| With the news coming from New Zealand | | | | macrophages that also get stuck in the lining of the |
| researchers that two Brazil nuts a day is probably the | | | | artery, causing plaque and calcification and increasing |
| ideal way to get added selenium, this is a good time | | | | the risk of a clot. |
| to review what selenium can do for you. | | | | There's also some evidence that getting enough |
| The human body contains, on average, only about 14 | | | | selenium may slow the progression of diabetes. |
| mg of the trace mineral selenium, but that 14 mg | | | | For the overwhelming majority of diabetics, those |
| plays important roles in the function and growth of | | | | who have diabetes type II, the primary cause of high |
| every cell in the body. Selenium is involved in the | | | | blood sugars is insulin resistance. (Type I diabetics can |
| production of ATP for energy storage in the | | | | develop insulin resistance, too, but it is not the |
| mitochondria, in immunity, and in the production of | | | | primary reason for their high blood sugars.) |
| coenzyme Q-10. | | | | Insulin resistance is basically just a protective |
| Before about 1960, selenium was assumed to be | | | | mechanism. When blood sugar levels are high, some |
| toxic. That's because, to cattle and goats grazing in | | | | of the glucose "burns" before it even gets inside a |
| the semi-arid western United States, it sometimes is. | | | | cell. To protect their interiors against this "burning" |
| Selenium is not distributed evenly in rocks and soils. | | | | (free-radical generating) glucose, muscle and liver cells |
| Plants take up selenium from the ground and pass | | | | develop "resistance" to the action of insulin to keep |
| the element up the food chain. | | | | glucose out. |
| In the case of selenium-intoxicated goats in | | | | This saves the insides of the cells from oxidation, but |
| Wyoming, some plants get a super-dose of selenium | | | | it also makes the problem worse and blood sugars |
| that's incorporated into the tissues of the animals | | | | get even higher and muscle and liver cells become |
| that eat them. Far more often, selenium simply is not | | | | even more insulin resistant. |
| found in abundance in the natural soils used for | | | | Selenium may help break the cycle. Proteins |
| farming (and this has nothing to do with good or bad | | | | containing selenium may capture some of the free |
| farming practices, the selenium is there or it isn't). | | | | radicals generated by the auto-oxidation of glucose |
| Wheat grown in the US, for instance, has much | | | | so that muscle and liver cells don't have to become |
| higher, and healthier, concentrations of selenium than | | | | as insulin-resistant. |
| wheat grown in other parts of the world. And Brazil | | | | In arthritis, selenium may be helpful by stopping what |
| nuts, in particular, are a superb source of selenium | | | | is called the arachidonic acid cascade. |
| both because of the unique physiology of the tree | | | | In arthritis and in every other condition, both "good" |
| they grow on and the mineral concentrations of soils | | | | and "bad" fatty acids play a role in tissue regulation. |
| in Brazil. | | | | The "good" fatty acids promote tissue regeneration, |
| Selenium is well-known as a nutrient important for | | | | and the "bad" fatty acids promote inflammation |
| cancer prevention. | | | | (which is sometimes a good thing, as when the body |
| There are certain cancers selenium doesn't seem to | | | | is getting rid of an infection). |
| affect. Basal cell and surface squamous cell skin | | | | The problem in arthritis is that the "bad" |
| cancer seem to develop independently of dietary | | | | pro-inflammatory fatty acids are produced in |
| selenium. | | | | overabundance. Selenium tilts the balance of fatty |
| Colorectal, lung, and prostate cancers, on the other | | | | acids back to the anti-inflammatory side. |
| hand, occur less frequently and are survived longer in | | | | This is also how selenium may be helpful in infection. |
| people who take selenium supplements. A | | | | Often the damage associated with an infection is not |
| combination of selenium and anti-inflammatories may | | | | caused by the infectious microorganism itself, but by |
| ameliorate the progression of esophageal squamous | | | | the immune system's over-reaction to the infection. |
| cells cancer. | | | | Selenium dampens the production of inflammatory |
| In parts of China where selenium deficiency is | | | | chemicals by the body itself. |
| common (due to selenium deficiency in the soils), | | | | Sometimes tissue integrity is a "signal" to the |
| there's an unusual incidence of a condition called | | | | infection that the tissue is not ready to be |
| Keshan disease. This is a kind of cardiomyoapthy, | | | | consumed, and selenium-sufficiency can reduce the |
| destruction of the heart muscle with enlarged heart | | | | risk of viral mutation. |
| and poor heart function. Keshan disease occurs | | | | The most common and best-known application of |
| where selenium intake is about 16 micrograms a day, | | | | selenium in natural health, however, is in skin care. |
| which is about half the RDA. | | | | The well-known "blue shampoos" for dandruff and |
| A lot of preliminary research suggests that the way | | | | rinses for athlete's foot and seborrheic dermatitis also |
| selenium is heart-protective works something like this: | | | | contain selenium compounds. And selenium in sunblock |
| - Selenium helps the body conserve the antioxidant | | | | protects the skin against UV radiation. |
| glutathione. | | | | So does this mean you should run out and buy the |
| - Glutathione keeps LDL cholesterol from oxidizing | | | | most expensive selenium supplement you can find? |
| into a form that "sticks" in the lining of blood vessels. | | | | No, two Brazil nuts a day really will do the trick. And |
| - When LDL stays in circulation, it is consumed by the | | | | if you can't eat nuts, four ounces (110 g) of fish or |
| "germ eating" white blood cells known as | | | | shellfish also provides a day's supply of selenium. |
| macrophages in the bloodstream. | | | | Brown rice, oatmeal, beans and peas, brewer's yeast, |
| - When LDL gets "stuck," it's consumed by | | | | and eggs are also good source of this mineral. |