Lee Swanson Research Update

More Selenium in the Blood Signals Lower Diabetes Risk

April 2010

Researchers in France have found that increased blood levels of selenium may decrease a man’s risk of abnormal blood sugar metabolism and may protect against diabetes.

Levels of the mineral did not affect the risk of abnormal blood sugar metabolism (dysglycemia) in women, however, according to findings published in Nutrition & Metabolism.

"We need to identify the optimal range of selenium status and intake that will minimize potential adverse effects on glucose metabolism while optimizing type 2 diabetes prevention," wrote the researchers, led by Tasnime Akbaraly. "This may allow us to target a population that might benefit from selenium supplementation."

Akbaraly and her co-workers followed 1,162 healthy French men and women for nine years and documented 70 new cases of dysglycemia in men and 57 cases in women.

The average selenium blood level at the start of the study was 1.08 micromoles per liter in men and 1.1 micromoles per liter for women. Men with the highest selenium levels (1.19-1.97 micromoles per liter) were 50% less likely to develop dysglycemia than men with the lowest average levels.

"The reason we observed a protective effect of selenium in men but not in women is not completely clear, but might be attributed to women being healthier at baseline, having better antioxidant status in general and possible differences in how men and women process selenium," Akbaraly said.

Nutrition & Metabolism 7(1):21, 2010

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