SELENIUM,
A CRITICAL MINERAL FOR HEALTH AND HEALING
by Lawrence Wilson, MD
September 2011, The
Center For Development
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.
SOURCES
While
selenium is found in some foods, most refined and processed foods are very low
in selenium. Also, the selenium in
many foods such as most meats and sea food is not well-utilized, in my
experience. Among the best sources
of well-utilized selenium are:
á
Sardines, and to a lesser degree herring and
anchovies. This is one of the best
sources. Most is in the skin of
these and other fish. Here the
skin is eaten along with the body.
Unfortunately, when people eat fish and meats they often discard the
skin, the part richest in selenium.
Read the article entitled Sardines for more
on this wonderful food.
á
Blue
corn, found mainly in organic blue corn tortilla chips and in
blue corn tortillas. White and
yellow corn also have some selenium, but are not as good as the blue corn
variety. Read Blue Corn on this website for more on this
unique and less hybridized variety of corn products.
á
Raw dairy products such as raw cow or goat milks, some raw
cheeses, yogurts and kefir. Dairy
products must not be pasteurized or homogenized for their selenium to be most
biologically available. Read Raw Dairy Products on this website for more on this
valuable food source.
á
Mustard of all kinds.
This spice is actually an excellent source of selenium in many
cases. Fresh, organic ground
mustard seeds are probably best, but any mustard is good.
á
Garlic, onions and lentils.
These are excellent common food sources of a well-utilized selenium.
á
Hawaiian Bamboo Jade sea salt. This ancient sea salt formula is highly recommended instead
of all other sea salts. It has
other properties that are also extremely beneficial compared to other sea salts
such as Celtic Salt, Real Salt, Himalayan Salt and most others. It can be ordered from
www.thespicelab.com.
á
Stabilized rice bran. This is another excellent source, and tastes good. It is available in many health food
stores and should be kept refrigerated after opening.
á
Arrowroot powder.
This is a thickener used in soups and in other dishes, in Oriental
cuisine. It is more costly than
corn starch, but also far more nutritious and can be added to any meal during
preparation in which a thickener is needed or can be used. It, too, contains some well-utilized
selenium.
á
Nutritional yeast and brewerÕs yeast.
These are good sources of selenium, although they are less recommended
for other reasons. Yeasts are all
quite yin, for example. They may
also contain high amounts of other elements that are less needed.
á
Sunflower seeds and almonds. These can provide some selenium, provided they are chewed
thoroughly or better still, ground into nut and seed butters.
á
Other, less recommended sources. Brazil nuts and other
nuts are also good sources of selenium, but they are very yin so we donÕt
recommend them. Seafood and some fish are excellent
sources, but are too contaminated with toxic metals to recommend except maybe
once a month. Liver and kidney are also good sources, but are often contaminated
with toxic metals. Alfalfa and some mushrooms are also good
sources, but not recommended for regular use. Mushrooms are yin and somewhat toxic. Alfalfa is also somewhat yin, though it
can be a very helpful food item. Spirulina, chlorella, cilantro and other chelators
contain some selenium. However,
these products are somewhat toxic, and their selenium is less well-utilized by
most people. For these reasons, I
never recommend them at all. I
would avoid these products strictly, in fact, although I know may holistic
doctors use them a lot. They are not
needed and they have a subtle toxicity, in my experience.
Most other foods are quite deficient in
highly bioavailable selenium today.
FUNCTIONS OF SELENIUM
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 GraveÕs disease, called GraveÕs 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 HashimotoÕs 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. It is described in a
separate article on this website called The Human Aura Or
Subtle Energy Field. As this
body develops, it is helpful to improve health dramatically, which extends the
lifespan rather dramatically in some cases.
8. Selenium needed for
ÒdevelopmentÓ. 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. This idea is discussed in a number of
articles on this website such as Introduction
To Mental/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.
SYMPTOMS OF SELENIUM
DEFICIENCY
This is extremely common today. I will call this syndrome or tendency selenium
deficiency disease, as it is so common. Those who are deficient in selenium and silicon tend to be
irritable, anxious, rather hopeless, depressed, negative and not pleasant to be
around. They all have low thyroid
function, even if the serum thyroid hormone levels seem normal.
Physical symptoms also often include
impaired hair and nail growth, fatigue that can be severe, nervous sensitivity
and irritability, a tendency for infections and cancer, an impaired immune
response in general, weak adrenal activity, and other symptoms as well that are
secondary and related to these such as hypoglycemia, allergies, asthma, low or
high blood pressure, arterial disease and others.
THE BEST SELENIUM
SUPPLEMENTS
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.
I do not recommend sodium selenite or even selenomethionine,
as these are somewhat less well utilized.
Yeast-based selenium products are okay, but not as good as the
food-based selenium supplements.
Food-based supplements are not always best, in my experience, but they
seem to be best in the case of selenium.
SELENIUM TOXICITY
Selenium can be toxic if consumed in an
incorrect form or if too much is ingested. The most common cause of selenium toxicity in human beings
seen on hair mineral analyses is from using too much Selsun Blue shampoo to kill dandruff. This product contains a slightly toxic form of selenium that
is absorbed to some degree.
Use this product no more than once a
week, at the most. A good
substitute is Head N Shoulders
shampoo, which contains zinc, but not selenium.
A few cases of selenium toxicity occur
due to industrial contamination of water supplies. This mostly happens to animals because most human water
supplies are monitored for excess selenium.
In animals, selenium causes conditions
called selenosis, blind staggers and
alkali disease. These can
give us indicators of the effects of too much or toxic forms of selenium, but
this is beyond the scope of this article, as these conditions are rare among
human beings unless one is industrially exposed to excessive or toxic forms of
selenium that occur in some animal habitats.
SELENIUM AS ONE OF THE
ÒAMIGOSÓ
An oxidized and toxic form of selenium
is often used by our bodies to support adrenal glandular activity in the
body. This phenomenon is
called the amigos, or the
friends. The same thing occurs
with certain oxidized forms of iron, manganese, aluminum, nickel, cobalt,
chromium, boron and even calcium and magnesium, at times. All of these minerals can form
oxides that the body may use to irritate and stimulate adrenal activity.
This phenomenon is described fully in a
separate article entitled Manganese, Iron, and
Aluminum, The Amigos. They are called amigos because the first three above are
usually found together in the body and they all perform a similar
function. At times, selenium is
also part of this group of oxide-bound biounavailable
minerals used to stimulate and 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.
If present, when a person undertakes a nutritional balancing program,
the selenium level in the hair may rise very high for a few months. Then the level will drop back down into
the normal range, indicating that it has been eliminated from the tissues and
the hair.
HAIR ANALYSIS AND SELENIUM
LEVELS
Selenium levels can be read in the hair
tissue with a fair amount of accuracy.
Most hair mineral testing laboratories I have reviewed indicate a normal
value between 0.08 and 0.12 mg%.
An ideal level is probably 0.12 mg% or 1.2 parts per million. More research is required to clarify
this.
Most peopleÕs hair selenium levels are
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 selenium is required.
SELENIUM, GARLIC AND
GENERAL HEALTH
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 others.
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 more information with medical
studies about selenium, read Selenium - From The Journal Alternatives.
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