Each day, about 4,000 people in America get the bad news: “You have diabetes.”
That’s 1.5 million new cases diagnosed every year. It’s a staggering number that shows no signs of slowing down…1
Every new case is the beginning of a long and difficult journey that begins with a doctor’s prescription for a Big Pharma diabetes drug…
Patients pay dearly for these drugs…with their pocketbooks and with their wellness.
Because, as far as Big Pharma is concerned, diabetes patients are like lab rats. Patients become a testing ground for diabetes drugs that come with serious side effects.
Take metformin, for example. Some scientists maintain it’s an anti-aging wonder drug. Nothing could be further from the truth.
I’ve been sounding the alarm about the risks of metformin for over a decade now. It robs your body of vitamin B12…
Another Big Pharma drug doubled the number of limb amputations in patients compared to a placebo.2
And the third type of diabetes drug is associated with weight gain and obesity – a major contributing factor to the disease the drug is intended to treat!3
At the Sears Institute for Anti-Aging Medicine, I have had great success helping patients cure their diabetes naturally – using a combination of diet, my unique PACE exercise program, and supplements that are proven to work better than drugs.
And now, a groundbreaking study has just added a new weapon against diabetes…a rarely discussed trace mineral that borrows its name from the moon.
Study Sheds Light On Selenium’s “Moon Power”
The study looked into how the trace mineral selenium affects metabolism and blood sugar.
The word selenium comes from the Greek “selene,” meaning moon. And like the moon, this mineral exerts a powerful pull on the ebb and flow of your health. It’s so important for your metabolism that it’s considered essential
for all mammals.A selenium deficiency can lead to hair loss, muscle weakness, mental fog, a weakened immune system…and even infertility. But now, thanks to researchers at the University of Brazil, we also know it can contribute to diabetes.
Researchers recruited 270 subjects and tested both their selenium levels and blood sugar.
What they found was startling.
First, they determined that nearly 60% of participants had inadequate selenium intake. Then, as the study progressed, they began to see a pattern…
They noticed study participants with lower levels of selenium had higher A1C levels. A1C is a measure of glycated hemoglobin that serves as a warning sign of diabetes. It’s usually a sign cell have grown resistant to the effects of insulin.
After looking at the data, researchers determined selenium is so important for maintaining healthy blood sugar they urged “supplementation of this micronutrient…to prevent future possible complications associated with glycemic control.”4
3 Ways to Boost Selenium And Fight Diabetes
The government’s recommendation of 55 mcg a day of selenium is way too low. You need to get about 200 mcg of selenium daily.
I always encourage my patients whenever possible to trust nature to provide what they need. Fortunately, there are plenty of good natural sources of selenium.
-
- Add selenium-rich foods to your plate. The best source is grass-fed organ meat, including the liver. Just a single serving will give you half your daily selenium needs. Additional sources include oysters, Brazil nuts, halibut, and yellowfin tuna. Just two healthy eggs from free-range chicken provide about half your daily needs (110 mcg). And I also recommend fresh, freeze-dried, or aged garlic. It contains a bioactive form of selenium. Start with one garlic clove, and gradually increase to three daily.
- Take a selenium supplement. Look for one that contains selenomethionine. That’s the organic form of selenium that’s more easily metabolized. The inorganic sodium selenite or selenite is less beneficial. Your body will absorb and use over 90% of selenomethionine…but only about half of its selenium in the selenite state.5
- Boost absorption with this combo ingredient. Vitamin E plays an important role in increasing your body’s absorption of selenium. I recommend taking vitamin E and selenium in combination. And make sure you get the natural form of vitamin E, not the synthetic forms with names like all-rac-alpha-tocopherol-acetate or di-alpha-tocopherol. And because vitamin E is fat soluble, your best bet is to take it with a meal.
To Your Good Health,
Al Sears, MD, CNS
References:
1. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. National Diabetes Statistics Report. “Estimates of diabetes and its burden in the United States background.” 2020. Accessed on December 10, 2021.
2. FDA Drug Safety Communication: Interim clinical trial results find increased risk of leg and foot amputations, mostly affecting the toes, with the diabetes medicine canagliflozin (Invokana, Invokamet); FDA to investigate issued on May 18, 2016.
3. Provilus A, et al. “Weight gain associated with antidiabetic medications.” Therapy. 2011;8(2):113–120.
4. Santos A, et al. “Selenium intake and glycemic control in young adults with normal-weight obesity syndrome.” 2021 Aug 19;8:696325. doi: 10.3389/fnut.2021.696325. eCollection 2021.
5. Krinsky N. “Dietary reference intakes for vitamin C, vitamin E, selenium, and carotenoids.” PNAS. 2000.