A regular dietary supplement of chromium ? an essential micronutrient found in green leafy vegetables, meat and yeasts ? can keep heart diseases at bay for diabetics, suggests a new study in Diabetes Care.

Cardiac ailments are a notorious consequence of diabetes. The US study, led by Swapnil Rajpathak and Frank Hu of the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston, found that a lower level of the mineral chromium in the body of diabetes patients makes them vulnerable to heart diseases.

Working on the principle that human toenails can reflect the levels of minerals in the body, the Harvard scientists measured the chromium levels from the toenail samples of 1254 patients (between 40 and 75) afflicted with diabetes. They found that those who had been suffering from heart diseases had a chromium level of 0.90 parts per million or less in their toenail samples. But diabetics who had at least 46 per cent more chromium level had no heart disease.

?Chromium is an important mineral helping in proper insulin function and metabolism of carbohydrate, fat and protein,? said Rajpathak. ?It has the potential to improve insulin sensitivity in human body, thus modifying the risk of diabetes and cardiovascular disease,' he added.

The human body doesn?t have the ability to produce chromium on its own. ?It?s essential for diabetes patients to get the mineral supplemented properly in diet to combat heart ailments,? recommend the researchers.