FAQs About Selenium Replenishment

01

When was selenium discovered to be an essential trace mineral for man?

In 1973 WHO classified selenium as a vital trace mineral critical for biological well-being; 1988 China’s Association of Nutrition listed selenium as one of the fifteen essential trace minerals required by man; 2003 US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved an important resolution that recognised selenium as an effective anti-cancer agent.

Currently, selenium is known worldwide as a nutritional element that aids the human body to destroy cancerous cells, maintain healthy liver functions, detox efficiently and prevent premature aging.

02

What are the 10 benefits of selenium?

1. Antioxidant and anti-aging (Light of life)
2. Protect, repair & rejuvenate cells, and help to boost immunity (Light of life)
3. Detox & remove toxins, and anti-radiation (Nature’s antidote)
4. Help to inhibit tumour growth (Anti-cancer king)
5. Protect cardiovascular system (Heart protector)
6. Protect liver functions (Natural enemy of liver diseases)
7. Help to restore insulin functions (Insulin of trace minerals)
8. Improve vision (messenger of brightness)
9. Enhance reproductive functions (Angel of life)
10. Play an important biological role in preventing and promoting recovery from arthritic joint problems, respiratory as well as gastrointestinal diseases

03

What are the common causes of selenium deficiency in most people?

Five major reasons:

1. Insufficient selenium in the natural environment

Some countries like China have agricultural lands that naturally lack selenium so any crops grown in such regions will contain negligible amount of selenium

2. Environmental pollution

Toxic residues resulting from overuse of pesticides and chemical fertilisers, pollution by smelting plants and printing factories around agricultural lands prevent crops from taking in sufficient selenium

3. An unbalanced diet

Overload with highly refined and processed macronutrients with little whole grains that only contain trace amounts of selenium leading to dietary insufficiency

4. Excessive smoking and alcoholic drinking

Cadmium, a toxic heavy metal found in tobacco, and carcinogenic organic compounds released during smoking will affect selenium absorption; alcohol addiction will severely impair liver functions as selenium is depleted rapidly in the process of metabolising alcohols into harmless substances

5. Diminished gastrointestinal functions in aging folks that leads to poor selenium absorption and lack thereof

04

Who needs to supplement with selenium intake?

As long as you are not residing in a region that is rich in selenium, even if you are healthy, it is still advisable to supplement your diet with selenium. This is all the more important for the those suffering from the following conditions:

• Cardiovascular diseases
• Cancerous tumour growth
• Diabetes
• Chronic liver diseases
• Gastrointestinal diseases
• Respiratory diseases e.g. asthma
• Poor vision, eye problems such as glaucoma, cataracts
• Reproductive diseases and infertility
• Occupations that involve constant contact with poisonous substances
• Suboptimal health
• Senior citizens who desire to lead healthy and active lifestyles

05

What is the main source of selenium intake and recommended daily consumption?

Association of Nutrition in China recommends a daily selenium intake between 50 – 250 micrograms for adults. Long term insufficient consumption of selenium below 50μg may trigger the development of chronic problems such as cancer, liver diseases and cardiovascular diseases. We can absorb selenium through the food we eat every day, however, the amount absorbed usually falls below the lower limit of 50μg suggested. Therefore it is best to consider supplementation through other means.

06

Which foods are high in selenium content?

Seafood products, animal internal organs such as liver and kidneys, eggs and related products, as well as nuts. Specific foods that are rich in selenium are: konjac powder; salmon roe; pig kidneys, squid, sea cucumber, turtle, cuttlefish, oyster, prawn, wheat germ flour.

07

What diseases are potentially affected by chronic lack of selenium?

For the past twenty years, scientists around the world have discovered through extensive research, human diseases that are known to be linked with selenium deficiency include cancer, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, liver diseases, unbalanced thyroid hormones level as well as more than forty other chronic health conditions.

08

How long does absorbed selenium remain in the body?

Biological half-life is the time taken for the concentration of a biological substance absorbed by a living being to decrease from its maximum concentration to half in the blood plasma. The shorter the period pf half-life, the shorter the working time of a trace mineral inside the body. Research studies conducted on selenium metabolism reveals that it has a relatively shorter biological half-life with an operating rate around eleven days, meaning selenium is used up rapidly by various organ systems and removed within a short time span. Existing experimental results indicate that an adult expels a total of approximately 50μg selenium through urine, stools, sweat, exhaled breath and hair loss. Some amounts of selenium in male adults are also removed through semen secretions.

09

How is selenium being distributed and used in the body?

When selenium is ingested in the form of selenium-rich foods, it is primarily absorbed by the small intestines of the digestive system before being transported to other body tissues to take part in metabolic activities that support life.

