Health Benefits of Chromium:

Dr Shahid has summarized his six principles of health in a very simple form. Simplicity sometimes may not be politically correct. Well...What is wrong if you get the message and decide to live until 100 - 125 years and longer?"

Dr Shahid further emphasizes:

"If you follow these Six Principles of Holistic preventive Life style faithfully, you may never have to see any health care provider (i.e. MD, DO, DC, NP, PA, DP, DD, OD, psychiatrist, psychologist, chiropractor, spiritualist, homeopath, naturopath, herbalist and all the rest of HCPs) during all your long and healthy life;

"......Moreover, you will live a life that is full of vigor, enthusiasm, happiness and contentment for 100-125 years and even longer."


What else can anyone ask for? Does it sound too good to be true?

Well... IT IS "too good" and IT IS "true".

Remember! Health is what "YOU" make of it. It is "YOUR" responsibility. Not your health care provider's.

Follow these six principles of Dr Shahid's Preventive Health. Also known as "Preventive Healthy Life Style (PHLS)", and see the result for yourself. You be the judge. The best part of it is, "it won't cost you a penny". It is all free. And

"YOU WILL NEVER HAVE TO SEE ANY HEALTH CARE PROVIDER FOR AS LONG AS YOU LIVE."

As they say,

"One ounce of prevention is better than two pounds of cure."

So here are the six principles of holistic preventive healthy life style.

The basis of these six principles (holistic prevention) is already discussed in previous blogs. In summary these principles are,

Three do's, that you must do:

1. Eat Balanced Diet
2. Do a regular Physical Exercise (PE)
3. Rest (10-15 minutes) between daily hard work, every 2-3 hours; sleep (6-8 hours daily uninterrupted sleep) and enjoy frequent entertainments, holidays and recreations.

And three don'ts, that you must not do:

4. Don't smoke at all. Don't drink excessively and don't take any un-prescribed or unnecessary prescribed medications. In other words, don't poison your vital organs (brain, heart, lungs, liver and kidneys).
5. Don't over-eat or under-eat
6. Don't worry (worry is the worst enemy of physical, mental and spiritual health)


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Let us discuss these principles in detail. The first principle of preventive health is a balanced diet. It consists of three parts:

1. Proteins, Fat & Carbohydrates in right proportion.
2. Vitamins, Minerals, fibers (VMF)
3. Water and Oxygen

We have discussed Proteins, Fat & Carbohydrates in detail. We have also discussed the vitamins.

Now we are discussing another important aspect of balanced diet, i.e. minerals.


There are following minerals:

Of the 92 naturally occurring elements, the 14 minerals that have been shown by research to be essential to human health are:

calcium, chromium, copper, fluorine, iodine, iron, magnesium, manganese, molybdenum, phosphorus, potassium, selenium, sodium and zinc.

We already discussed Calcium and Boron. Now we discuss Chromium, another mineral. We discussed various aspects of chromium in health. Now we discuss health benefits of chromium.



Health Benefits of Chromium:



Chromium has been one of the most touted mineral supplements for some time. While there have been many overblown claims made for the health benefits of chromium, particularly of chromium picolinate, there are also many genuine health benefits to taking chromium supplements as part of a regular regimen of health supplements. These include:

1. Chromium improves insulin function in the body and leads to better control of glucose in the blood. In some studies, those with type II diabetes have been able to reduce the amount of insulin that they take when they add chromium to their daily supplement.

2. Chromium alleviates depression in those with atypical depression. In a very recent double-blind placebo study, researchers found that chromium picolinate was especially helpful in reducing a number of symptoms of depression in those who reported high carbohydrate cravings. Among the improvements was a reduction in carbohydrate cravings, and higher level of mood improvement on a daily basis.

3. Chromium may be useful in improving lipid profiles - i.e. - lowering bad cholesterol and raising good cholesterol. This has been suggested by the results of a handful of studies, but is not yet confirmed.

4. Chromium may help improve muscle/fat composition during weight loss. At least one study showed that those who took chromium supplement while dieting lost twice as much weight as those who took a placebo. Other studies have had more variable results. More research is needed to help determine the effects of chromium picolinate on weight loss.

Recommended Daily Intake of Chromium:

The adequate daily intake (AI) for chromium as recommended by the National Institutes of Health is as follows:

Children 1-18 years: 13-35 mcg

Adult: 30mcg

Dosages recommended for disease prevention are generally in the range of 300 mcg per day, and for treatment of diabetes can be as high as 1000 mcg per day. The safety of dosages that high for an extended period of time has not been established.

Symptoms of Chromium Deficiency:

Chromium deficiencies have been associated with impaired glucose tolerance, and may affect the ability of insulin to regulate sugar balance. Low chromium levels may also cause high cholesterol levels, and increase the risk of heart disease. It is often associated with insulin resistance, hyperglycemia and abnormalities of lipids in the blood. Sever chromium deficiency is rare, but can cause weight loss, peripheral neuropathy and inflammation of the brain.

More commonly, low levels of chromium in the body seem to be associated with type II diabetes, high blood sugar and insulin resistance.


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Next we shall discuss the mineral copper in human health


For comment and questions please write to :

syedshahidmd@yahoo.com.au

P.S. I must thank all of those readers who send me comments and questions. I must tell them that their inspiring comments and questions are highly appreciated. Please continue to write, preferably via email.

Thanks