Popular Weight Loss Supplement May Damage DNA reports a scary discovery:
Chromium picolinate, a popular supplement marketed as building muscle and promoting weight loss, may damage DNA, a new study shows.Consumption of the supplement led to lethal genetic mutations and sterility in fruit flies, according to a study published in the advance online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
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To answer this question, Vincent and his colleagues raised four generations of fruit flies on a medium containing chromium picolinate.In each generation, 20 percent to 30 percent fewer flies reached adulthood among the group fed chromium picolinate, compared to those not given the supplement.
In another experiment, the researchers fed chromium picolinate only to the male flies. “Then we looked at the effect of that on the flies’ grandchildren,” Vincent said. “Two generations removed there were very high rates of mutations.”
Fortunately, I doubt many life-extension enthusiasts are fruit flies eating their bodyweight in chromium picolinate daily.