Thursday April 09, 2015 (foodconsumer.org) -- Raynold V Yin and Olivia J Phung at Western University of Health Sciences in St, Pomona, California conducted a meta-analysis of data from previous studies and found Chromium (Cr) supplementation with brewer’s yeast may help diabetes mellitus.

Compared to placebo, supplementation with brewer’s yeast resulted in a statistically significant decrease in fasting plasma glucose (FPG) while Cr chloride, Cr yeast and Cr picolinate supplementation did not significantly decrease FPG in patients with diabetes mellitus.

Supplementation with Cr yeast, brewer’s yeast and Cr picolinate did not have any statistically significant effect on glycated hemoglobin (A1C), which is an indicator of the severity of diabetes mellitus.  

Serum glucose can react with hemoglobin leading to the formation of glycated hemoglobin.  Diabetes mellitus patients have high circulating glucose so they tend to have high concentrations of glycated hemoglobin in their blood.

The study was based on data from 14 trials of more than 800 diabetes mellitus participants who were followed up for a period between 8 and 24 weeks. All the data used in the current study were published before Nov. 2014.

Chromium (Cr) is a trace element that is known to be involved in glucose homeostasis.

Raynold V Yin and Olivia J Phung, Effect of chromium supplementation on glycated hemoglobin and fasting plasma glucose in patients with diabetes mellitus, Nutrition Journal. 2015