Last week in my nutrition class, I lectured about minerals. It surprised me how little the class knew of this subject. In your quest for better health, you’ve probably read a lot about vitamins and nutritional supplements. But how about minerals?
Many minerals, like iron and zinc are essential to life. Without them, your body could not function. And because your body cannot make them, you need a reliable source from your diet.
On commercial farms, the soil no longer has the minerals it used to. That means you may be suffering from a mineral deficiency. In today’s Health Alert, you’ll see how the trace element, selenium, can help you beat disease – and even joint pain.
The Forgotten Key to Good Health
We’ve known for years that selenium is a major player in the fight against chronic diseases. Selenium dramatically lowers your risk for many types of cancer. These include lung, colon, liver and prostate cancer.
A new study from the University of North Carolina shows that selenium can also lower your risk of osteoarthritis.[1] Researchers found that people’s risk of arthritis was related to the amount of selenium in their bodies.
To give you an idea of how powerful this mineral is, an increase of just one tenth of a part per million decreased their risk of osteoarthritis by 15 to 20 percent. The higher the amount of selenium, the more their risk dropped.
Selenium is one of the most powerful antioxidants on the planet. It protects your cells from the damaging effects of free radicals. In the case of osteoarthritis, doctors are starting to realize that selenium protects your cartilage and prevents the inflammation that causes joint pain.
Get Your Daily Dose of Selenium
You won’t find much selenium in fruits or vegetables. That’s why vegetarians often suffer from a lack of this very important mineral.
The best sources are fish, red meat and Brazil nuts. I recommend you get at least 55 micrograms of selenium a day. Notice I said micrograms, not milligrams. The amount is very small.
The list below will give you a better idea of quantities in food:[2]
|
Food |
Quantity |
Micrograms |
|
Brazil Nuts |
1 ounce |
544 |
|
Canned Tuna |
3 ounces |
63 |
|
Beef |
3.5 ounces (cooked) |
35 |
|
Cod |
3 ounces (cooked) |
32 |
|
Turkey |
3.5 ounces (roasted) |
32 |
|
Chicken Breast |
3.5 ounces (roasted) |
20 |
|
Egg |
1 medium |
14 |
|
Walnuts |
1 ounce |
5 |
To Your Good Health,
Al Sears, MD
[1] Press Release. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Nov 18, 2005.
[2] Office of Dietary Supplements. National Institutes of Health. http://ods.od.nih.gov.