mild to moderate. None of them is in a formula with chromium today, and none of these is a documented pair yet.
No drug interaction for chromium is in our drug table. Its label warnings still name one: if you have diabetes and are on treatment, your blood glucose needs monitoring, because of the risk of low blood sugar on top of that treatment. Ask a healthcare professional before starting if that applies to you.
443 of the 9,730 possible pairs in our library are documented, which is 4.55%. The rest are not "safe", they are simply unchecked, and we would rather write that down than let the number look like a badge.443 of the 9,730 possible pairs in our library are documented, which is 4.55%. The rest are not safe, they are simply unchecked, and we would rather write that down than let the number look like a badge.
SOURCES
Everything on this page, with its reference.
Reviewed by VION nutrition team · last reviewed 16 September 2026Read the introduction to Chromium Picolinate →
140 INGREDIENTS · 64 IN USE TODAY
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