Oxidative stress is the new “ageing factor”- here is what you can do about it

There are many factors involved in the ageing process, but one thing which science has its eyes on is oxidative stress, a biochemical imbalance that can occur as a result of something as simple as not getting enough selenium. Read more about the vital micronutrient here.
 

All humans age. It is an inevitable part of life. The rate at which a person ages hinges on different factors such as genetics, lifestyle, exercise, and diet. In fact, there is a specific micronutrient in our diet that scientists have grown increasingly fascinated by and that is selenium. We need adequate amounts of selenium in order to maintain a host of different defense and repair mechanisms in the body, and one of the really vital roles of selenium – when it comes to ageing – is its ability to protect us against something called oxidative stress.

Europeans get too little selenium

What is especially critical in large parts of Europe is that the selenium content in the diet is lower than in other parts of the world.

The European agricultural soil is naturally low in selenium, and modern farming methods also leach nutrients from the soil, so the selenium content in crops and throughout the food chain is not as high as it should ideally be. A way to compensate for this lack of selenium in the diet is to take a daily supplement to make it easier to reach the intake level that has been seen to make a difference.

Improved quality of life

An average European gets 40-50 micrograms of selenium daily by eating a balanced diet. But a Swedish study on healthy, older men and women, showed we might greatly benefit from getting a lot more. The study (KiSel-10), which was published in International Journal of Cardiology in 2013, was conducted on 443 volunteers.

The scientists randomly assigned them to either 200 micrograms of selenium (SelenoPrecise) and 200 mg of coenzyme Q10 (Bio-Quinone Q10) daily, or matching placebo. The participants took their daily regimen for five years. Afterwards, the scientists could clearly see the difference between the two groups. Quality of life had improved significantly in the active treatment group, suggesting that selenium is a key element in maintaining normal health in old age, with the nutrient’s ability to protect against oxidative stress and contribute to normal immune function being two key factors.