The Many Health Benefits of Selenium Will Amaze You

The importance of trace minerals in the body cannot be overstated, especially when talking about the benefits of selenium. Your bodys immune system must have the right vitamins and minerals to work, and they all have their importance. But selenium is one of the special trace minerals, that can really help you if it's adequately in your system, or can lead you to illness and death if it is not.

Selenium is found in nearly every cell of your body, pancreas, spleen and kidneys and insures normal liver function. Like other essential minerals, selenium acts as an antioxidant that destroys free radicals that roam the body like little devastators. More and more, this super mineral is being linked to its role in combating a number of human diseases and illnesses.

Major benefits of selenium include heart and cancer protection

Seleniums role in protecting the heart is an incredible one. This mineral helps prevent your blood from sticking to the inside of your arteries, decreasing the risk of clotting, heart attack and stroke. How's that for a triple-threat? And, benefits of selenium include elevating levels of good cholesterol, another advantage in keeping your heart healthy.

Cancer has a natural enemy in selenium. According to the Office of Dietary Supplements, high levels of selenium in the blood decrease many forms of cancer including prostate, colorectal and lung. The antioxidant properties of selenium actually prevent the formation of some cancer cells and tumor cells. And because selenium effectively raises the fighting levels of the immune system, studies show that the development of blood vessels, that support and grow tumors, is suppressed! Needless to say, medical research is conducting ongoing selenium testing against many other forms of cancer.

This essential mineral is important in overall body health, too. For instance, it's been shown to help increase male potency and fight arthritis. Its antioxidant quality helps defend the body from the effects of alcohol and other toxins. And like copper, it has an important maintenance role in your skin and your hair. Selenium supplementation helps improve asthma symptoms and helps patients recover quicker from pneumonia and bronchitis.

Certain foods, supplementation can give you the benefits of selenium

If you can find produce that has been grown in selenium-rich soil, improve your diet with nuts, oats, brown rice and leafy greens. However, most foods that used to contain beneficial levels of selenium don't have those levels, anymore. That's because farm soil has been worked so many times, that selenium levels have plummetted.

So, keep eating as healthy a diet as you can, but know that most doctors today recommend that you take a selenium supplement, so that you can maintain a healthy selenium level. The prescribed selenium dosages are 55mcg daily for women, and 70mcg daily for men. However, for cancer patients or patients with a larger risk of cancer, doctors recommend dosages of up to 400mcg to get the full benefits of selenium.

As you can see, selenium is an all-around super trace mineral that can help your body in so many important ways. Trace minerals like selenium prove the old adage that good things really do come in small packages. Your body must have selenium, so if you do not take a multi-vitamin, chances are you're shorting yourself on this essential mineral. Get some selenium into your diet just as soon as you can, so that you can start getting the healthy benefits of selenium.


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Eat Spices to Lose Weight

Did you know that in addition to being very healthy, certain spices can actually help you lose weight? Some spices work as an appetite suppressant and some aid in fat digestion. 

Here is a list of seven of the top spices that will help you with your weight loss efforts:

1. Black pepper - This well-known and frequently-used spice will boost your metabolism. The peppery taste of black pepper comes from piperine and this substance is said to stimulate the central nervous system. It is believed that this stimulation of the nervous system is actually what gives pepper its metabolism-boosting characteristics. Fresh ground pepper is the best to use because it contains the most piperine.

2. Mangosteen - This spice is also known as vrikshaka or garcinia mangostana. Mangosteen is very popular in India. This spice suppresses the appetite and also helps to stop your body from storing fat.

3. Cayenne or Chili pepper - There was a study done in England that showed when the volunteers ate a teaspoon of red or cayenne pepper with every meal, they had a 25% increase in their metabolism. It is believed that if you eat hot and spicy food, you will drink more liquid to cool your mouth and because of the additional liquid you are drinking, you will feel fuller faster. However, because the participants had a 25% increase in their metabolism by eating the red pepper, it shows that the pepper is actually working in the body to assist the calorie-burning process.