After entering the blood stream through intestinal absorption, selenium ions are rapidly taken up by the haemoglobin of red blood cells, albumin and alpha globulin in the blood plasma in the form of loose ionic bonds, to be transported to different tissues and organs. Selenium tends to be distributed to tissues richly supplied with blood. The more extensive the blood capillary network within an organ, the higher the amount of selenium being channelled there, followed by distribution to organs and tissues that have a high bonding affinity for selenium ions. Selenium is predominantly found in the liver, kidneys and reproductive glands, then blood plasma, spleen, heart, muscles, pancreas, lungs, brain, bones and the digestive tract.

10

Do we need to supplement with selenium for life?

Like any essential nutrients required by man, selenium plays an active role in metabolism whereby it is continually taken up for enzyme activation, used up and removed. Moreover, selenium is a nutritional element that is easily excreted from the body, hence we need to have sufficient dietary intake in order to maintain our normal metabolism. This is even more so for people residing in selenium-poor regions to ensure they receive adequate selenium supplementation, or else they may fall sick more frequently due to a weakened immune system.  

11

Why is selenium known as Nature’s Antioxidant and Super Mineral Fighter against Free Radicals?

Scientists have discovered to date in the world, that selenium as an element, presents one of the strongest antioxidant activities against free radicals, with an antioxidant strength that is 500 times more compared to vitamin E. Therefore selenium is considered one of the essential free radical scavengers required by the body.

The most destructive free radicals existing within the human body are free oxygen radicals. When too much of these free oxygen radicals are generated in the organ systems in response to environmental pollution and contact with toxins, unregulated free radical run amok to attack and oxidise surrounding cellular tissues, severely damaging cells in the process. On the other hand, the human body does produce and make use of a myriad of antioxidant substances to render these free radicals harmless. One of them is glutathione peroxidase, an intracellular antioxidant enzyme that is found in all body cells. However, the biological activity of glutathione peroxidase is only activated in the presence of selenium. Therefore it is through the activation of glutathione peroxidase that selenium exerts its antioxidant effects.    

12

What is the biological mechanism behind selenium’s anti-cancer ability?

According to the vast volumes of published scientific literature, selenium works to prevent and promote recovery from cancer in the following ways:

1. Oxidative stress in the body whereby there is insufficient antioxidants to deal with the incessant production of free radicals is a major cause of cellular and DNA damage that leads to the development of cancer. Selenium is a very powerful antioxidant that can effectively removes excess free radicals, and switches on suppressor genes in cells to protect themselves from becoming cancerous.
2. Selenium helps to strengthen cellular immunity, destroy cancerous cells, and prevent the proliferation and metastasis of tumours. In laboratory experiments that cultivate cancerous cells, the researchers observed that once the concentration of dissolved selenium hit a threshold point, cancerous cells would be induced into apoptosis (cell death).
3. Selenium can prevent the formation of new blood vessels (angiogenesis) around growing tumours, which limits the supply of nutrients that the cancerous cells need, thereby slowing down the rate of tumour growth to a certain extent.

13

Which cancers benefit from selenium supplementation?

Researchers at US Arizona Cancer Research Center recruited 1321 cancer patients and conducted extensive clinical trials to study about the effects of selenium supplementation which spanned over thirteen years. Research results showed that a daily intake of 200μg selenium helps to reduce the incidence rate of cancer recurrence and mortality rate by 37% and 50% respectively. On top of that, the anti-cancer benefits of selenium are most pronounced in cancers of the prostate gland, colon and lungs whereby the incidence rate of recurrence dropped by 63%, 58% and 46% respectively. This particular clinical study is deemed as a milestone in the medical investigation of selenium as a potential treatment protocol for cancer patients.

14

How does selenium strengthen cellular immunity?

Selenium exerts beneficial effects that protect the health of thymus gland, maintain the biological activity of lymphocytes and promote the formation of antibodies. Scientific research shows that selenium can stimulate the production and maturation of the right types of immunoglobulins required in different body parts that is necessary for the optimal functioning of the immune system to fight off pathogenic microbes.

Selenium also suppresses the proliferation of cancerous cells to a certain degree through elevating immunoglobulin levels in the blood, enhance and strength the pathogen-engulfing functions of phagocytic immune cells as well as the immunological functions of cytotoxic T cells to curb and destroy any cancerous cells detected in the body.

15

In view of so many immune-strengthening health supplements already available on the market, how differently does selenium work that makes it one-of-a-kind product?

