The Importance of Selenium to Your Health and In What Foods to Find it

​Minerals, are necessary for the proper functioning of our bodies and are as important as vitamins. Six macrominerals are present in our bodies in the most significant amounts, and they are calcium, chloride, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, and sodium. You need smaller amounts of trace minerals in your body. They include iron, manganese, copper, iodine, 

zinc, cobalt, fluoride and selenium. These minerals are necessary for many functions in your body, like fluid balance, sustenance of bones and teeth, muscle health and contractions, and nervous system function. Minerals are also crucial for making enzymes and hormones.

​Since almost everyone knows about the most common minerals like calcium and iron, this month, I will be focusing on the importance of the minerals that are as important, but we do not hear as often such as Selenium. Selenium, this amazing nutrient is vital to your health. It is an essential trace mineral. This means your body must get this mineral in the food you eat. Health benefits of selenium include:

• Functions as an antioxidant
• Cancer prevention studies have demonstrated that cancer rates are lower in areas where selenium is abundant in the soil.
• Cancer studies also have shown that this mineral cuts cancer death rates by 50 percent!

• It keeps the thyroid healthy, and deficiency of this mineral causes hypothyroidism.
• It prevents obesity. A selenium deficiency slows down your metabolism
• Selenium counteracts the toxicity of heavy metals such as cadmium, inorganic mercury, methylmercury, thallium, and, to a limited extent, silver.
• Selenium deactivates (to make inactive) many viruses, including HIV.
• Selenium supports the health of the immune system. As it helps lower oxidative stress in the body, which reduces inflammation and enhances immunity.

• It prevents premature aging, heart disease, arthritis, and multiple sclerosis.
• A link has also been found between lower levels of selenium and Alzheimer’s patients. And studies have shown that that selenium in both food and supplements improves memory in patients with Alzheimer’s disease.

• A study found that feeding one selenium-rich Brazil nut per day to patients with mild cognitive impairment was enough to improve verbal fluency and other mental functions.
• Due to selenium’s ability to reduce inflammation in the body, it may help autoimmune disease-related symptoms.
• Due to selenium's anti-inflammatory properties, some studies suggest that it may be useful in lowering asthma-related symptoms.

​A daily multivitamin is not the best way to get most of your vitamins and minerals. Unless you suffer from a medical condition or are taking a medication that could lead to a deficiency or excess of a mineral; you should try to get most of your minerals from the food you eat.  For the most part, it's not difficult to get enough amounts of these minerals from the foods you eat, and as long as you eat organic and healthy balanced diet, you should be getting enough of all essential nutrients. Let 's look at the foods which contain these vital nutrients:

• Whole wheat is one of the best food sources of selenium. However, don’t eat wheat, if you are gluten intolerant. Instead, eat other non-glutenous grains, they also contain selenium. Remember to soak them overnight and rinse them before cooking them.

• Brazil nuts
• Halibut
• Yellowfin tuna
• Oysters
• Sunflower seeds
• Shiitake mushrooms
• Chicken

• Eggs
• Sardines
• Seaweed is a great source of micronutrients including folate, calcium, magnesium, zinc, iron, iodine, and selenium.​

• Most fruits and vegetables contained small quantities of selenium less than 0.01 µg/g. Exceptions were garlic and radish.

The amount of selenium in vegetarian foods can vary depending on the selenium content of the soil in which they were grown. Quite a few reliable studies indicate that organic foods have substantially more minerals, as much as 90 percent more compared with nonorganic foods. Therefore, to obtain more selenium and other minerals from vegetarian sources, eat organic foods whenever possible.

Stay tuned next week I will be posting about the next mineral: Magnisium