SeMet (Selenomethionine) 55mcg - 90 V-Caps

Superior, Natural Selenium Supplementation

Selenium is now well established as a potent unhealthy cell-fighting trace mineral. A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial in the 1990s showed that men taking a daily 200 microgram selenium supplement experienced a 37% lower risk of developing new unhealthy cells and a whopping 50% lower risk of death.

But not all forms of selenium are equal in their immune properties. To everyone's surprise, the last decade of scientific research has found that selenium's immune boosting effect is not due to its use as part of antioxidant or detoxifying compounds in the body. It's also not linked to absolute tissue levels of selenium achieved by a given form of selenium, or to its ability to boost the immune system. Instead, any form of selenium is linked to its ability to form methylselenol, a critical selenium metabolite in the body.

Organic forms of selenium, like selenomethionine are directly and easily converted into this key immune boosting metabolite by enzymes in the body called methioninases. In contrast, conventional inorganic (selenite or selenate) selenium supplements are not easily converted to methylselenol. Selenomethionine has also been shown to be a very safe form of selenium. It provides a natural, stable and easily absorbed form of the mineral. As a result, SeMet is simultaneously more potent in its immune prowess, and less toxic per unit of immunity punch, than other forms of selenium.

SeMet is a natural form of selenium, and is estimated to make up about half of the selenium obtained from dietary sources. It is the main form in which the body stores selenium, and is easily used by the body and has been shown to have a bioavailability at least 1.5 2 times higher than inorganic forms of selenium.

This form of selenium has been shown to be effective in immune boosting. In one human trial involving 238 patients with mild or moderate esophageal squamous dysplasia were supplemented with 200mcg of selenomethionine and/or 200mg of the drug celecoxib twice daily for 10 months. After 10 months it was found that although neither selenomethionine nor celecoxib inhibited esophageal squamous carcinogenesis for all high-risk subjects, supplementation with selenomethionine did have a protective effect among subjects with mild esophageal squamous dysplasia at baseline.

Actions of SeMet:

Apoptosis vs Necrosis: Inorganic selenium kills unhealthy cells through nonselective damage to the DNA and cell membranes of both healthy cells and unhealthy cells, leading to toxic cell death (necrosis). SeMet selectively activates unhealthy cells' "suicide program" (apoptosis) without damage to healthy cells.

Gene expression: SeMet regulates cellular growth programs, inhibiting unhealthy cells earlier in the cell cycle than does inorganic selenium.

Angiogenesis: SeMet may also act by cutting off the growing tumor's blood supply more effectively than the common selenium supplements, without interfering with the growth of blood vessels in normal, healthy tissue.