Despite the many health supplements that come in all sorts of forms and shapes, they work on the same principle of supplying the body with many varied nutrients to ensure it has a balanced nutritional profile that supports the healthy functioning of the immune system. The process of aging and the onset of chronic diseases have everything to do with the body cells being overwhelmed with oxidative damage or subdued by pro-inflammatory substances. And how selenium works to improve the body’s immunity is through detox of toxic substances and prompt reduction of free radicals in and without body cells. Therefore selenium supplementation offers a relatively fast and direct way to boost the health of one’s immune system.

16

Does selenium intake help malnourished children to grow better?

Clinical research studies discovered that malnourished children have very low levels of blood selenium. The data seems to suggest that merely providing these children with good quality proteins without enough selenium supplementation does not substantially improve the growth and development of these children. Significant positive growth outcomes are only observed when they received ample amount of dietary selenium. Therefore dietary selenium supplementation is beneficial for the health growth of children.

17

How does insufficient selenium intake affect the growing foetus during pregnancy?

Dietary selenium is one of the fundamental elements required in cellular formation as it is widely found in many tissues and organs. Man’s need for selenium begins right from the foetal stage, so it goes without saying that a lack of dietary selenium in maternal nutrition will affect the normal growing processes of a foetus that may lead to possible birth defects or abnormal foetal development. Therefore, it is critical that mothers-to-be supplement with ample dietary selenium during pregnancy.

18

Why is selenium the Nature’s Antidote against toxins?

Selenium anions are non-metallic ions that combine with positively charged metallic cations which are toxic heavy metals in the body, to form metal-selenoprotein complexes. And these selenoprotein complexes are soluble substances that can be easily removed from the body, thereby minimising the toxic effects of heavy metal residues on cellular tissues and help the body to detox effectively. Moreover, selenium also exerts powerful antifungal effects against aflatoxins B1 which are identified as carcinogenic substances.

19

Why is selenium called "The Insulin of Trace Minerals"?

Selenium in the form of selenate has insulin-like functions that help to lower blood glucose levels. It increases cellular ability to take up blood glucose and enhances the conversion of glucose into glycogen stored inside the cells. This not only achieve homeostasis of maintaining a stable blood glucose level in the body, but it also ensures that cells have sufficient supply of glucose for their energy metabolism. This is how selenium exerts insulin-like influences in cellular tissues.

20

How does selenium lower the incidence of diabetic complications?

Selenium aids in reducing disease complications caused by diabetes in two ways:

1. Free radicals elimination - under the influence of chronically elevated blood glucose levels, free radicals form rampantly that damage cellular tissues which in turn affects the normal functioning of organ systems. Selenium can activate glutathione peroxidase, a key player of the body’s inherent antioxidant mechanism, that boosts the body’s ability to alleviate oxidative stress through prompt removal of free radicals and helps to safeguard the well-being of cellular tissues.
2. Strengthen cellular immunity to fight off pathogenic microbes – selenium helps diabetic patients to put up a stronger defense against infections and mitigate the development of chronic conditions arising from diabetic complications

21

When a diabetic person takes selenium supplementation, can he stop his diabetic medications?

Selenium supplementation may serve as a better supportive measure to help people having diabetes to gradually recover their pancreatic functions, as dietary selenium has insulin-like properties which help to regulate blood glucose levels and thus reduce any symptoms caused by the chronic disease. However, even as the patient reports an observable relief from diabetic symptoms, it is inadvisable for him to stop his medication arbitrarily or lower his dosage without medical supervision, as it may cause a rebound of blood glucose levels that may be life-threatening in severe cases. Therefore, the patient should continue with his treatment protocol for diabetes while taking selenium supplements until his regular blood glucose testing gives a definite favourable outcome as advised by his doctor.

Pancreatic functions are easily disrupted by selenium deficiency, leading to reduced secretions of insulin that causes abnormal glucose tolerance. Clinical studies have recorded that diabetic patients have a noticeably lower blood selenium levels compared to healthy individuals. What’s frightening is not the disease itself, but the chronic inflammatory conditions brought about diabetes. And selenium supplementation demonstrates the potential to effectively protects the body from developing complications therefore diabetic patients are recommended to keep supplement their diet with selenium for the long run.

22

Does selenium intake help to improve micro-blood circulation in the body?

The exchange of nutrients and metabolic wastes between body cells and the blood plasma is only achievable through micro-blood circulation in the blood capillaries. Should there be any cellular damage to the tissues that make up the blood capillaries, it will impact the flow of blood negatively that obstruct the efficient uptake of nutrients and removal of metabolic wastes. This will naturally disrupt the normal functioning of affected tissues and organs, and if healing does not occur timely, it will eventually progress to developing a chronic condition or premature aging of the affected organ. When blood selenium levels drops in the body, its ability to clear free radicals is also compromised, leading to residual free radicals inflicting oxidative damage onto blood capillary cells. However, selenium supplementation can help to support a healthy micro-blood circulation in the body, which protects the body from diseases caused by a poor micro-blood circulation.

