Thursday, February 07, 2013
Food Nazi's gone nuts
I did some research on my own diet and possible deficiencies and I decided that I probably was a little deficient in Selenium. Selenium is required in trace amounts, especially to help remove heavy metals, such as mercury from the body. It is also toxic in larger, non-natural quantities. Knowing I was on the low side, and wanting to get my selenium from natural sources. The best natural source of Selenium is Brasil nuts. But there is a twist, as I found out that un-shelled brasil nuts come from a part of South America that has a very high soil Selenium content, and thus unshelled nuts that you can buy are up to 10 times higher in Selenium than than shelled nuts. I figured I could buy nuts in shell on the Internet. Ironically, I bought some from a parrot food and toy specialist.
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2 comments:
What symptoms lead you to think you are selenium deficient? If you source your food from supermarkets it seems very unlikely. Wikipedia says the side-effects of statins (which doctors seem to prescribe like they were water) mimic selenium deficiency - I trust you are not taking such a drug?
I don't know what statins are, but I haven't taken any prescription drugs for years. Average Australian supermarket foods are not considered deficient in Selenium. However, due to various factors, including amalgam fillings, and other trace environmental sources of heavy metals, primarily Mercury, Selenium tends to be depleted to a suboptimal, although sub clinical level. In males, long term slightly depleted levels leads to much higher risk of prostrate problems. This is why selenium is included in men's multivitamins. However, because there is a window of ideal level of Selenium, and an easy to reach toxic level, pharmaceuticals and doctors are very cautious, despite low selenium being way more common than high selenium.
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