SELENIUM, A NEW MINERAL FOR
HEALTH AND HEALING
By Lawrence Wilson, MD
© August, 2008, The Center For Development
Selenium is a
fascinating element. Let us examine
its sources, functions and metabolic effects upon the human body.
Selenium is found in
nuts, seeds, grains and a few other foods. Among the best sources are blue corn, such as that used in
blue corn chips. Another excellent
source is white and yellow corn, though these are not as high as in the blue
varieties.
Other
excellent sources are nuts including Brazil nuts, cashews and peanuts. BrewerÕs yeast is another excellent
source of selenium.
Seafood
and fish can be excellent sources, but are too contaminated with toxic metals
to recommend for eating often. The
same is true for livers and kidneys, which are also excellent sources.
Beef,
lamb, eggs and chicken are other good sources. Seeds can provide some selenium, provided they are chewed
thoroughly or ground into nut and seed butters. Garlic is also an excellent source of selenium, as are
onions, lentils, alfalfa, some cheeses and at times mushrooms.
Most
other foods are deficienct in bioavailable selenium today, thanks to food processing
that removes some or most of the selenium. Common deficient foods include table salt, white bread,
white rice (except perhaps Basmati white rice), and all white sugar products.
Well-known functions
of selenium in the body include the following:
1.
Thyroid activity. Selenium is required for the conversion
of T4 to T3. This is a critical
function that is deficient in many people today.
T4
or tetraiodothyronine is the form of thyroid hormone that is produced in the
thyroid gland.
T3 or
triiodothyronine is the far more active form of the hormone. If the body cannot convert T4 to T3,
then thyroid hormone activity will diminish significantly, even if enough T4 is
being produced.
2.
Glutathione synthesis. Glutathione is a substance produced in
the liver and elsewhere that is critical for detoxification within the
liver. Its production depends on
the availability of several amino acids and selenium in the production of the
enzyme glutathione peroxidase,
which also requires bioavailable iron.
When
glutathione production is low, detoxification in the liver is seriously
impaired. This means the body is
less able to eliminate all toxic metals, toxic chemicals and other substances. Thus, this function of selenium is also
a critical one.
3.
Heavy metal detoxification. Selenium is replaced by several toxic
metals in the body, including mercury, copper and others. Conversely, supplementing with selenium
can help the replacement process when mercury, cadmium, aluminum, nickel and
other toxic metals are being eliminated from the body. Thus selenium is useful in all programs
to help remove toxic metals from the body.
4.
Selenium needed for mental health. Selenium and silicon share certain
characteristics. They give a
silky, smooth quality to the personality. Often foods high in selenium, such as corn silk, has
this same smooth, silky quality.
This
may seem like a vague comparison, but selenium and silicon are absolutely
essential for mental health today.
Many of those who are deficient in selenium and silicon are thus
irritable, anxious, negative and not pleasant to be around.
5.
Selenium needed for ÒdevelopmentÓ. This is an even more vague concept, but
nevertheless true. Selenium plays a role in activating
certain areas of the brain that are associated with what I call spiritual
development. This idea will be
developed fully in future articles, but I just wanted to introduce it here
because it is important for our future as a race of superhuman beings.
The
best way to ingest selenium is through foods. However, there is not enough in most foods to be
helpful. Thus, it can be given in
the form of a nutritional supplement as well.
The
best supplements appear to be those of food origin, such as the one from
Endomet Labs in Phoenix, AZ called Selenase and others that are similar
food-based products. However, do
not use the sodium selenite or even selenomethionine, as these are somewhat
less well absorbed.
Selenium
can be toxic if consumed in large quantities. In animals, selenium causes conditions called selenosis,
Òblind staggersÓ and Òalkali diseaseÓ.
These can give us indicators of the effects of too much or toxic forms
of selenium.
Selenium
is not at all dangerous, however, if consumed in a food-based supplement, as
the body can eliminate the excess.
Most cases of selenium toxicity occur due to industrial contamination of
water supplies where birds and animals live. This is not the case with human beings, at least not in the industrialized world in which
water supplies are monitored for excess selenium.
Selenium
in Selsun Blue Shampoo. This causes high selenium readings on a
hair test. This shampoo, used to
kill dandruff or scalp itchiness from any cause, is considered an
over-the-counter drug.
However, it contains toxic amounts of a poorly absorbed form of
selenium.
I
recommend that it be used, if at all, only once weekly. Otherwise, it will cause the absorption
of toxic amounts of selenium that are revealed on a hair analysis. This is one advantage of hair testing,
in that imbalances of this nature are revealed and can be taken care of.
Selenium
is occasionally used to support adrenal glandular activity in the body. In this regard, it is similar to the
toxic forms of manganese and iron that the body may use to irritate or
stimulate adrenal activity.
This
phenomenon is described fully in a separate article entitled Manganese, Iron, and Aluminum, The Three Amigos. They are so-called because these three
are usually found together in the body.
However,
at times, selenium is also part of this group of oxide-bound biounavailable
minerals used to stimulate or irritate the adrenals to maintain their activity.
This
form of selenium must be eliminated from the body. It cannot be converted easily and used by the body. On a hair analysis, it will rise very
high, usually, and then the level will drop back down, usually below the ideal,
indicating it has been eliminated from the tissues and the hair.
In
the hair, selenium accumulates to some degree. This means it can be read in a hair analysis. The ideal level is about 0. 1 mg% or
so. This requires more research to
determine exactly. The hair
analysis labs I have reviewed indicate normal values somewhere between 0.08 and
0.12 for the most part. This is
probably a little low but not far off base.
Hair
selenium levels are often low because selenium is deficient in the diets
today. Also, selenium is required
for detoxification and this is a burden today on the bodies of almost everyone. Thus even more is required and the body
will pull selenium from storage sites such as the hair and skin if needed. This is one cause of
selenium-deficiency symptoms today.
These include poor nail growth, poor hair growth and others.
Selenium
is a wonderful aid for general health.
It is one of the reasons garlic has an ancient and important place among
the food kingdom and herbal medicine.
Garlic is quite high in a bioavailable form of selenium. Garlic, of course, also contains many
other nutritious items such as sulfur-bearing amino acids, allicin and many
others. However, the selenium it
contains is excellent and health-giving.
Selenium
is needed in the human beings of today so much that garlic is a highly-prized
food today, as it was even in the days of the Egyptian slaves, who ate it for
strength and long life. Garlic is
also useful to lower blood pressure, to counteract infection and for much
more. Many of these attributes are
in part due to its selenium content.
For
much more about selenium, read the article on this website entitled Selenium (from Alternatives, 12:14;107-111.) .
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