23

Is there any connection between prostate problems and selenium deficiency?

Prostate-related diseases are a common health problem amongst middle-aged and above men. Scientific studies reveal that the incidence rate of prostate problems are much higher in men residing in selenium-poor regions than selenium-rich regions.

As one grows old, what with increasing exposure to environmental toxins and selenium deficiency that disrupt hormonal balance, all these bring about the accumulation of cadmium in the prostate gland which triggers its enlargement and even development of cancerous cells.

Selenium can effectively removes cadmium from the body and suppress the proliferative effect of cadmium on prostate gland membranes, all of which help to alleviate the condition and promote better recovery.

24

How does selenium influence suboptimal health conditions?

Suboptimal health is a condition whereby the physical well-being of the human body oscillates between wellness and disease that is marked by negative changes in cellular functions though there is no observable pathological changes in tissues and organs. Suboptimal condition is closely linked to chronic fatigue and nutritional imbalance. Selenium is an essential antioxidative trace mineral for human body, so insufficient selenium intake will lower cellular immunity and this is usually experienced in the form of having many different uncomfortable physical symptoms and getting tired easily. What’s next is the onset and gradual development of inflammatory chronic diseases linked to an out-of-balance immune system. Therefore a reasonable supplementation of selenium can help minimise the symptoms of suboptimal health condition.

25

How does selenium affect the aging process?

Cellular tissues inevitably keep on generating free radicals during metabolism in order to sustain life and these free radicals are the main culprit that causes aging as they proceed to damage surrounding cellular organelles and membranes if they are allowed to run amok. Both Chinese and foreign scientists discovered, after spending extensive years of in depth research, that selenium is one of the essential trace minerals effective in preventing pathological changes of cellular tissues and premature aging from occurring in the body through the prompt elimination of free radicals , that helps the body to maintain health and vigour. There are many scientific studies that demonstrated that centenarians have a higher level of selenium in their bodies compared to healthy individuals.

26

Does selenium help to improve vision?

Eagles are said to have the sharpest vision, being able to see a slithering snake on the ground while soaring in the skies above 3km high. Scientific studies revealed that there is rich store of selenium in the eagle’s eyes which is almost 100 times more concentrated compared to human eyes. This abundant store of selenium is widely distributed in the retina, iris and crystalline lens of the eagle’s eyes. The contraction of the pupils and the movement of eyeballs controlled by the contraction of eye muscles are all closely linked to the effects of selenium.

Selenium can effectively remove destructive free radicals and protect the eye membranes from oxidative damage. If human eyes suffer from a long term deprivation of selenium, it will affect the cellular integrity of the eye membranes that leads to vision impairment and development of different eye diseases. Besides this, selenium also regulates the absorption and use of vitamin A. selenium deficiency will invariably disrupt vitamin A metabolism and cause depletion. This has damaging consequences as vitamin A is a critical trace substance which enable the eyes to function well by participating in the formation of the visual purple element that makes up the retina.

Clinical studies have demonstrated that selenium helps to improve vision and is beneficial as part of the treatment administered to people having cataracts and a host of other retina diseases hence selenium is known as The Messenger of Brightness. 

27

Does selenium deficiency induce the development of cataracts?

Selenium prevents the peroxidation of lipids in cellular tissues through the activity of glutathione peroxidase (GPx-1) which belongs to a family of ubiquitous intracellular antioxidant enzymes found in all mammalian tissues.

GPx-1 contains selenium in its active center and are abundantly distributed in the cytosol and mitochondria of all human body cells. Se-dependent GPx-1 exhibits hight reactivity towards both hydrogen peroxide (generated during energy metabolism required by cells) and lipid peroxides (formed when free oxygen radicals attack the lipid components of cellular structures) by detoxifying and reducing hydrogen peroxide into water and oxygen, as well as toxic lipid peroxides into corresponding less toxic hydroxy fatty acids utilising glutathione as a co-factor.

In the absence of selenium, GPx-1 exhibits subdued biological activity that affects the optimal functioning of intracellular antioxidant defense system within the cells, that leads to damages on cellular structures and breaking down of proteins (crystallin) in the lenses of the eyes that start to clump together. This clump makes a cloudy area on your lens known as a cataract. 

28

Why is selenium a natural enemy against liver diseases?