4. Ginger - Ginger is believed to boost a person's metabolism and it also aids in digestion. To effectively lose weight, your digestive system must be working properly. All you need is a teaspoon of fresh ginger or less if you use dried ginger to achieve the benefits.

5. Turmeric - Turmeric in food gives the food a yellow coloring and it helps to reduce the body's absorption of fat. The active substance in turmeric is curcumin. When curcumin was given to mice, it reduced the growth of their fat tissue.

6. Cinnamon - Eating cinnamon will regulate your blood sugar and help your body to digest carbohydrates. The cinnamon also increases the body's production of insulin, which, in turn, accounts for its role in carbohydrate digestion. It will also help lower your cholesterol.

7. Mustard - In the study mentioned above with the cayenne pepper, the participants also ate a teaspoon of mustard with every meal. The whole-grain or Asian varieties of mustard will help to burn fat. Mustard also contains selenium which helps to regular blood sugar. Selenium is also used to aid in weight loss.

In addition to eating these spices to lose weight, they are also very flavorful. So, if you are eating low-fat and low-calorie foods to lose weight, eating them will add a lot of flavor to otherwise bland food.

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7 Liver Cleansing Foods - Part of the Detox Diet

Is it possible to eat a diet that consists of liver cleansing food without starving yourself or changing your entire lifestyle? We believe that with the proper detox diet that you can have a proper liver cleanse and have increased stamina, decrease colds and infections by reinforcing your immune system, and get restful sleep and wake up refreshed. These are some of the benefits derived from eating a diet of liver cleansing food.

So what are these foods, and how difficult will it be to incorporate them into your weekly diet? You will find these foods to be rich in vitamins, minerals and fiber, and detox diet foods that have a high presence of antioxidants. Plus, they will be no trouble at all fitting them into your weekly diet.

1. Leafy green vegetables. Because of their high quantities of plant chlorophylls, they are able to remove toxins from the bloodstream in vast amounts. As an effective liver cleansing food, they can be eaten raw or cooked. They also have the ability to neutralize chemicals and pesticides, helping the liver in one of its functions as a filter of these toxins.

2. Garlic. It doesn't take much, thankfully, to activate liver enzymes to assist in flushing out body toxins. Additionally, in detox for the liver garlic have two natural compounds that aid in liver cleansing, allicin and selenium.

3. Carrots, beets, and red and yellow fruits and vegetables. These are high in beta-carotene, important for its antioxidant qualities, which inhibit the oxidation of other molecules. These antioxidants help to prevent many of the diseases caused by oxidative stress.

4. Whole grains. These liver cleansing foods should be brown rice and whole wheat grain, not the white flour foods. These liver cleansing foods aid in liver function and decongestion, along with improving overall fat metabolization. White bread, because of its processing, offers little in the way of nutritional value as well as adding toxins in processing. If you want to go totally healthy, sprouted grain breads top them all.

5. Olive oil. When used in moderation, their lipid base literally sucks up harmful toxins, relieving the liver of toxic overload.

6. Green tea. Fast becoming known for its overall health benefits, it also helps the liver in its overall functions, as it is heavy in plant antioxidants.

7. Turmeric. Called the liver's favorite spice, it helps in liver detox by helping enzymes that actively flush out dietary carcinogens.

These are a few foods that assist in liver cleansing, and should be part of any detox diet. Obviously, there are a few that should not be included as liver cleansing food, and they would be processed foods, artificial food additives, preservatives and synthetic sweeteners, to name a few. Also, try to steer clear of those foods which are not grown organically and have been treated with pesticides and synthetic chemicals. Finally, of course, the overuse of alcohol can cause havoc with a liver detox program.

These liver cleansing foods should be in our everyday diet. If you imagine the liver as a filter, in time that filter is going to get congested with contaminants. The Master Cleanse diet, as well as other liver detox diets, can periodically give the liver a boost and clean things out. A product found on our website we are sure will provide immense benefits for a total liver cleanse.

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