The effect of drugs on the body's ability to burn body fat and glucose.
Most people forget that any medication, or drug, you take affects your entire body. Some medications increase appetite and food cravings, especially for sweet foods. In contrast, other medications reduce appetite and result in weight loss. Drugs alter taste, mood, ability to digest food, ability to burn fat and ability to maintain a normal workout.
How medications affect nutrients in the body is complicated and poorly understood. For example, some drugs mimic the shape of, and are mistaken for vitamins, so they block any real vitamins from participating in metabolic reactions. Some bind to a nutrient and limit its absorption or, because a drug can reduce the time that food is in the intestine it can limit the absorption time of nutrients.
Chromium picolinate has generated a lot of interest in the strength building environment because limited research shows that moderate increases in chromium picolinate might maintain or even increase muscle mass while fat is lost. Although chromium is essential in protein and carbohydrate metabolism and thus may participate in muscle growth and function, there is no evidence that these "anabolic" effects are significant. In fact, the study that precipitated interest in this product was conducted on six college male body builders. The study has not been replicated and it's mostly media hype, not research or statistical data that supports the strong sales of this compound that is readily available in diets that are high in green, leafy vegetables.