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This is extremely powerful information, and validates and underscores what I have said since 1985, and stated in these pages. Please note: selenium is one of the dozens of trace elements (also called minerals) which is not maintained in the soil by our modern agriculture. The only agricultural source at present is in "selenium fortified" chicken feed, which is by no means used by all farmers. |
Since the natural selenium content of the soil varies greatly from region to region, even place to place, and since it has become severely deficient or exhausted in all chemically farmed soils, there is now a wide-spread selenium deficiency almost everywhere - and consequently, in most of our daily food.
Please also note that selenium - like all trace elements (or minerals) - works best in conjunction with the full natural spectrum of the 72+ nutritional trace elements. Thus, a daily helping of seafood is a valid, and in many ways, much better source of selenium. |
The Healing Power of Selenium
The August 2000 issue of the British medical journal "Lancet" contains a summary of evidence from 80 scientific studies published around the world which show why selenium is so essential to our health and well being and, more importantly, why we are not getting enough of it.
In her review in the "Lancet", Margaret Rayman of the Centre for Nutrition and Food Safety at the University of Surrey, describes selenium as "of fundamental importance to human health".
Selenium is essential to the proper functioning of the immune system and boots our defences and resistance to infection. It improves male fertility and prevents miscarriage. Low levels are associated with depression and other mental disorders and high levels help prevent cancer. Deficient levels in the diet may even have played a role in the emergence of new strains of the flu virus in China and the crossing of the HIV virus from animals to man in Central Africa.
Repeated analyses have shown that not a single country in Europe has a selenium intake high enough for the population to enjoy the maximum protective effect. In the UK, the average intake of 29-39 micrograms of selenium a day is half the recommended daily amount of 75 micrograms for men and 60 for women (my comment: much too low, see below). Selenium enters into the food chain through plants which take it up from the soil but in many parts of the world, including Europe, iron and aluminium in the soil reduce uptake. Blood levels of selenium are lowest in Spain, Greece and Eastern Europe and are generally lower in Europe than in the US because soil levels in Europe are lower. In the UK, intake of selenium has "declined considerably" in the last 25 years, according to Dr Rayman.
Most of our selenium is obtained from meat, poultry and fish which together account for over a third of our daily intake. Another fifth comes from bread and cereals made with wheat, which, although not a good source, is so commonly consumed it accounts for a significant proportion of the total. The best sources of selenium, containing the highest level of the mineral, are brazil nuts, and kidneys. Other good sources are shellfish, especially crab, other fish and liver.
Questions remain whether a daily selenium supplement is a valid substitute, but the evidence is growing. In a study called the Nutritional Prevention of Cancer (NPC) trial in the US 1,300 people who had been treated for skin cancers other than melanoma (the most serious kind) were given selenium supplements or a placebo to see if the mineral reduced the recurrence rate.
It did not, but to everyone's surprise, the trial did show that deaths from all kinds of cancer were halved in the group given selenium and there were 63 per cent fewer cancers of the prostate, 58 per cent fewer cases of bowel cancer and 46 per cent fewer cases of lung cancer. The strongest effect was seen in those with the lowest blood level of selenium at the outset, below 106 micrograms per litre.
This trial is now being repeated in three European countries - the UK, Denmark and Sweden - to see if the findings of the US study can be replicated. Blood levels of selenium in 33,000 people, including 11,000 in the UK , are now being measured for what is called the PRECISE trial (Prevention of Cancer by Intervention with Selenium) of which the UK arm is being run by Dr Rayman. The effect of the mineral on mood and quality of life is also being studied.
The impact of supplements is expected to be greatest on those with the lowest levels of selenium in their blood. But even for those with relatively high levels, supplementation appears to have beneficial effects. One study in the US showed that people with natural levels between 120 and 134 micrograms per litre who took supplements of 200 micrograms a day showed evidence of "considerable immunoenhancing effects" - that is, a stronger immune system. Another study showed a near doubling in the activity of killer cells in the immune system.
Low levels of selenium appear to allow otherwise harmless viruses to become virulent and this could be a factor in the spread of infection. In experiments on mice, the mineral has been shown to be protective against heart damage caused by the coxsackie virus and if other viruses were implicated, such as polio, hepatitis, flu or HIV "there would be considerable public health implications," Dr Rayman says.
She adds: "The steady emergence of new strains of influenza in China [origin of most of the flu epidemics that subsequently travel round the world] with its selenium deficient belt or the first crossing over of HIV to human beings in the selenium-deficient population of Zaire, might also be explained."
If the results of the PRECISE trial are positive, and the cancer-preventive effect of selenium is confirmed, it could do more than trigger a rush for the supplement. With clear evidence that our national diet is deficient in the mineral more radical action may be necessary. In Finland, where selenium intakes were very low, the mineral has been added to fertilisers since 1984 to boost selenium levels in the population.
The UK government is consulting on plans to require all flour to be fortified with folic acid to prevent the birth of spina bifida babies. Adding selenium to the food supply might one day cut cancer rates and boost immunity - which would make supplement unnecessary.
Warning: Dr Rayman warns - and as I have stated here repeatedly: selenium is deadly in overdose. "More of a good thing is better" is not true in the case of the trace elements. It would kill you. Never exceed the maximum daily intake which may be as low as 600 micrograms a day, according to Dr. Rayman. "It would seem prudent to restrict adult daily intake to a maximum of 400 to 450 micrograms per day as recommended by several expert panels," she warns.
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