Cancer Prevention starts with Selenium

Benefits of the Antioxidant Selenium

Some of you may heard of selenium and the numerous benefits you get from it but a lot of people have not. Selenium is thought to help with the following:

Selenium for Cancer Prevention.

Selenium reduces your risk of breast, colon, liver, skin, and lung cancers. Selenium keeps tumors from growing by helping to build healthy, cancer-fighting white blood cells.

Selenium for Heart Disease Prevention.

Studies show that selenium prevents heart attacks and strokes by lowering your bad (LDL) cholesterol. Selenium also keeps your arteries clear of dangerous fatty deposits, which makes it an important addition to your therapy after a heart attack.

Selenium for Busting Your Weakened Immune System

Selenium helps build up white blood cells, boosting your body’s ability to fight illness and infection.

Selenium for Reproductive health

Through increasing male fertility, as well as helping with proper fetal development

Other Selenium Benefits:

Helps the liver, thyroid, and pancreas function normally
Prevents premature aging, cataract formation and, possibly, sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS)
Treats lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, and alcoholic cirrhosis of the liver
Treats most skin disorders, including poor elasticity, acne, eczema, and psoriasis

So what is this miracle substance called Selenium?

Selenium is a trace mineral found in soil and food. It is an important antioxidant, which means it helps prevent harmful chemical reactions from occurring in the body’s cells. Protected cells are better able to fight off diseases, including heart disease, cancer, and disorders associated with aging.

Selenium creates selenium superoxide dismutase, your body’s most powerful antioxidant enzyme. It’s known as SOD. Remember this acronym. It’s going to be BIG buzz for those who are savvy about health.

Selenium has the ability to bond with heavy metals in your body. You take these metals in from air pollution, cigarette smoke, or from the food you eat. When selenium bonds to hazardous metals they can be safely excreted from your body. If they are not excreted, they may damage your organs and even cause cancer.

In areas where the soil is deficient in selenium, there is a higher incidence of cancer. Some cancers are caused by free radical oxidation, which selenium prevents. Selenium also encourages the production of macrophages, which “eat” foreign material that may cause cancer. Can you see the importance of eating foods containing selenium? When foods are highly processed, the selenium is destroyed and since most of our diets consist of many processed foods, most of us do not get enough selenium.

Some Studies on Selenium

There are quite few studies on the benefits of selenium. Read them in this great article alone with a lot more useful information on iFoundTheCure.com

Foods that contain Selenium

The greatest concentration of selenium in our diet is in Brazil nuts, dried, unblanched.

Tuna
Wheat flour, whole-grain
Swordfish
Herring
Sardines
Brewer’s yeast
Wheat germ
Liver
Sunflower seeds
Lentils
Garlic
Alfalfa
Ginseng

Selenium is destroyed when foods are refined or processed. You should try eating a wide variety of whole, unprocessed foods. This means eating foods in their original state, not canned, frozen, or commercially prepared.

If our diet does not consume enough selenium or if you are worried that the soil that most of our food is grown is depleted of most nutrients like selenium, than you should supplement your diet with selenium supplements!

Clinical trials suggest that you take 50 to 200 mcg of selenium daily to see real benefits. Men need at least 70 mcg daily; women at least 55 mcg. Pregnant and nursing mothers’ needs increase to 65 to 75 mcg daily. Researchers say that most of us need to take more than 100 mcg of selenium supplements daily to see improvements in disease resistance and overall health. A lot of research studies indicate that to fight cancer you may need amounts in the 400 mcg to 600 mcg per day. Read the Cancer and Heart Disease Prevention with Selenium

As with all medicines and supplements, check with a health care provider before taking them.

Take selenium with vitamin E daily for best results. Ask your health care provider to recommend an appropriate dose. (200 to 400 mcg of selenium daily taken with 200 IUs of vitamin E is typical.)