Trace elements in soil, can you replace them?
Posted: Fri Aug 03, 2012 3:37 pm
I read a health article this week (partly quoted below with a link to the original article) that as well as making me consider varying the vitamin supplement that I take had me wondering what if anything one could do to replace or augment trace minerals and metals in the soil, without poisoning the ground?
The one vitamin pill experts say really IS worth taking (and you've probably never heard of it)
By Peta Bee PUBLISHED: 23:51, 30 July 2012
Who would have thought that the earth beneath our feet could be to blame for health woes ranging from heart disease to thyroid problems to cancer?
Yet that’s the view of some experts who say levels of selenium, a mineral essential for good health, are so low in British soil that it’s affecting the food chain, our diets and, ultimately, our risk of disease.
The body uses selenium to make ‘selenoproteins’, which work like antioxidants preventing damage to cells.
There is a growing body of evidence to show it has a key role in health.
Just last week, researchers at the University of East Anglia found people who eat large amounts of the mineral, along with vitamins C and E, are 67 per cent less likely to develop pancreatic cancer.
Previous research has shown that in old age a good selenium intake helps enhance brain function, so that cognition remains sharp and active.
The problem is we are not getting enough.
The richest food sources of selenium are Brazil nuts, kidney, liver and fish, but the foods that make the largest contribution to our selenium intake — because we eat proportionately more of them — are cereals, bread, meat and poultry.
However, because levels of selenium in our soil are low, cattle aren’t absorbing as much when they graze, nor are crops or other fresh produce grown on it.
As a result, there is less selenium available from meat, grains and vegetables.
Farming methods have a part to play. In a study conducted at Warwick University’s Horticultural Research Institute a few years ago, it was found that although British and northern European soils have been relatively low in selenium since the last ice age, levels are being further depleted by intensive modern farming methods and the use of chemical fertilisers.
‘Selenium levels in our blood plummeted after the time the government began measuring them in 1974,’ says Margaret Rayman, professor of nutritional medicine at the University of Surrey and a leading researcher in selenium’s effects.
‘They stabilised at this sub-optimal level in the mid-Nineties as our diets haven’t changed much since.’
She adds: ‘If you live in the UK, the likelihood is you are not grossly deficient, but do have low levels of selenium.’
Read more at Daily Mail Health Article
The one vitamin pill experts say really IS worth taking (and you've probably never heard of it)
By Peta Bee PUBLISHED: 23:51, 30 July 2012
Who would have thought that the earth beneath our feet could be to blame for health woes ranging from heart disease to thyroid problems to cancer?
Yet that’s the view of some experts who say levels of selenium, a mineral essential for good health, are so low in British soil that it’s affecting the food chain, our diets and, ultimately, our risk of disease.
The body uses selenium to make ‘selenoproteins’, which work like antioxidants preventing damage to cells.
There is a growing body of evidence to show it has a key role in health.
Just last week, researchers at the University of East Anglia found people who eat large amounts of the mineral, along with vitamins C and E, are 67 per cent less likely to develop pancreatic cancer.
Previous research has shown that in old age a good selenium intake helps enhance brain function, so that cognition remains sharp and active.
The problem is we are not getting enough.
The richest food sources of selenium are Brazil nuts, kidney, liver and fish, but the foods that make the largest contribution to our selenium intake — because we eat proportionately more of them — are cereals, bread, meat and poultry.
However, because levels of selenium in our soil are low, cattle aren’t absorbing as much when they graze, nor are crops or other fresh produce grown on it.
As a result, there is less selenium available from meat, grains and vegetables.
Farming methods have a part to play. In a study conducted at Warwick University’s Horticultural Research Institute a few years ago, it was found that although British and northern European soils have been relatively low in selenium since the last ice age, levels are being further depleted by intensive modern farming methods and the use of chemical fertilisers.
‘Selenium levels in our blood plummeted after the time the government began measuring them in 1974,’ says Margaret Rayman, professor of nutritional medicine at the University of Surrey and a leading researcher in selenium’s effects.
‘They stabilised at this sub-optimal level in the mid-Nineties as our diets haven’t changed much since.’
She adds: ‘If you live in the UK, the likelihood is you are not grossly deficient, but do have low levels of selenium.’
Read more at Daily Mail Health Article
just how good Allan's contributions were. Very interesting stuff on Carrs.