Chronic liver diseases are mostly triggered by the recurring infections of hepatitis viruses and these viruses mutate easily when the human body suffers from a lack of daily selenium intake, that exacerbates the inflammatory damages inflicted on liver tissues. Selenium is the only nutritional mineral that is directly correlated to viral infections, therefore selenium supplementation is beneficial in blockading viral mutation and enhancing recovery from the infections.

On top of that, selenium exerts detox and toxin removal effects that help to clear up the toxicity which injures liver tissues caused by toxic heavy metals and chemical pollutants such as benzene, as well as minimise drug toxicity and side effects brought by chemotherapeutic drugs on liver in cancer treatments. That’s how selenium protects liver from chemical injury, hence it is named as the natural enemy against liver diseases.

29

Does prolonged selenium deficiency predispose a person to develop liver conditions?

The liver is the “storehouse” of selenium and the richest source of selenium in the human body is none other the liver. Medical research has discovered that patients suffering from liver diseases generally lack enough selenium and the more severe the liver disease, the lower the selenium levels in the blood. Though there is no hard scientific evidence that proves prolonged selenium deficiency will definitely cause the onset of liver diseases, but a lack of enough selenium makes a person more susceptible to develop a liver problem with an incidence rate 10 – 50 times more compared to healthy individuals with normal selenium levels in the blood.

30

Why is selenium regarded as the nemesis of viruses?

The main culprit that triggers the onset of hepatitis in liver is hepatitis B virus, and the relapse and deterioration of hepatitis condition are directly linked to the mutation of hepatitis B virus. Selenium is the only nutritional mineral that exerts protective effects against viral infections. Human selenoproteins that contain selenium as active centers in their protein structures are found to inhibit viral proteases involved in viral replication, thereby truncating viral life cycles. In the absence of sufficient selenium in the body, viruses display higher mutation rate and the infective state of patients advances to severity more easily. Therefore selenium supplementation prevents the recurrence and worsening of liver diseases to a certain degree.

31

Is selenium beneficial for the treatment of AIDS?

Large volumes of epidemiological studies have uncovered that HIV-infected individuals and AIDS patients tend to display a status of low blood selenium levels, and the lower the blood selenium contents, the higher the mortality rate.

In 1994, the famed virology professor Taylor EW from US proposed The Viral Selenoprotein Hypothesis and the presentation went like this:

Selenium supplementation is beneficial in inhibiting viral replication (HIV, influenza, Ebola, hepatitis viruses). Other than the fact that selenium enhances cellular immunity that protects against viral infections, the more important reason being selenium directly works on the viruses, meaning in selenium-rich microenvironment of cellular tissues, viral proteins are bound to selenium-containing enzymes that truncate viral replicative cycles, whereas in selenium-poor microenvironment, viral proteins are free to engage in viral replicative functions that speeds up viral replication and mutation.

Extensive experimental studies from other countries demonstrated a unique association between selenium and AIDS, and concluded that selenium supplementation may be beneficial for immune recovery and restoration in HIV-infected individuals. Of course, the protective effects of selenium still need to be validated through long periods of clinical trials.

32

Does selenium help to alleviate the symptoms of arthritis?

Osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis are chronic inflammatory joint conditions whereby such patients are identified to have lower than normal selenium levels in the blood. The intracellular antioxidant defensive system present in cellular tissues helps to eliminate any rampant free radicals that try to attack surrounding cells and tissues. Selenium as an antioxidant trace mineral helps to remove reactive free radicals and enhance immunity , which helps to alleviate the painful symptoms of arthritis to a certain extent.

33

Do you have selenium deficiency? Self-check against the following list of 15 conditions

1. Having frequent dizzy spells and noticeable worsening of vision?
2. Feel that immunity has weakened, catching flu or colds more easily?
3. Barely hitting forty years of age but starting to choke on food when eating too fast?
4. Seeing age spots and wrinkles on the skin and feel old physically?
5. Experiencing skin allergies easily and having recurring skin problems?
6. Frequent episodes of insomnia and noticeable decline in memory?
7. Suffer from rheumatism symptoms, pains and aches in joints?
8. Feel lethargic and grow tired easily?
9. Having smoked and consumed alcohol for more than three years?
10. Residing in a selenium-poor region or rarely make sure to take a balanced diet?
11. Not taking selenium-rich foods frequently?
12. Have a family medical history of relatives being diagnosed with cancer or liver diseases?
13. Living in a polluted area?
14. Suffering from one or more chronic health conditions for more than three years and never experience full recovery?
15. Having a weakened heart, poor digestion and/or frequent constipation?

If you answer yes to at least 3 questions and above, please take immediate action to supplement your diet with sufficient selenium!