Too much selenium?
Selenium has been in the news a lot lately, with concern over
the safe levels of intake. I take your 200mcg selenium supplement
daily but am worried that this is too much and may cause more harm
than good if I am already getting a lot from my diet. Can you clear
this up please?
Mr C. Webb, Lemington
The Safe Upper Level for long-term use from supplements is set
by the UK Government at 350 mcg per day for adults. Hence your
intake of 200 mcg per day is well within this. Although adult
requirements for selenium are set at about 75 mcg per day, the
average intake in the UK from diet is only about 30 mcg per day
since we stopped using high-selenium flour imported from America
for bread making, in favour of home-grown wheat. There is evidence
that higher than requirement levels of selenium may help the immune
system to be more effective in combating viruses.
Skin Deep
As winter approaches and the weather gets colder, I find
that my skin can often get red, dry and cracked. It doesn′t
look very nice and can be quite sore, especially around my elbows.
Is there anything I can do besides piling on greasy
moisturisers?
Ms O. James, London
The health of skin, hair and nails reflects the state of
nutrition of the entire body. Your skin symptoms indicate a lack of
omega-3 essential fatty acids. These are found in oily fish, but
requirements can be raised by a high intake of omega-6 fatty acids.
Modern diet is very high in sunflower and other seed oils which
provide an over-abundance of omega-6. Use olive oil for cooking and
to take omega-3 as a supplement - at least 1 g of the active
EPA+DHA will be needed per day. You’ll need to allow 3 months
to get these changes fully working in your system.
Enlarged prostate
This last month, I have found some difficulty in urinating and
have had to get up frequently in the middle of the night to go. My
doctor tells me that my prostate is enlarged. I don′t want to
have to take medication but do not want this problem to get worse,
is there another option?
Mr T. Riley, Cardiff
You have done the right thing in getting this problem looked at
by your doctor. Now that you know for sure that the problem is BPH
(benign prostatic hyperplasia) and not cancer, there is a lot you
can do for yourself. Saw palmetto is the fruit of a short-growing
palm which grows in the Eastern United States, right down into
Florida. Extracts of the berries of this plant have been found to
be helpful in reducing symptoms of BPH if taken as 320 mg of the
extract daily over a 3-month period in clinical trials.
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