Dirt Rich

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" HSI - Jenny Thompson " <HSIResearch

 

 

Dirt Rich

Tue, 07 Dec 2004 08:46:54 -0500

 

Dirt Rich

 

Health Sciences Institute e-Alert

 

December 07, 2004

 

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Dear Reader,

 

Don't underestimate the dirt beneath your feet. Especially if

you're standing on farmland soil in the western U.S.

 

Soil contains a trace mineral called selenium. When you

consume food that's grown in selenium-rich soil, your body

is replenished with a nutrient that has been shown to help

fight autoimmune disorders, increase insulin efficiency, and

curb the mutation of viruses.

 

And if this were a late night infomercial, right about now I

would say, " But wait! That's not all you get! " Because

selenium also has excellent antioxidant qualities, it boosts the

antioxidant power of vitamin E, and it's been shown to

reduce the risk of several types of cancers by triggering the

activity of a tumor-suppressing gene.

 

And that's where today's e-Alert begins: Out west, with an

Arizona study that evaluates the association of selenium

intake with the reduced risk of one of the most common types

of cancer.

 

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Three into one

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Researchers at the University of Arizona (UA) wanted to

expand on previous research, which had indicated that

selenium may reduce the risk of developing colorectal

tumors.

 

The UA team used data combined from three trials: the

Wheat Bran Fiber Trial, the Polyp Prevention Trial, and the

Polyp Prevention Study. Each of these projects examined the

effects of different nutritional factors on the prevention of

benign colorectal tumors in patients who previously had such

tumors removed during colonoscopy.

 

Medical records and blood tests of more than 1,700 subjects

were analyzed to determine tumor developments and

selenium concentrations. When the subjects were grouped

ranging from least blood concentration of selenium to

greatest, results showed that subjects with the highest blood

selenium values had " statistically significantly lower odds "

of developing a new tumor when compared to subjects with

the lowest blood selenium values.

 

The researchers also noted that each of the three trials

individually indicated selenium's protective effect against the

recurrence of tumors, and that those with the very highest

blood selenium value had more than a 40 percent reduced

risk of tumor recurrence compared to subjects with the very

lowest levels of selenium.

 

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The big six

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In the UA study – which appears in a November issue of the

Journal of the National Cancer Institute – the researchers note

that, given the limitations of the data from the three trials,

they were not able to pinpoint the selenium sources in the

subjects' blood samples. Therefore they couldn't draw any

conclusions about supplementing with selenium.

 

As I've noted in previous e-Alerts, in the U.S., selenium is

highly concentrated in the soil of only six states: North and

South Dakota, Utah, Colorado, Montana and Wyoming.

Anyone who lives in these states and eats ample amounts of

locally grown fruits and vegetables daily is probably getting a

good selenium intake. But the rest of us are probably not,

unless we're taking a selenium supplement or a multivitamin

that contains selenium.

 

The U.S. RDA for selenium is 55 mcg for women and 70

mcg for men, but the average diet falls far short of that

amount – especially if you don't eat produce from one of the

six states mentioned above. Research into the cancer-

preventive qualities of selenium indicates that a daily intake

needs to be around 200 mcg to insure adequate prevention.

Which brings up the issue of selenium toxicity.

 

Selenium comes with a general warning about high intake of

this nutrient. And while it's true that mega-dosing might

create problems, you would have to get more than 2,500 mcg

of selenium per day for an extended period to receive a toxic

amount, so the actual chances of getting a dangerous dose are

extremely slim.

 

In addition to fruits and vegetables, bread, fish and meat all

contain selenium. The real selenium powerhouse, however, is

the Brazil nut, delivering more than 800 mcg of selenium per

ounce.

 

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....and another thing

 

We tell kids not to use drugs. And then thousands of them are

sent off to school each day with a dose of Ritalin or some

other powerful drug designed to medicate Attention

Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).

 

One of the sad results of this contradiction is drug abuse.

 

Last week I received this e-mail from an HSI member and

doctor named Ronald: " Recently an article appeared, I

thought in the HSI alerts: It spoke of a young person

perception drug that mimicked cocaine, that kids were

mashing the pill and snorting it to get high. Can you direct

me to this article or who published it if not HSI? This

information may save some lives here in Montana the second

highest rate of suicides in children. "

 

I don't believe any recent HSI publications or e-letters have

addressed this problem. But it's not new to us. In the e-Alert

" A Patchwork Orange " (5/16/02), I told you about a study in

the Journal of the American Medical Association that found

Ritalin to be a more active stimulant than cocaine.

 

So unfortunately it wasn't really a surprise to come across an

article published in a 2000 issue of the Christian Science

Monitor (CSM) revealing that a Drug Enforcement

Administration study found that as many as one-half of the

teens in drug-treatment centers said they had used Ritalin to

get high. And because Ritalin taken orally doesn't provide

instant stimulation, many of these young people are crushing

their Ritalin pills and inhaling the powder - just like cocaine.

 

The CSM article referenced two disturbing statistics that

appeared in the Journal of Developmental & Behavioral

Pediatrics:

 

* More than 15 percent of children who used Ritalin said that

schoolmates had asked to purchase doses of their drug

* Four percent of the kids who used Ritalin reported that their

doses had been stolen at least once

 

The DEA now lists Ritalin as one of the top ten most stolen

prescription drugs.

 

And while Ritalin is abused most often by children who

haven't had the drug prescribed to them, studies have shown

that Ritalin users go on to have higher rates of alcohol abuse,

drug abuse and criminal activity compared to kids who don't

use the drug.

 

It can be difficult to deal with a child that is hyperactive. And

these days parents get a lot of pressure from teachers,

administrators and other parents to " control " their children.

But if your doctor were trying to convince you that your child

or grandchild needed cocaine to control his behavior, you'd

probably run out of that office faster than you could say " Are

you crazy? "

 

Knowing what we now know about how Ritalin works in

children's brains and how it impacts future drug abuse, it's

time to look more closely at this medication we give our

children every day as if it were a street drug.

 

To Your Good Health,

 

Jenny Thompson

Health Sciences Institute

 

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Sources:

" Selenium and Colorectal Adenoma: Results of a Pooled

Analysis " Journal of the National Cancer Institute, Vol. 96,

No. 22, 11/17/04, jncicancerspectrum.oupjournals.org

" High Selenium Linked to Lower Colon Cancer Risk "

Reuters Health, 11/16/04, reutershealth.com

" Stimulant Use and the Potential for Abuse in Wisconsin as

Reported by School Administrators and Longitudinally

Followed Children " Journal of Developmental & Behavioral

Pediatrics, Vol. 19, No. 3, June 1998, jrnldbp.com

 

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