Introduction

Selenium as an Antioxidant
 

Selenium as a Cancer Preventive Agent

Sources of selenium

Brassica Vegetables

Selenium as an antioxidant

Selenium has become widely recognized as one of the most important nutritional antioxidants. Antioxidants are essential nutrients because they help maintain the body's immune system against everyday stresses including exposure to sunlight and pollution. Improved energy, increased resistance to disease and possible retardation of aging may be associated with dietary selenium. Selenium enhances the activity of the enzyme glutathione peroxidase, which helps the immune system and selenium also neutralizes free radicals which directly attack cells at the molecular level. Alone and in combination with other antioxidants, selenium is essential inclusion in the daily diet.

Selenium is present in all the tissues of the body. Selenium is an activating component of the enzyme glutathione peroxidase, which has been shown to protect cells from free radical damage. Dietary selenium intake has been inversely correlated with death from leukemia and cancers of the breast, ovary, lung, colon, rectum, and prostate. According to some healthcare professionals, selenium should be considered as a preventive and a therapeutic agent in cancer treatment, acting in a synergistic fashion with chemotherapy and radiotherapy treatments. In controlled studies over 6 years, there has been observed a marked increase (up to 11 times greater) in the incidence of fatal cancers for people with the lowest quintile of selenium levels. The studies suggest that dietary selenium deficiency is an important factor in many cancers.