Tag: High selenium yeast

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Selenium and Healthy Aging

Healthy aging. How can we slow down and delay the aging process? Certainly, nutrition is one factor in anti-aging. Specifically, adequate intakes of the micronutrient selenium may prevent disease and may enhance healthy aging. Inadequate intakes of selenium, on the other hand, may result in diminished immune function and may accelerate the aging process [Bjorklund 2022].

Professor Alehagen lectures about selenium and aging
Professor Urban Alehagen was the lead researcher on the KiSel-10 study of the effect of combined selenium and CoQ10 supplementation on cardiovascular health in elderly citizen low in both substances.

To a considerable extent, aging is associated with the oxidative damage caused by harmful free radicals to cells and DNA and proteins. Selenium through the work of antioxidant selenoproteins, e.g., the glutathione peroxidases and the thioredoxin reductases, improves our bodies’ antioxidant defenses against free radical damage [Bjorklund 2022; Avery & Hoffmann 2018]. read more

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Selenium-Enriched Yeast Supplementation Studies

The rationale for taking a selenium-enriched yeast preparation: one or more of the selenium compounds in the preparation other than selenomethionine may be the selenium species that has specific effects against cancer. This is an area for further research.

Glass of beer made using brewer's yeast
Selenium-enriched yeast preparations use Saccharomyces cerevisiae, commonly known as as brewer’s yeast. The yeast is grown in a selenium-enriched medium in which the yeast absorbs the selenium. The finished preparation is pasteurized, causing the yeast cells to die. Selenium-enriched yeast preparations contain many organic selenium compounds in addition to selenomethionine.

This week, we focus on studies conducted with a selenium-enriched yeast preparation containing at least 20 different species of selenium in addition to selenomethionine [Bendahl & Gammelgaard 2004].

Randomized, double-blind, controlled clinical trials are the gold standard method for testing the safety, absorption, and efficacy of nutritional supplements and medical drugs. Below, we summarize some of the important clinical trials of nutritional interventions using selenium-enriched yeast. read more

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The formulation of the high-selenium yeast supplement

Baker’s yeast, the yeast that feeds on sugars in flour and releases the carbon dioxide that makes the bread rise, that is the same yeast that the selenium is organically bound to in the production of high-selenium yeast supplements. In the production process, the selenium is  incorporated into selenium compounds: selenomethionine, methylselenocysteine, selenocysteine and numerous other organic selenium species. The high-selenium yeast supplement gives the best absorption, the best retention, and the best antioxidant, chemopreventive, and immunomodulating support.

We want stability, safety, and bio-availability from our selenium supplement.  The high-selenium yeast supplement – also known as the selenium-enriched yeast supplement – is the best formulation to achieve these goals.

High-selenium yeast supplements are produced using the selenium that has been grown with Saccharomyces cerevisiae yeast (baker’s yeast).  Those of us who take a daily high-selenium yeast supplement know that the yeast used in the making of the supplement is dead.  The yeast cells cannot get into our bodies and multiply because they are not alive.

Various forms of selenium supplements

There are both inorganic and organic forms of selenium in commercially available selenium supplements.  There are supplements made with inorganic forms containing selenium salts like sodium selenite and sodium selenate.  Their absorption is not nearly as good as the absorption of the best organic selenium-enriched yeast supplements. read more

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Properties of a high-selenium yeast preparation

The element selenium is seldom found alone and unbound. In the body, it forms a part of the amino acids selenomethionine and selenocysteine and functions as a component of some 25 selenoproteins. The high-selenium yeast used in nutritional supplements is produced by enriching Saccharomyces cerevisiae yeast (also known as baker’s yeast or brewer’s yeast) with selenium. As the yeast grows, it absorbs the selenium. The result is an organic high-selenium yeast that has a relatively good absorption and bio-availability. It provides several species of selenium that are necessary for many cellular functions in the body. The yeast in the high-selenium yeast tablets is dead. It cannot cause yeast infections.

The evidence from clinical studies shows that high-selenium yeast preparations give the best health outcomes [Alehagen; Blot; Clark; Yu].

Today, I want to look at the documented properties of the high-selenium yeast preparation that was developed for use in the PRECISE studies.  PRECISE is the acronym for PREvention of Cancer by Intervention with SElenium.  The PRECISE studies were designed to test the effectiveness of selenium supplementation at preventing cancer.

The preparation is also the high-selenium yeast preparation used in the KiSel-10 study of combined selenium and Coenzyme Q10 supplementation of healthy elderly citizens to protect against heart disease.  Professor Urban Alehagen and the researchers at Linköping University in Sweden have written about the special interrelationship between selenium and Coenzyme Q10: our cells need adequate selenium status to obtain optimal concentrations of Coenzyme Q10, and our cells need adequate Coenzyme Q10 status to realize optimal selenoprotein function [Alehagen]. read more

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What is a high selenium yeast supplement?

Baker’s yeast and brewer’s yeast and high selenium yeast … all strains of the same species of yeast … Saccharomyces cerevisiae … High selenium yeast preparations are the most effective form of selenium supplements. The yeast in the tablets is dead and inactive. There is no risk of a yeast infection from a high selenium yeast preparation.

The trace element selenium is an essential component of the selenium-dependent enzymes called selenoproteins.  We need these selenoproteins for the optimal biological functioning of our cells.  Specifically, we need adequate daily intakes of selenium for the protection of cellular DNA, for successful reproduction, for proper thyroid gland function, for protection against infections, for anti-oxidative protection against the damage caused by free radicals, and for the prevention of cancer and heart disease. Selenium yeast supplements provide many different species of selenium.

What form of selenium is best?
Many of us cannot get enough selenium in our diets, especially if we do not regularly eat Brazil nuts (very high in selenium) or if we eat relatively little meat and fish.  However, there are various supplemental forms of selenium available to us as consumers. read more