Skip to content

Chromium Deficiency

Broccoli is a Good Source of Natural Chromium.
Broccoli is a Good Source of Natural Chromium.

What Is Chromium?

Chromium is a mineral that the body absolutely requires in trace amounts for normal metabolism, meaning the physical and chemical processes by which energy is produced and used.

Chromium is especially involved in the use of glucose sugar and lipids such as cholesterol and the effectiveness of insulin hormone.

Q: How is chromium involved in the use of glucose?

A: Very small amounts of chromium are required to enable insulin to move glucose from the bloodstream into cells for use as energy.

Insulin is a hormone that controls the use and storage of glucose in two ways: 1) lowers a rise of glucose in blood after meals by moving it out of the bloodstream into body cells, especially muscle cells and 2) limits the release of glucose from the liver between meals. Insulin is produced by beta cells on the surface of the pancreas.

To date, the molecular mechanism by which chromium affects glucose and lipid metabolism is still unclear.1

What Is Chromium Deficiency In Celiac Disease and/or Gluten Sensitivity?

Sources:
  1. Lewicki S, Zdanowski R, Krzyżowska M, Lewicka A, Dębski B, Niemcewicz M, Goniewicz M. The role of Chromium III in the organism and its possible use in diabetes and obesity treatment. Ann Agric Environ Med. 2014 Jun 10;21(2):331-335. [↩]

Gluten Free Review: Mix1 Strawberry Banana Protein Shake

Kim Bouldin Gluten Free Works

Mix1 Strawberry Vanilla Gluten Free

As a runner I have learned the importance of properly fueling my body.

Skimping on calories & nutrients hurts performance and can hurt your body, too. Carbohydrates are important to supply muscles with glycogen for exercise and a snack of protein & carbs is important after running to help refuel & repair muscles. It imperative to begin this process as soon as possible after a run, but absolutely within 30 minutes.

I have been a little lax on refueling recently,but that has to stop. My current,soon-to-be history, routine for my long runs involved meeting up with my MIT group, running, socializing, driving home (with a coffee detour) and then eating breakfast. By the time I was actually sitting down to eat it was easily 1+ hours later. Not good.

Last week I shared my plan of action for better training with you guys. I am taking it seriously and am now going to include these Mix 1 Protein Shakes in the Saturday routine to see how they work for me.

Gluten-free GU Products: Energy For Athletes

The name certainly doesn’t sound appetizing, but GU is an essential part of many endurance athlete’s fueling.  When running longer distances, biking or participating ih triathlons athletes must consume some type of fuel to keep their bodies going.  Gu provides one such product for that purpose.  

GU Energy Gels are gluten-free and dairy-free, perfect for the Celiac athlete.  There are 10 different flavors of GU energy gels: