Named for the moon goddess Selene, the mineral selenium deserves to be treated with reverence. Selenium is versatile and has a wide array of health benefits. Selenium is crucial for antioxidant defenses, boosts the immune system, and helps prevent cancer in several distinct ways.
Selenium has attracted attention because of its antioxidant properties. Antioxidants protect cells from damage. There is some evidence that selenium supplements may reduce the odds of prostate cancer.
Selenium has also been studied for the treatment of dozens of conditions. They range from asthma to arthritis to dandruff to infertility. However, the results have been inconclusive.
Selenium is a fascinating element, and one that, in fact, opens up an entire world of experience for human beings. By this I mean that selenium is required for the functioning and development of certain areas of the brain that open a person to higher emotions and higher thought. It is also an essential mineral for thyroid functioning, along with iodine.
Selenium supplementation is always included in nutritional balancing programs and everyone needs a supplement. With this short introduction, let us examine the sources, functions and metabolic effects of selenium on the human body.
Well-known functions of selenium in the body include the following:
1. Thyroid activity. Selenium is required to produce thyroid hormone, called tetraiodothyronine or T4. It is also needed for the conversion of T4 to the more active form of the hormone, called triiodothyronine or T3. This is a critical function that is sub-optimal in many people today.
If the body cannot convert T4 to T3, then thyroid hormone activity will diminish significantly, even if enough T4 is being produced. Many doctors measure these hormones and then they give hormone replacement of T3 if it is low. However, I feel this is needless, as giving enough available selenium will often correct the problem in a much more elegant and physiological manner, without the need for drugs.
Selenium has been found to specifically counteract the ocular or eye dysfunction of Grave’s disease, called Grave’s orbitopathy, and characterized by exothalamus (protrusion of the eyeball), and proptosis (movement outward of the eye). This is in response to swelling and inflammation of the muscles and structures behind and around the eyeball.
Selenium has also been found to help resolve Hashimoto’s autoimmune thyroiditis.
2. Anti-oxidant activity and glutathione synthesis. Glutathione is a substance produced in the liver and elsewhere that is critical for detoxification within the liver and in every body cell. Glutathione is one of the most important substances in the human body. Its production depends on the availability of several amino acids, along with available iron and selenium. This forms the enzyme glutathione peroxidase, which is a step in glutathione production and metabolism.
When glutathione production is low, detoxification in the liver is seriously impaired. This means the body is less able to eliminate all toxic metals, many toxic chemicals and other substances such as biological toxins. Thus, this function of selenium is also a critical one.
3. Heavy metal detoxification. This has to do with glutathione production, mainly, although thyroid activity and other functions related to selenium are required for all metal detoxification. This is why garlic, and the other sources of selenium listed above are so important.
4. Infection-fighting ability. Selenium enhances the immune response in most cases. This has to do with thyroid enzymes, and other factors as well.
5. Cancer prevention and possibly correction. This is a research area, but Dr. Emanuel Revicci and many others have used selenium products to help reverse cancer in a very non-toxic manner. Selenium reduces toxic metals and other problems that can lead to cancer.
6. Mental health. Selenium, along with silicon, share certain characteristics. They help impart a silky, smooth quality to the personality. Some foods that are high in selenium, such as corn silk, have this same smooth, silky quality.
It may sound odd to think that a silky, smooth texture of a mineral could have a similar effect on the nervous system, but it is the case. Selenium and silicon are absolutely essential for mental health today. They help with feelings of joy and happiness, and give a certain lightness to the personality as well.
7. Etheric development and life extension. Selenium is absolutely essential for the development of the etheric body. This is one of the main subtle human bodies. As this body develops, it is helpful to improve health dramatically, which extends the lifespan rather dramatically in some cases.
8. Selenium needed for “development”. This is also an esoteric concept that is related to the growth of the etheric body discussed above. Selenium plays a role in activating certain areas of the brain that are associated with what I call mental or spiritual development.
Selenium is so important in this regard that it is now an essential nutrient to add to nutritional balancing programs in some cases.
Selenium and Breast Cancer
The relationship between selenium status and intake among breast cancer patients was studied by scientists in Kuala Lumpur. 64 women with breast cancer and 127 matched controls were interviewed to obtain information on their habitual dietary intakes, demographic data, and medical history. Selenium status was determined from toenail and hair analysis. The researchers found that total energy and protein intake was significantly higher among controls than among the breast cancer cases. The selenium intake among the women with breast cancer was significantly lower than the controls. Breast cancer risk decreased with the increasing quartiles of selenium intake. Selenium in hair did not differ among breast cancer cases and controls, but selenium status in the nails of controls was significantly higher compared to the breast cancer cases. (Sinapore Medical Journal, March).
In a recent study done at the University of Washington, scientists investigated the signaling pathways modulated by selenium. They compared global gene expression profiles in mammary tissues from pubescent female rats maintained on a selenium (3ppm) diet with those on a standardized diet. The selenium-enriched diet altered the steady-state levels of genes involved in various cellular functioning, the most dramatic of which was the changes in the expression of multiple genes that regulate circadian rhythm.
The normal mammary tissue of rats fed the standardized diet showed little circadian oscillation relative to liver tissue. However, the mammary tissue of the selenium fed rats showed a progressive, time-dependent increase in the expression of circadian gene Per2, and a circadian regulated transcription factor. Further, the results showed that the expression of Per2 and transcription mitigated RNA was significantly decreased in mammary tumors arising in selenium fed rate, but not in tumors of rats on the control diet. This suggests that selenium-induced elevation in the expression of circadian genes was incompatible with mammary cancer. The researchers concluded that the Per 2 gene is an important target of selenium for cancer prevention. (Cancer Prevention Research, July, 2008)
Selenium's main role is inhibiting the oxidation of fats as a component of the enzyme glutathione peroxidase, one of the most powerful of the body's own antioxidants. When combined with vitamin E, selenium protects the immune system. It plays a vital role in regulating the effects of thyroid hormone on fat metabolism. In a study, men who consumed 200 mcg of selenium daily over a ten-year period had roughly half the risk of developing lung, prostate, and colorectal cancer compared with men who did not.
Symptoms of selenium deficiency are exhaustion, high cholesterol, infections, liver impairment, and pancreatic insufficiency. Westerners often do not have enough selenium, because it is processed out of the foods typically eaten. This is one of the reasons that American men are five times more likely than Japanese men to die from prostate cancer. The typical Asian diet contains four times the amount of selenium as the typical American diet.
Selenium and Muscle Dystrophy
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