October 2023 - Seleniumfacts.com

Maintaining adequate selenium status is an acknowledged anti-aging strategy. We need selenium to live longer and to be healthier as we age. Adequate intakes of selenium and adequate bio-synthesis of selenoproteins contribute to healthy aging and to reduced vulnerability to various disorders. Selenium and selenoproteins are important for the following biological activity [Bjorklund 2022]:

antioxidant protection
enhancement of immune system function
metabolic homeostasis

Crowds of people — **Bjorklund et al estimate that selenium deficiency affects about one billion people in the world and may have a significant adverse effect on human health.**

One characteristic of aging is oxidative stress.

Oxidative stress is defined as an imbalance between the damage caused by harmful free radicals and the protection offered by antioxidants. Inadequate selenium status can reduce the longevity and the health of senior citizens by accelerating the aging process and/or increasing vulnerability to immune system dysfunction, cardiovascular disease, and cancer [Bjorklund 2022]. read more

Blood sugar levels. Insulin sensitivity. Risk of diabetes. What, if anything, is the likely effect of selenium supplementation on glycemic control?

Blood sugar monitor — To maintain blood sugar levels within the normal range, the CDC recommends eating at regular times, not skipping meals, eating foods lower in calories, saturated fat, trans fat, sugar, and salt, drinking water instead of juice or soda, limiting alcohol intake, and exercising. Adequate intakes of selenium are also important.

Glycemic control is the maintenance of blood sugar levels within an acceptable range to prevent the adverse effects of low blood sugar and high blood sugar.

The best measure of glycemic control is the HbA1c test. This blood test HbA1C gauges the average glucose level in the blood over a period of approximately three months. It is considered a good predictor of diabetic complications.

Checking Blood Sugar

The US Center for Disease Control and Prevention suggests that logical times for testing blood sugar levels are as follows [CDC 2022]:

When first awake and before eating or drinking anything
Before a meal
Two hours after a meal
At bedtime

Target Blood Sugar Levels

The CDC suggests the following desirable blood sugar levels [CDC 2022]: read more

Milestones in early selenium research

1817 Swedish chemist Jöns Jakob Berzelius discovers selenium

1957 Biochemist Klaus Schwarz shows that selenium in microscopic amounts has a vital importance for mammalian health

1969 Professor J.T. Rotruck discovers that selenium has a biochemical role as a component of the antioxidant enzyme glutathione peroxidase

1969 Professors R.J. Shamberger and D.V. Frost report a possible protective effect of selenium against cancer in humans

1973 Professor J.T. Rotruck identifies the enzyme glutathione peroxidase as a selenium-dependent protein

1977 Professor G.N. Schrauzer publishes cancer mortality correlation studies showing an inverse correlation between dietary intakes of selenium and cancer mortality in 27 countries

1988 Professor G.Q Yang summarizes the lessons learned about the selenium-related endemic diseases Keshan disease and Kashin-Beck disease and about the importance of adequate daily selenium intakes

1989 Professor G.G. Duthie publishes evidence for a role of selenium in the prevention of cardiovascular disease

1993 Researcher W.J. Blot publishes the results of the Nutrition Intervention Trials in Linxian, China, showing that supplementation with a combination of selenium and other antioxidants reduces the risk of cancer

1994 Professor G.N. Schrauzer publishes evidence that selenium is important in the maintenance and therapy of HIV-infected patients

1996 Professor Larry Clark publishes the results of a randomized controlled trial – the Nutritional Prevention of Cancer study -- that shows selenium's cancer-protective effects on colon cancer, lung cancer, and prostate cancer

1997 Professor G.F. Combs summarizes the evidence for the protective effects of selenium against cancer

1999 Professor J.E. Oldfield publishes his Selenium World Atlas, mapping areas of selenium deficiency around the world

2000 Researcher O.A. Levander publishes evidence showing an anti-viral effect of selenium

2002 Researcher R. Gärtner shows that supplementation with selenium reduces inflammation in patients with autoimmune thyroiditis

2002 Researcher Margaret Rayman presents the arguments for increasing selenium intakes to realize selenium’s antioxidant and anti-viral and anti-inflammatory effects as well as selenium’s enhancement of immune function and reproductive success.

Month: October 2023

Selenium and Anti-Aging Effects

Blood Sugar Control and Selenium Supplementation

Checking Blood Sugar

Target Blood Sugar Levels