Supplement or Substitute? Recent study links elevated selenium levels to diabetes at Her Active Life

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Supplement or Substitute? Recent study links elevated selenium levels to diabetes

Posted July 12, 2007 at 12:00 PM by Jessica Galvano

Section: Her Health, Her Nutrition, Healthy Eating, Supplements, Her News

supplements There was a time when diets were simple. Not so today.

Health-heralded fruits, vegetables, and whole grains—once the model of perfect nutrition—are now only a small fraction of dietary health. In today’s health and fitness market, nearly impossible to pronounce supplements have complicated the very concept of nutrition.

The ever-familiar saying, “an apple a day keeps the doctor away” no longer reigns supreme as a reminder to drop the donut and refocus on the fruit. Now the hackneyed expression has curiously discarded the apple of the past and, in it’s place, embraced supplements. While vitamins are rapidly emerging as the newest dietary craze, the question remains: are these nutritional additives supplements or substitutes?

The word “supplement” indicates enhancement, a certain something extra. For a public reliant upon fast food, however, supplements appear to be a substitute for the general absence of nutritional foods. Rather than adding to an already nutrient rich diet, supplements oftentimes take the place of healthy food options and wrongly encourage hydrogenated, fat-friendly eating habits. After all, it’s easier to swallow a pill with your hamburger than expend the energy necessary to slice, chew, and digest an actual apple.

So, why choose the real thing?

Nutrients in pill form come at an expensive price. The price tag itself may shrink the girth of your wallet, but the unforeseen cost could be your health. According to medical professionals and nutritionists alike, while supplements can be beneficial in moderation, their use in excess can be detrimental.

In a recent study, Dr. Saverio Stranges of the Warwick Medical School examined the effects of one dietary supplement in particular: selenium. Selenium, a mineral supplement with the potential for disease prevention, has gained in popularity among pro-supplement Americans. Stranges’ experiment, initially designed to assess the correlation between selenium and skin cancer, instead revealed an unanticipated link between selenium and diabetes.

Although selenium is essential to a healthy diet, its valuable antioxidants and its ability to regulate thyroid function are most effective when selenium levels remain relatively low. In the U.S., the amount of selenium that exists organically in the soil begets foods, especially grains, meats, and select fruits and vegetables that contain enough of the mineral to ensure that the body operates efficiently. The growing trend of selenium supplementation as a preventative measure to avoid cancer, arthritis, and heart disease worries Stranges and his colleagues who support supplements only when absolutely necessary.

And Stranges’ concern is not without experimental grounding. Over the course of almost eight years, he administered daily selenium supplements to one half of his original, non-diabetic skin cancer study group and a placebo to the other half. Of the 602 participants that received the placebo, 39 developed type-2 diabetes within the nearly eight-year period. The incidence of the disease in the 600 participants taking true selenium was drastically higher; in the selenium subset, 58 people reported the frequent urination, intensified appetite, and unexplained weight loss associated with adult-onset diabetes.

The staggering results, which show selenium to increase the risk of diabetes by approximately 50 percent, have reaffirmed Stranges’ advocacy of sensible supplementation. He stresses that most Americans receive adequate amounts of selenium and other nutrients through their everyday diets. By supplementing these already sufficient levels, Stranges warns that many people who already practice health conscious eating habits are inadvertently doing themselves more harm than good.

Sources:
”Selenium supplements linked to diabetes in U.S. study”. Reuters Health. July 10, 2007.
Dietary Supplement Fact Sheet: Selenium. National Institute of Health Office of Dietary Supplements.
American Diabetes Association: Type 2 Diabetes
American Diabetes Association: Diabetes Symptoms