Carb Cravings News

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Chromium Picolinate Linked With Reduced Carbohydrate Cravings
on Tuesday, October 04 @ 14:38:42 EDT

Patients who reported the highest levels of carbohydrate cravings demonstrated significantly greater reductions than the placebo group.



A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study assessing chromium picolinate supplementation in 113 people with atypical depression found that a subset of patients who reported the highest levels of carbohydrate cravings demonstrated significantly greater reductions than the placebo group on four items on the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale, (HAM-D-29): carbohydrate craving, appetite increase, increased eating, and diurnal variation of feeling (mood variation throughout the day). The study, found that 65 percent of the chromium picolinate patients with high carbohydrate craving versus 33 percent of those receiving placebo had significantly greater improvements on total HAM-D-29 scores (p < 0.05). HAM-D-29 is a standard tool commonly used in assessing severity of symptoms in depressed patients.

Carbohydrate cravings, weight gain and unexplained fatigue are characteristic symptoms of atypical depression, a common but frequently undiagnosed depressive disorder affecting up to 42 percent of the 19 million Americans diagnosed with depression. “These results suggest that the use of chromium picolinate may be beneficial for patients with atypical depression who also have severe carbohydrate craving,” said the study’s lead investigator, John P. Docherty, M.D., president and CEO of Comprehensive NeuroScience Inc, and adjunct professor of psychiatry at Weill Medical College of Cornell University. “For years, the link between depression, insulin sensitivity, and the value of dietary chromium picolinate has been hinted at in small studies and this trial may bring us closer to understanding the connection.”

MORE HERE: http://www.diabetesincontrol.com/mod...ticle&sid=3139

[Moochiecat]

I took chromium for the first 3 months or so of Atkins (it might have been longer...but honestly, I forget) and then I weaned myself off of it. I was fine when I was done with it, but I attributed that to the fact that I had been off of sugars and bad carbs for so long that I wasn't as susceptible to cravings as I was in the beginning.
I have no way of knowing whether it helped curb my cravings because I have nothing to compare it to....I had bad days in the first few months dealing with the emotional as well as the physical withdrawals, but I know I mentally felt better with the idea that I was taking something to minimize the cravings.

I haven't heard of any negative reactions to chromium, and I observed no negative effects in myself and I never caved in on any cravings that did occur, so I'd have to say that I would recommend it for someone starting out. It made me feel stronger against temptations.