Chromium, a type of mineral, and biotin, a water-soluble B vitamin, are two types of dietary supplements often marketed to help with effects of type 2 diabetes. You can get adequate amounts of each of these nutrients from your diet, but taking them as supplements to help with diabetes is a form of alternative medicine. Talk with your physician before you decide to take chromium and biotin supplements.
Type 2 Diabetes and Insulin
Type 2 diabetes, also called adult-onset diabetes, affects how your body uses insulin. This important hormone, secreted by the pancreas, affects how your body utilizes carbohydrates, protein and fat. More specifically, insulin helps pull glucose, the simplest form of broken-down carbohydrates, into cells for fuel. Your body stores any leftover glucose in the liver and muscles as glycogen and converts excessive amounts to fat. Having type 2 diabetes means that your body probably has adequate amounts of insulin, but for some reason it is not working properly, explains the Office of Dietary Supplements. This causes elevated blood glucose, or blood sugar; this is a condition called hyperglycemia and is a sign of diabetes.
How Chromium Functions
Chromium is a trace mineral that you need in minimal amounts, but it has several powerful roles in metabolism. Having a chromium deficiency alters how your body uses glucose, increasing your need for insulin. Chromium works by enhancing the function of insulin, helping it pull extra glucose into cells. The daily recommended dietary allowance, or RDA, for chromium is 21 mcg for women daily and 25 mcg for men, although your doctor may suggest a higher amount for management of type 2 diabetes. Chromium supplements come in a variety of forms including chromium chloride, nitinate, citrate and picolinate. Supplementation with chromium for type 2 diabetes is controversial and needs further research, since there is limited information on which type is most bioavailable for absorption. Chromium chloride seems to be the least absorbable form of the supplement.
Benefits of Biotin
Biotin is a part of enzymes that break up carbohydrates, protein and fat. Having a biotin deficiency may impair how well your body uses glucose, according to the Linus Pauling Institute. This can cause your blood glucose to spike to unhealthy levels. The recommended daily allowance of biotin is 30 mcg per day, although your physician may suggest higher levels to help with diabetes. Supplementation with biotin alone probably will not affect blood sugar levels, but pairing it with chromium may be beneficial.
Effects of Supplementation
According to research published in "Diabetes Technology and Therapeutics" in 2006, chromium picolinate and biotin supplementation may help your body utilize glucose more efficiently. Subjects ingested 600 mcg of chromium picolinate and 2 mg of biotin daily for four weeks. At the end of the study, subjects had improved glucose levels as well as improved triglyceride levels. Taking chromium picolinate and biotin supplements may help improve your diabetes symptoms, but talk with your doctor before making this decision on your own.
References
- Linus Pauling Institute: Biotin; August 2008
- Office of Dietary Supplements: Chromium
- "Diabetes Technology and Therapeutics": The Effect of Chromium Picolinate and Biotin Supplementation on Glycemic Control in Poorly Controlled Patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus: A Placebo-Controlled, Double-Blinded, Randomized Trial; G.M. Singer, et al; December 2006
- Medline Plus: Biotin; November 2010
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