Guide
Foods with chromium
Broccoli, grape juice and potatoes are among the food sources with the most measured chromium, though amounts vary with soil and processing.
Broccoli, grape juice, whole grains, potatoes and some meats are among the food sources with measurable chromium, per USDA FoodData Central and the NIH Office of Dietary Supplements — though the amounts are small and vary with soil and processing. A typical varied diet supplies most healthy adults' Adequate Intake without needing a chromium dietary supplement at all.
Foods with the most measured chromium
Unlike vitamin C in citrus or iron in red meat, chromium isn't concentrated in one obvious food group — it shows up in small, inconsistent amounts across plant and animal foods. According to the NIH Office of Dietary Supplements' chromium fact sheet, drawn from USDA food composition data, these are among the higher measured sources:
| Food | Amount | Chromium |
|---|---|---|
| Broccoli | 1/2 cup | 11 mcg |
| Grape juice | 1 cup | 8 mcg |
| Mashed potatoes | 1 cup | 3 mcg |
| Green beans | 1/2 cup | 1 mcg |
| Apple, unpeeled | 1 medium | 1 mcg |
| Banana | 1 medium | 1 mcg |
Whole grains and some meats also contribute smaller amounts, but chromium isn't a nutrient food labels are required to list, so there's no easy way to add up a day's intake from packaging the way you can for, say, sodium or added sugar.
Why the numbers vary from source to source
Chromium content in the same food can differ noticeably depending on where and how it was grown, and how it was processed — refining tends to remove chromium, while contact with stainless steel equipment during some food processing can add trace, inconsistent amounts back in. That's why food-composition tables give ranges or single sampled values rather than a fixed number, and why chromium isn't tracked with the precision of nutrients the FDA requires on a label.
Does an ordinary diet cover the Adequate Intake?
The Food and Nutrition Board's Adequate Intake for chromium is 35 mcg/day for men 19-50 and 25 mcg/day for women 19-50 — see how much chromium should you take a day for the full table and how that figure compares with what supplements typically provide. For most people eating a varied diet, ordinary food intake is assumed to meet this, though what you eat can measurably change how much chromium your body holds onto: a 1986 controlled-diet study switched 37 adults from a diet with 15% of calories from simple sugars to one with 35%, and found urinary chromium losses increased 10% to 300% in 27 of the 37 subjects over the following 6 weeks. That's evidence that a diet heavier in simple sugars can increase how much chromium the body excretes — a reason food source and overall diet pattern both matter, not just a single "chromium food."
Questions people ask
What foods contain chromium?
Broccoli, grape juice, whole grains, potatoes and some meats are among the sources with measurable amounts, per USDA data — see the table above. No single food is a concentrated source the way citrus is for vitamin C.
What foods have chromium picolinate?
None. Chromium picolinate is chromium bound to picolinic acid in a lab or supplement-manufacturing setting — it isn't a form that occurs naturally in food. If a label lists "chromium picolinate," that chromium came from a supplement formulation, not a food source. See what is chromium for the different forms sold as supplements.
How do I get more chromium in my diet?
Eat a varied diet that includes whole grains, vegetables like broccoli, and some meat rather than relying on one specific "chromium food" — no single item supplies a large share of the Adequate Intake on its own, and a diet heavy in refined carbohydrates and added sugar may increase how much chromium the body loses, per the 1986 study above.
Where is chromium mainly found in food?
In small, inconsistent amounts spread across many plant and animal foods rather than concentrated in one dominant source. See chromium and magnesium: food overlap and differences for how this compares with a mineral that does have a few concentrated dietary sources.
Related reading: how much chromium should you take a day, what is chromium, and how to choose a chromium supplement.
Sources
- Effects of diets high in simple sugars on urinary chromium losses A controlled-diet study found that increasing simple sugar intake raised urinary chromium losses by 10-300% in most of 37 adults studied.
*These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.