1. Selenium from the Soil
Selenium is a trace mineral found in varying degrees in the soil. Some areas are high in selenium and some low. Food crops absorb selenium from the soil they're grown in, and the selenium content of the harvest is in proportion to the amount in the soil. The selenium content of meat depends upon the selenium content of the animals' feed. Selenium aids vitamin E in its function and is necessary to create prostoglandins, which prevent blood clots. It also increases the efficiency of the immune system.
2. Bad Boy Turns Out Good
Scientists used to think that selenium was toxic until studies in the 1960s showed the reverse to be true. These studies demonstrated an inverse relationship between the amount of selenium in the soil and the incidence of breast cancer. The '70s brought studies that showed selenium deterred carcinogens and reduced the amount of tumors. With these results, scientists no longer considered selenium the black sheep of the elements.
3. Selenium Measurement Is Questioned
One study at Harvard, which used toenail clippings as a measure of the amount of selenium in the body, showed no reduction if there were higher amounts of selenium in the toenail. Its results were negated by a Cornell study that could find no correlation to the amount of selenium in the body compared to that in the toenail.
4. Significant on Some Forms of Cancer
The connection between selenium and cancer prevention isn't definitive, but studies point in that direction. A study by the University of Arizona and Cornell University was a placebo-controlled, double-blind study over a 10-year period. Researchers performed the study to explore a potential link between skin cancer and inadequate selenium levels. It didn't show that there was any significance to skin-cancer prevention. However, it did show a significant drop in the rate of other cancers. The two universities' studies showed increased selenium reduced other cancer by 41 percent. They found a 71 percent lower incidence of prostrate cancer, a 67 percent reduction of esophageal cancer, a 62 percent reduction of colorectal cancer and a 46 percent reduction of lung cancer in the group that received the selenium rather than the placebo.
5. Selenium Varies in Different Locations
If you live on the Southeastern seaboard or in the Pacific Northwest, you get 10 to 20 times more selenium than the average citizen in some areas of China. Many reasons account for the differences, including food-preparation methods and huge differences in the soil. Most scientists believe that the average person requires between 55 and 70 micrograms a day.
