Alternative Cancer Therapies
Selenium  

An Essential Mineral Needed by All - Maybe Cancer Protective

Selenium is one of the minerals that is essential to health and it is a problem for those of us around the world who have soils that are deficient in this important element. Selenium is one of the minerals that those who practice alternative cancer therapies will suggest you have as a supplement.

Selenium is found in cereals, meat, poultry, seafood and eggs, but the amount depends very much on where the food is grown and whether the land is selenium deficient. When the soils are deficient then the plants cannot take it up into their cells and when animals eat those plants then they become deficient also.

Selenium acts as an antioxidant and helps to protect the body from free radicals that damage the cells. Studies on animals have shown consistent results. Selenium is needed to reduce tumor size, inhibit cell growth and the development of troublesome new cancerous cells, encourages those troublesome cells to self-destruct and improve immune function. With results like this who wouldn't take it seriously?

Epidemiological studies have shown that there is a strong relationship between selenium availability and rates of cancer. The higher the selenium availability, the less cancer in the population of people who live in that area (up to a certain point - beyond that point too much selenium is toxic. However there are only a few places in the world where this is a problem, with some parts of China being one of them.)

There have not been enough studies of a high enough quality for the Cancer Council of Australia to definitively say there is a cause and effect between higher selenium intake and lower cancer. However those studies that have been done are very promising. They show a cancer reduction of nearly 50% overall with effects in breast cancer and very strong effects in prostate cancer. The difference in findings of the strength between breast cancer and prostate cancer is because more men have been participants in the research - and in this type of research, numbers count.

In the meantime, what does this mean for the ordinary person in the street, or one who might have a brush with cancer?

Take some selenium, either as a supplement or by eating four of Brazil nuts each day. If you have had cancer or are otherwise at high risk you might consider doing both. You might like to check in with your local Department of Agriculture - if they have to provide selenium to local range fed animals then you are likely to need it too.

At the levels that the doctor is allowed to prescribe for you or which you can purchase over the counter there is certainly no harm to be done as long as you take the quantity recommended for you and there may be huge benefits. You won’t ever know if you are one of the people who don’t get the cancer because you supplement, but that is what prevention is all about.

However don’t expect selenium to be a magic bullet. It is just one of the aspects of good health and only one of your basket of alternative cancer therapies. To maximize health you need to do more than just take one supplement. You need to do at least 3 hours moderate exercise weekly, to eat lots of dark coloured vegetables and have fruit daily. Reduce the levels of sugar, bread, pasta, rice and cakes in your diet and keep those fizzy soda drinks to special occasions only. And follow all the pages which point you to more and more that you can do which will improve your quality of time, and hopefully, your longevity.

Australian Journal of Experimental Agriculture and Animal Husbandry 1963;3(11) 284 - 289

Daniels L.A. Selenium: does selenium status have health outcomes beyond overt deficiency? Medical Journal of Australia:, April 2004;180:373-374

Lyons G.H. et al. Trends in selenium status of South Australians. Medical Journal of Australia:, April 2004;180:383-386