According to DepressionPerception.com, depression affects over 18 million Americans every year. Often, depression results from stressful life situations such as loss of a job, break up of a relationship, abuse or hardship. Diet and nutritional factors can also contribute significantly to symptoms of depression. What you eat affects your brain, which regulates how you feel. Studies suggest that chromium picolinate supplement can significantly improve symptoms of a kind of a depression called atypical depression. DepressionPerception.com, reports that atypical depression affects about 40 percent of depressed people. Chromium, administered in the form of chromium picolinate, seems to reduce symptoms of atypical depression.
Atypical Depression
Atypical depression has symptoms that include feeling groggy and sleepy, hypersensitivity to rejection, craving of carbohydrates and sweets, overeating, weight gain, feeling heavy in the arms and legs, and mood swings. Atypical depression is usually treated with a class of drugs called monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs). People often stop taking MAOIs because of adverse side effects such as weight gain and sexual dysfunction.
Chromium Picolinate and Insulin
It has been known since the 1970s that chromium picolinate is useful in the treatment of diabetes and insulin insensitivity. Usually, the presence of sugar in the blood causes the pancreas to release insulin. Insulin stabilizes blood sugar by helping cells absorb the blood sugar. The cells then transform the sugars into cellular fuel and supply the brain with the glucose it needs to operate. Chromium helps cells use insulin to absorb blood sugar. The exact relation between insulin and depression is not known, though there are intriguing links. People with diabetes have depression at twice the rate as people in the general population. Also, insulin is involved in the production of several neurotransmitters---the chemicals that allow brain cells to communicate with one another.
Treating Depression
A small study by Dr. Malcolm McLeod of the University of North Carolina, described at FoodForTheBrain.com, suggests that chromium supplementation can improve symptoms of those who have atypical depression. Dr. McLeod found significant improvement in 7 out of 10 patients who took 600 mcg/day of chromium supplement. Over the 8 week study period, these patients showed remarkable improvement in their Hamilton Rating Score for depression, moving from an average of 29, indicating major depression, to an average of 5, indicating no depression. A larger study of 113 people with atypical depression described at PSLGroup.com also showed that patients who received a 600 mcg supplement of chromium picolinate had significant improvement in depression symptoms. Symptoms that were most responsive to the chromium picolinate included fatigue, reported weight gain, mood swings and carbohydrate cravings.
Side Effects and Safety Concerns
Patients in the studies of chromium treatment of atypical depression did not report side effects. There is limited research on the side effects of oral use of chromium by humans, so there is little information on the side effects of long term oral use of chromium picolinate.
Warning
If you are depressed, it is advised that you consult with your doctor or a therapist to discuss your feelings and symptoms. You should talk with your physician before taking supplements.
