WHAT IS SELENIUM?
Selenium is a trace element found in soil. The only way to get selenium is to maintain diet which includes plants such as Brazil nuts, whole grains, beans, vegetables and mushrooms, as well as eggs and meat of animals that graze on vegetation containing selenium.
WHY IS SELENIUM IMPORTANT IN OUR DIET?
The health benefits of selenium include helping to fight chronic diseases by neutralizing harmful elements called free radicals, which are unstable molecules that damage tissues. According to Dr. Richard A. Passwater, a leading researcher on the health benefits of selenium, “Your body needs this mineral for the production of several important body compounds, including enzymes, or catalysts, involved in antioxidant protection and thyroid-hormone metabolism. It has been estimated that there are between 50 and 100 different selenium-containing proteins in the human body, including those that build heart muscle, red blood cells, and sperm.”
DO I GET ENOUGH SELENIUM IF I EAT A HEALTHY BALANCED DIET?
Selenium occurs naturally in foods such as nuts, whole grains, seafood, garlic, eggs and mushrooms. But because selenium soil levels vary and farming soil may be nutrient depleted, it may be necessary to add a supplement per your doctor’s recommendation. “It is almost impossible for the average person to know how much (selenium) is in the diet because foods vary in their content depending upon where they come form. This is why the use of supplements is warranted in the case of selenium where it might not be warranted with other nutrients,” said Larry C. Clark, M.P.H, Ph.D, the late well-known selenium researcher.
WHAT IS THE RESEARCH ON THE HEALTH BENEFITS OF SELENIUM?
In 1996 an article was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), which was the Nutritional Prevention of Cancer (NPC) selenium trial (University of Arizona, Arizona Cancer Center, by Larry C. Clark, M.P.H). In the trial Dr. Clark and his colleagues found significant health benefits of selenium including a reduction in cancer in individuals receiving a daily 200-mcg selenium supplement (SelenoExcell). Patients who took daily doses of selenium had 63 percent fewer cases of prostate cancer, 58 percent fewer cases of colon or rectal cancers, and 45 percent fewer lung cancers than those not receiving supplement. More recent research in 2015, by John Richie Jr, PhD at Penn State, found selenium (SelenoExcell) significantly reduced oxidative stress biomarkers as compared to another common form of selenium (selenium methionine). This research further supports selenium’s vital role in maintaining healthy cells that are prone to damaging free radicals (oxidative stress). Over time, an abundance of free radicals can lead to chronic health issues.
ARE THERE DIFFERENT FORMS OF SELENIUM?
Selenium can be purchased either as a salt form or an organically bound form. The salts, sodium selenite and sodium selenate, both have been shown to be less bioavailable than organically bound forms of selenium (Am J Clin Nut,1982). Organically bound forms of selenium are high selenium yeast or selenomethionine. High selenium yeast contains three organic selenium compounds (selenomethionine , selenocysteine and methylselenocysteine), whereas selenomethionine is a single amino acid (methionine) with a selenium molecule attached to it. The most recent study shows that 100% organically bound selenium yeast is most effective for reducing oxidative stress as compared to selenomethionine.
IS IT SAFE TO USE A NUTRITIONAL SUPPLEMENT THAT CONTAINS YEAST?
Yes. SelenoExcell originates from a non-pathogenic, non-GMO Saccharomyces cerevisiae yeast strain. You may not know it, but you are in contact with Saccharomyces cerevisiae yeast everyday. It’s been used for thousands of years to make bread, beer, wine and other distilled spirits. This process creates a product that is the closest to food forms of selenium, like what is found in Brazil nuts, eggs, peas, poultry, and meats. We do this because we believe it is important to consume minerals and vitamins that are as close to a natural food form as possible. However, the S. cerevisiae cells in SelenoExcell are dead or inactive, and only the nutritional properties remain. The cells cannot reproduce in the human body when consumed because they are no longer alive.
WITH SELENOEXCELL IS THERE A PROBLEM WITH CANDIDA?
Absolutely not because Cypress SelenoExcell® High Selenium Yeast is produced by fermentation using the common yeast organism known as Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Candida is a yeast infection caused by the pathogen species known as Candida albicans, collectively known as candidiasis. A non-pathogenic yeast like Saccharomyces cerevisiae cannot transform in to a disease-producing yeast like Candida albicans.
TELL ME MORE ABOUT SELENIUM AND WHERE MY FOOD IS GROWN
Humans consume their foods from a variety of sources and not just from the city or region where they live. For example, the state or country a vegetable, fruit, grain, nut, poultry , meat or seafood where a food is grown may not be the same place where you live. It’s impossible to make generalizations about the nutrient content in our food because of seasonal and regional differences. For more on this, see a map of selenium levels.
