Selenium and prevention of cancer

Selenium is nutritionally essential for humans but is toxic at higher levels, with a narrow safe range of intake. Selenium-containing compounds are known to play an important role in protection against several diseases, including cancer.

From the late 1960s, a few observational studies reported that people with high levels of selenium in their diet or in their body tissues had lower risk of cancer, and some laboratory studies showed that selenium could inhibit the growth of cancer cells. This led to widespread interest in selenium supplements.

It was observed that people with higher levels or intake of selenium had lower frequencies of certain types of cancers such as lung, bladder and prostate cancer, but no difference for other types such as breast cancer.

Newly-published prospective studies on oesophageal, gastric-cardia and lung cancer have reinforced previous evidence, which is particularly strong for prostate cancer. Interventions with Se have shown benefit in reducing the risk of cancer incidence and mortality in all cancers combined, and specifically in liver, prostate, colo-rectal and lung cancers. The effect seems to be strongest in those individuals with the lowest Se status.

The World Cancer Research Fund found in 2007 that there was probable evidence that selenium and selenium supplements reduced the risk of prostate cancer, and limited suggestive evidence that they reduced the risk of lung and bowel. Selenium was also linked to a limited suggestive lower risk of stomach cancer, and selenium supplements to a limited suggestive increased risk of skin cancer.
Selenium and prevention of cancer

Health benefits of ellagic acid

Ellagic acid is a dimeric derivative of gallic acid also known as hexahydroxydiphenic acid, which spontaneously forms a dilactone.

It is the lactone form that is commonly known as ellagic acid. This acid is already present in most ellagitannin-rich foods and is also produced during food processing and storage.

Ellagitannin present as the structural components of the plant cell wall and cell membrane. Ellagic acid and its derivative have limited distribution.

They are first seen at high concentrations in the strawberries, raspberries, cranberries, blackberries and grapes. Other sources of ellagic acid include walnuts, pecans and distilled beverages.

Recent studies indicated that ellagic acid possesses anti-mutagenic, antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activity in bacterial and mammalian systems.

Ellagic acid has been shown in research and laboratory models to inhibit the growth of tumors caused by certain carcinogens. It causes apoptosis of cancer cells in the lab, within no change to healthy, normal cells.
Health benefits of ellagic acid

Red Meat and Breast Cancer

Red Meat and Breast Cancer
Eating red meat may raise a woman’s risk of a common type of breast cancer, and vitamin supplements will do little if anything to protect her heart.

Women who ate more than 1½ servings of red meat per day were almost twice as likely to develop hormone-related breast cancer as those who ate fewer than three portions per week, one study found.

The other — one of the longest and largest tests of whether supplements of various vitamins can prevent heart problems and strokes in high-risk women — found that the popular pills do no good, although there were hints that women with the highest risk might get some benefit from vitamin C.

Antioxidants like vitamins C and E attach to substances that can damage cells. Scientists have been testing them for preventing such diseases as Alzheimer’s and cancer.

More than 8,000 women were randomly assigned to take vitamin C, E or beta carotene alone or in various combinations for nearly a decade. An additional 5,442 women took folic acid and B vitamin supplements for more than seven years.

Overall, there was minimal evidence of any cardiovascular benefit of any of these antioxidants and people should not start or continue taking them for that purpose. Among the 3,000 women in the study who had no prior heart disease but three or more risk factors for it, those who received vitamin C alone or in combination had a 42 percent lower risk of stroke. Smokers taking C also had a 48 percent lower risk.
Red Meat and Breast Cancer

Selenium: The Immune System Mineral

Selenium is an essential trace mineral that can make a life-or-death difference and that many of us lack. Selenium is an antioxidant key to preventing cancer and stopping the progression of HIV infection from developing into AIDS.

Research suggests that selenium can protect humans against cancer of the lung, ovaries, breast, colon, liver, cervix, skin, stomach and uterus. When sufficient selenium levels are achieved, the risk of getting cancer is half that of a person who is selenium deficient. There are few good food sources of selenium, so supplementation may be the best way to obtain selenium's protective benefits.

As an immune supportive mineral, selenium stimulates the development and function of all types of white blood cells and enhances the ability of lymphocytes and NK cells, or killer cells, to activate and respond to invaders such as bacteria and viruses, including the flu. Selenium works synergistically with Vitamin E, A and C as an antioxidant.

In addition, Selenium binds with many toxic minerals such as arsenic, cadmium, lead, and mercury and facilitates their excretion from the body. By detoxifying per oxidized fats, via its role in the enzyme glutathione and peroxidase, selenium inhibits their carcinogenicity (cancer promoting traits). Selenium also counteracts many of the toxic effects of smoking tobacco.

Smoking depletes the body's selenium supplies. In the liver this mineral retards the conversion of hydrocarbons into carcinogens — an important function in our polluted environment. Good food sources include Brasis nuts, brewer's yeast, organically grown vegetables, sesame seeds, garlic, seafood, liver, and mushrooms. However, modern methods of farming and processing foods has depleted their nutritional value of this much needed mineral, along with other essential minerals.

Selenium Supplementation May Reduce Cancer Risk
One in every four deaths in this country is caused by cancer. That's 1,500 people each day. Many of these cancers are caused by our own bad behaviors - tobacco and alcohol use, lack of exercise, and poor diet - which has led researchers to investigate the ability of nutritional supplements to reduce cancer risk.

There's now convincing evidence that selenium(an essential mineral found in various foods such as Brazil nuts and mushrooms) when taken daily as a supplement can significantly reduce the risk of cancer.

In one clinical study, the risk of prostate cancer was reduced 63% in men supplementing with selenium compared to a placebo group. This result has created tremendous interest in the medical community and the National Cancer Institute has funded a much larger study called SELECT (Selenium and Vitamin E Cancer Prevention Trial) that will enroll 32,000 male subjects to better determine selenium's ability to prevent cancer.

Selenium: The Immune System Mineral