Selenium: Basics and Benefits

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Recent researches on nutrition and healthy lifestyle has embarked on

the fact that the importance and positive affects of antioxidants like

Selenium in carving the mammoth rise in life-threatening diseases is

undeniable. Oxygen, an element required for running various vital

systems of the human body, often exists as free radicals within the

human body. Because of the presence of free electrons these free

radicals always tend to get oxidized. While up to a certain level this

type of oxidation is a normal physiological process, beyond it, such

oxidation can prove to be carcinogenic and harmful for the cardiac

systems. Antioxidants like vitamin A, C, E and Selenium, when consumed

with food products, deactivate these harmful free radicals and prevent

them from causing cell damage and harmful medical conditions like

cancer, heart diseases and stroke. While some free radicals are

produced naturally in the body as by-products of inter cellular

reactions, others enter the human system through various habits like

an excessive consumption of alcoholic beverages, cigarettes and

unhealthy food products. Exposure to too much sun, environmental

pollution and excessive stress levels also increases the quantity of

free radicals in the human system.

Antioxidants like Selenium counteract the harmful effects of excessive

physiological oxidation processes occurring in tissues of organisms

and thereby, reduce risks of chronic diseases like cancer, heart

diseases, Alzheimer's disease, cataracts and Rheumatoid arthritis.

Antioxidants like Selenium when consumed behave as " free radical

scavengers " and along with preventing free radicals from causing harm

to the system also repair damages previously caused by them and by

enhancing the immune defense system, Antioxidants also lower the risks

of cancers and infections. Looking in to

http://www.agcommoditiesinc.com/index.htm will inform you on some

commonly found food items rich in antioxidants and the special

benefits of consuming Selenium rich food products.

Selenium is a powerful antioxidant and an important cancer-preventing

element. Selenium is one of the most important trace minerals or

micronutrients that are freely available in nature. Trace minerals are

basically minerals that occur in traces or in very small amounts.

However, minutely trace minerals might exist assimilated even in the

smallest amounts that can affect human physiology and cure a number of

health problems. Besides acting by themselves these trace minerals are

also required to assimilate other nutrients like vitamins and minerals

properly. One of the most important of these trace minerals is

selenium. Easily found in natural dietary sources like organ meats,

seafood, lean meat, dairy products, and chicken, Selenium is an

important part of the process of improving the assimilation of our

dietary fiber. Thus, one of the very common results of this is that

the proper intake of selenium can cure chronic gastrointestinal

diseases like Crohn's disease and Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS).

However, in the initial stages of these diseases patients can often

face a disability to digest the food ingredients that contain Selenium.

Selenium is an effective antioxidant that protects our body cells from

the damage that is caused to them by the free radicals produced as an

indirect result of the process of oxidation in our bodies. The

specialty of the role of Selenium as an effective antioxidant is that

it performs two functions. At first, after it enters our bodies,

Selenium is added into proteins to form Selenoproteins which are

actually enzymes that can act as very effective antioxidants. The

other important function of Selenium is that it can help the body to

produce its own, natural antioxidant that is called Glutathione. The

anti carcinogenic properties for which Selenium is popularly known in

the medical world also bears a direct connection to the antioxidant

properties of this trace element.

http://www.agcommoditiesinc.com/index.htm informs you on some of the

most commonly found fruits and vegetables that are rich in

Antioxidants like Selenium. Along with carrots, broccoli, squash,

sweet potatoes, cantaloupe, peaches and apricots that are rich in

Vitamin A, citrus fruits like lime, oranges, strawberries and tomatoes

enriched with vitamin C, and whole grains, nuts and seeds having high

concentration of vitamin E, food items like seafood, fish, shellfish,

red meats, chicken and garlic are some of the best sources of

Selenium. As Selenium can effectively fight damage caused by oxygen

derived compounds, it is one of the best cancer-preventing and

cancer-fighting elements available today. However, as large doses of

Selenium can prove to be toxic, it is best to consume the element in

limited amounts along with food products.

Recent researches have proved that the cancer prevention properties of

Selenium are indeed real and not a myth. It is also useful in

preventing diseases like heart attacks and arthritis, besides

possessing a number of anti-aging properties, which have a great

demand in today's world. In recent times the popularity of Selenium

has reached such a peak that organic Selenium is being incorporated

artificially in food ingredients like pasta, bread and a number of

other flour based food ingredients. So, here's wishing you a happy

journey into the healthy world of Selenium and its products.

Sources:

http://home.howstuffworks.com/antioxidant1.htm

http://www.healthcastle.com/antioxidant.shtml

http://www.ext.colostate.edu/pubs/columnnn/nn000322.html

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About Author:

Mike Mudhar

Ag Commodities, Inc Office: 714-782-7131 / Cell: 714-310-4882

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