Selenium - naturally and other things :-)

[1004sonia]

hi

Random note about selenium. I have been reading various ways to obtain the various vitamin/minerals etc that our bodies need and discovered that selenium can be found naturally in brazil nuts.

I take 3-5 brazil nuts a day.

Other natural remedies I am experimenting with until the doctor thinks I am ill enough to be prescribed tablets (!) are;

Raw garlic and ginger (2 each)- soaked overnight in lemon juice. These great (smelly) things are overall great for you general well being

Vitamin D (2000iu) because I have been having very bad pains in my legs and this has definitely helped.

I am going to see a Ayurveda doctor on the weekend and see what they suggest.

I need something to tackle to constant exhaustion. Its a struggle at work in the afternoon as all I want to do is sleep!

I was taking Biocare TSH Intensive powder but this group advised I could be causing more damage than good as it contained a very high dosage of iodine so I have stopped taking it. I have switched to Biocare TH207 capsules as I had this anyway and it doesn't contain iodine.

I will let you know how I get on, but any advise on the exhaustion would be great

thanks

Sonia

[SeasideSusie Remembering]

1004sonia The trouble with brazil nuts is that they have to be grown in selenium rich soil for you to get any benefit selenium wise from them. As far as I am aware, packaging doesn't show this information so there's no way of knowing how much, if any, you're getting.

As for the exhaustion, I would get B12, Vit D, ferritin and folate tested. Low ferritin can cause fatigue. Vit D supplementation needs to be monitored so you stay under the toxic level, also you need to take K2-MK7 when taking Vit D (Vit D aids absorption of calcium, K2 directs the calcium to bones and teeth rather than artereies and soft tissues).

[1004sonia]

Oh man, I hadn't thought about selenium rich soil. Arghhh! Just checked the package and it doesn't say anything about soil.

I've also checked my blood test and ferritin looks low as 13ugl (11.0-336). Is there a supplement that I can take for this?

thanks!

[SmallBlueThing in reply to 1004sonia]

Shellfish are a good source of selenium. I bought some mussels in a jar from Lidl the other day, but cannot recommend them -- far too vinegary. I've not yet sampled the frozen ones I got from Morrison's. Brazil nuts are more enjoyable!

[1004sonia]

Just realized that I am taking ferritin folate or something sounding like that. The doctor prescribed this to me and told me to take 3 a day, but I only take 1 as it leaves me constipated - nice!

[SeasideSusie Remembering in reply to 1004sonia]

1004sonia That will be ferritin - yes makes me even more constipated (queen of constipation here ). Your GP will have prescribed either Ferrous Fumarate or Ferrous Sulphate. If it is making you constipated here are a couple of ideas.

1) With each dose of iron, take 1000mg Vit C. This will aid absorption and help prevent constipation.

2) Switch to Iron Bisglycinate (you will probably have to buy this, doctors only like to prescribe the cheapest form of anything). Solgar Gentle Iron is one brand that contains Iron Bisglycinate. Again, take with Vit C.

3) Eat some liver regularly, I have lambs liver but chicken liver has more iron.

PS - when you reply to a particular post, click on the Reply button directly underneath the post (within the message box) and that sends a notification to the member you're replying to and you'll see your reply indented underneath the original one. You can always put @ in front of their user name and a list will come up, click on their name from that list and it will highlight it in blue and automatically send a notification that they have been mentioned.

[1004sonia in reply to SeasideSusie]

Thanks, I am learning so much on this site, its great. I am taking Ferrous Fumarate, but I will take a look at the other one as well as taking Vit C

I will try and remember the tip about reply button, but brain fog may foil my attempts.

[SeasideSusie Remembering in reply to 1004sonia]

Ah well, you did it this time 1004sonia , you'll get there, it's a great big learning curve. It's just that if a member doesn't get a notification, and you want a reply to your post, it will get missed as this forum doesn't put the thread back to the top of the page when a new post is made, it just continues down when other new threads are made until it disappears.

Members are always happy to help so just ask

[1004sonia in reply to SeasideSusie]

sorry another question. I looked up the Solgar Iron tablet and its only 20mg, but the Ferrous Furmarate that I am taking is 250mg per tablet. The Solgar box says only take 1 a day.

How many do you take?

Thanks

[SeasideSusie Remembering in reply to 1004sonia]

1004sonia OK. Well the Ferrous Fumarate, although says 250mg tablet, there is actually only about 65mg elemental iron in it. It's the elemental iron that is the active bit (the rest is fillers and stuff). Solgar GI gives the elemental iron content on the label, so 20mg of elemental iron per tablet although I think you can also get 25mg ones. You just take as many as you can manage. One member recently said he was taking 9 Solgar GI a day!

I used to take one a day, bunged me up more than usual. I then got me some Ferritin 5mg, still got bunged up. So I've ditched the iron altogether. I use organic blackstrap molasses every day which gives a bit of iron, eat liver once every couple of weeks, and there is 2mg iron in a Multi that I take. I haven't retested my ferritin yet, it's probably still way too low.

By the way, your ferritin should be half way through range so you have a fair way to go

[Hidden in reply to SeasideSusie]

Have you tried Solgar Magnesium Citrate?NatChap recommended it and it works a treat. I only need to take one and it as helped tremendously x

[SeasideSusie Remembering in reply to Hidden]

Yes, thanks Hidden , I take 350mg mag citrate every evening, also 2g Vit C before bed (Dr Myhill recommends that) plus 1 x Psyllium & Apple Pectin each evening. That gives me a BM most days.